Love Makes a Family: Create a Lifebook Gallery Wall to Welcome a New Family Member

We know parents struggle selecting a nursery theme. Circus animals? Spaceships? Flowers? But what if the nursery’s theme was the reason for existing in the first place: the kids themselves? We thought on that for a while and came up with an idea we’re excited to share!

Our inspiration came from “lifebooks,” the collections of photos and mementos parents create to tell the complete story of their adoptive children, but it will work well with all infants. The result is the combination of the lifebook with the gallery wall.

The idea of a lifebook gallery wall is that it expands as the child grows up: The wall isn’t frozen in time, but continues to evolve as the story continues. And, you can display 3D objects like a hospital hat or first pair of shoes in addition to those photos and papers that will lay flat in a book.

But for this idea to work, the pieces will need to move around.

Command™ Picture Hanging Strips afford storytellers the malleability to update the walls without causing any damage. You can swap out photos and documents or add new memories to the collection without any nail holes, cracked plaster, or sticky residue.

Here’s how:

• Separate two Picture Hanging Strips completely, and then press them together until you hear a click.
• Stick the pair of strips on the back of the object or frame, about half an inch from the top. Follow package instructions on how many sets of strips you may need, based on the weight and size of the frame.
• Prep the wall area you’ll be decorating with rubbing alcohol — not household cleaners! This ensures proper adhesion.
• Hold the object or frame against the wall and press firmly against the Picture Hanging Strips for 30 seconds.
• Peel the frame away from the wall, and give the strips on the wall another press for 30 seconds.
• Wait 60 minutes before remounting the frame! This is when the Picture Hanging Strips’ adhesive bonds with the wall.
• After those 60 minutes, remount the frame by pressing it against the fasteners on the wall until you hear a click. (You can pull off and reposition if you don’t get it straight on the first press!)

Then, when it’s time to move pieces around:

• Lift the frame from the bottom corners to remove it.
• If you’re replacing it with a frame of the same size, you can leave the same fasteners on the wall and attach a new object.
• If you need to remove the fasteners, slowly pull the tab down until the strip comes off the wall.

As baby shoes give way to baseballs which give way to marching band photos, you’ll reconfigure the wall to keep the story going. Just make sure you read the Picture Hanging Strips’ mounting instructions on the back of the package, and that you’re using the right strips for the right weight: small for 8″ x 10″ frames; medium for 18″ x 24″ frames; and large strips for 24″ x 36″ frames.

To learn how to reposition your lifebook–gallery wall memories, visit command.com to watch how-to videos and get more ideas!

^{This post is sponsored by Command™ Picture Hanging Strips.
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