Iron-On Wall Portraits

Renters and minimalists rejoice, for today you will learn how to take those photos that have been stuck in digital limbo and transform an entire wall (okay, maybe a small wall) into a photo gallery even your landlord can’t object to.  Using a $5 roll of fabric adhesive and your trusty iron, you can take your rented walls from ho-hum to a work of joy.  And when you're ready to move, these prints peel right off with no sticky residue or telltale nail-holes of horror.

 

  What you need:

1. ·      Black and white or color untrimmed photos printed on standard paper
2. ·      Iron-on lightweight fabric adhesive (like Wonder-Under or Heat 'N Bond)
3. ·      Painters tape
4. ·      Iron
5. ·      Thick fabric or towel
6. ·      Old pillowcase 

What you do:

1.  Cut a piece of fabric adhesive slightly larger than your photo.

 

2.  Lay thick fabric or towel on a hard surface, with photo face down on top.  Lay fabric adhesive, shiny side down, on top, so your photo is sandwiched between the thick fabric and adhesive.

 3.  Following the instructions that came with the adhesive, use your iron to fuse the adhesive to the back of your photo.  (If the idea of ironing paper scares you, cover your "sandwich" with the pillowcase before ironing.) 

5.    Trim your photo and peel off the adhesive backing.

6.  Lightly tape your photo in place on your wall and tape your pillowcase over the photo.  

7.  Using the same setting on your iron, fuse your photo to the wall.  If you have heavily textured walls, you may have to go over the fabric several times.  (Alternatively, you could fuse only the edges of your photo to decrease ironing time and minimize the amount of texture picked up by your photo.)

8.  That’s it!   Repeat with remaining photos and enjoy your wall!

But wait!  What if you want to remove it?

When you're ready to remove the photo, just peel it off.  If your iron was too hot when you ironed the image on, part of your photo might refuse to budge.  In that case, simply reheat with your iron to loosen the adhesive and continue peeling.