Comic Strip Wallpaper Borders
Decorating Your Child's Room With Their Most Beloved Characters!
Aug 14, 2008
With a bit of imagination, a steady hand and a few dollars, you can create one-of-a-kind accents for decorating your child's room, bathroom, or playroom! Comic strip borders are unique and fun - not something you will find on most store shelves.
Design
Comic strips come in different sizes. In the daily newspaper, they are black and white; in the Sunday comics they are larger and in color. Any of these will work, but for a few extra dollars you can purchase a book of the comics you like. (Try eBay for used books of comic collections) These comics in the book collections are on heavier stock paper and tend to have better ground colors.
You can trim the comics to any size you like, line them up along the wall like a traditional border, stack them, or try your hand at creative decorating and apply them at random to create any look you like.
Tools & Materials
There are a few tools you will need to get started creating your custom borders:
- Comic strips from the newspaper or books of comic collections, trimmed to the size you like.
- Xacto knife and metal ruler
- Laminating sheets – regular letter size from the office supply store should work just fine
- Wallpaper border paste
- Sponge and clean towel
That’s about it!
Preparation
There are only a few steps prior to applying these…the key is to take your time with the lamination and the trimming. The smoother the panels are, the easier they will go up and the better they look:
- Trim a comic strip or comic page to the desired size with the metal ruler and the X-acto knife, being careful to stay within about 1/8”-1/4” of the color strip.
- Carefully lay comic strip on the exposed laminate according to package directions. (Both sides of the comic should be laminated) Smooth carefully so that there are no wrinkles!
- Trim laminated strip carefully with razor knife and the metal ruler, being careful to trim close to the paper edge
Application
Now comes the fun part! As you would when hanging wallpaper, be sure the surface is clean and dry.
Apply wallcovering border paste to the back of the laminated panel, and apply to the wall wherever you like. To hang the strips in a straight line around the room, measure down from the ceiling where you want the top of the border to go, and draw a dotted line lightly along the ceiling with a level. Once you apply the strip, press gently and smooth out carefully with the sponge, being careful not to squeeze all the paste out.
Once you have it positioned, pat it carefully with the wet sponge to remove any paste and pat dry with a clen towel.
Choosing the panels for the comic strip border can be a fun project for you and the kids! Garfield, Cleats, Zits… any of their favorites will work! There are countless options for creativity in decorating your child's room with custom borders: coloring book pictures, pictures from their favorite books no longer in 'reading condition'.
Have fun!
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