DIY Decorative Children's Wall Hooks

saw or hacksaw

powerdrill

pliers

ruler

scissors

x-acto knife

pencil

medium grit sandpaper

1" wooden dowel

3/16" x 2" wood screws

wall anchors (if mounting hooks into drywall)

white shrink film

sheet of medium weight cardboard (to bake shrink film shapes on)

sheet of vellum (to weigh down shrink film shapes)

quick-dry glue, such as Aleene's brand

Step 1: Saw off a 1 1/2" piece from the dowel. Measure by making light pencil marks 1 1/2" from the end. It helps to mark completely around the dowel, so that as you're sawing, your cut stays perfectly parallel as you keep to the pencil marks as a guide. Saw off as many wood pieces as you want wall hooks. I did three.

Step 2: Lightly sand any rough edges.

Step 3: Prep your power drill. Choose the drill bit closest in diameter to your wood screw. Attach a "flag" of tape about 1 1/8" from the tip of drillbit.

Step 4: If you like, make a pencil mark in the center of hook end. Then drill, going only as far down as the tape "flag" on the drillbit.

Step 5: Insert wood screw, and screw in tightly using pliers. Make sure to grip the smooth metal center of the wood screw so you don't crush the grooves for screwing.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Step 2: Print out shapes, onto cardstock is ideal. Alternatively, create your own shapes by drawing directly onto the sheet of shrink film. Remember, it shrinks down by 50% or more! And I'm going to say right out that I had the most success with my curved shapes, such as the apple and cloud. Shapes with straight lines, such as my house, involved some trial and error (see note below on warping).

Step 3: Cut out shapes from printout, then trace onto shrink film with a pencil. For shapes with square edges (such as the house) position along very edge of shrink film to save yourself a couple of cuts. Use an x-acto knife and ruler for straight edges. Important: cut out an extra shape for testing purposes.

Step 4: As ovens vary, I highly recommend doing a test bake first. Place on cardboard, then cover with a sheet of vellum. The vellum will keep the shape from curling and sticking to itself in the oven. Bake for about 2 minutes, then take a peek. If the shape is bubbling/buckling, it hasn't baked long enough. Let it go for another two minutes, then observe again, adding more time as you go.

A note on warping: Baking at lower temperatures helps reduce any warping, but if your shape has shrunk sufficiently and is a bit on the malformed side, you can attempt to reshape it first thing out of the oven. Please wear gloves as it is very hot!

Step 6: Bake the rest of your shapes and allow to cool. Use sandpaper to reshape any warped lines (I had to reshape the curve of my cat head). For the house, I actually sliced off a crooked edge using my x-acto knife and scissors. Then I sanded it smooth.

Step 1: Mark where you want to install the hooks with a pencil.

Step 2: Drill holes, making sure the hole is large enough to accomodate your wall anchor.

Step 3: Insert wall anchor into the wall, then screw wooden dowels in.

Step 4: With tacky, quick-dry glue, attach your shrink film shapes, holding in place until the glue stiffens (shouldn't take very long).