Wall stickers make a great Christmas decoration which are pretty toddler resistant

Putting Up Christmas Decorations To Survive My Toddler

The first phase of Christmas decorating is complete and I have achieved it through having items out of reach and those which can’t be destroyed so easily. I’m going to put up a few more decorations every week because I love the excitement in my children’s voices when they come back from school and spot something new. Wall stickers are the perfect decorations to survive toddlers and I have a couple of great designs from JR Decal.

I chose 2 products from JR Decal's Christmas wall stickers range: A Merry Christmas wall decoration with Christmas baubles and a set of 60 snowflakes. There are lots of different designs to choose from and most of them have a choice of sizes and colours. I went for burgundy and silver.

Where Can Wall Stickers Be Used?

The wall stickers can stick on any clean, dry surface. Of course they can go on most painted walls (I wouldn’t recommend wall paper as it might cause damage when removed), but don’t stop there: windows, doors and furniture can all easily be decorated.

I chose silver snowflakes because white wouldn’t show up on our walls, but I still wanted them pale like snow. They work perfectly. So far I have put them up on our back windows and I love them because during the day they are subtle (my parter didn’t even notice they were there), but when it’s dark outside they show clearly.

Our windows get a lot of condensation at this time of year which has made previous decorations like paper snowflakes and spray on snow suffer quite quickly. I made sure the window was try before applying and they are holding up really well. I’m planning to put them on more windows and the front door too as we get closer to Christmas.

The larger wall decoration I have put up in our kitchen. I have been wanting something on that section of wall for a long time and it’s convinced me we really need to get something up when it comes down in January. Part of the reason I hadn’t gone for anything before was because I couldn’t decide what to go for. I have spent a lot of time thinking about wallpaper etc, but that feels too big a commitment, so I’m pretty sure we will go for a wall transfer. G has got fully on board with it after this trial, unfortunately his suggestions so far are not helpful (elephants crashing through the wall? I think not).

Merry Christmas Wall Sticker With Baubles in Burgandy

Small silver snowflake and star wall stickers on the window

How Easy Are Wall Stickers To Put Up?

I have used wall transfers a few times and find them really easy to use. The instructions from JR Decal on how to apply wall stickers works really well for the larger transfers and for those you want to position carefully. For the snowflakes I placed them more randomly so I just peeled off the backing layer, put them on the clean window, smoothed them down and after 10 minutes I peeled the transparent application layer off the top.

For the larger wall decoration I used washi tape to position it in place first because I have far more of that than traditional masking tape (which the instructions suggested). A perfectionist might want to measure to make sure everything is straight and lined up, but I just did it by eye and I am happy with the result.

The instructions say that when you are happy with the location you tape the corners down then put a strip of tape across the middle to anchor it. You can then peel the backing layer off the wall side of the transfer on one half, cut the paper off and then smooth that bit of the sticker to the wall before peeling the rest of the backing paper off. I found a squeegee worked really well to smooth down the baubles because it covered the whole width in one go, but you can use anything firm and thin. The only fiddly bit was the top of the baubles and the ‘string’ which I had chosen to overlap slightly and I found I accidentally stuck the sticker of one bit to the transfer paper on the other. Their instructions and pictures probably make more sense than me.

Peeling the backing paper off down to an anchor point

Smoothing down and removing bubbles from wall sticker with a squeegee

Wall stickers attached to the wall ready to peel the transfer paper off

Taking Wall Stickers Down

I obviously haven’t taken the decorations from JR Decal down yet, but I have used Christmas wall transfers in the past when my eldest was little. On that occasion I found there was initially no visible marking, but over time there became a faint, barely noticeable shadow appeared. This was caused by a small amount of adhesive staying on the wall and dust getting caught on it. If the surface is cleaned afterwards you can avoid this and I I think it depends on the brand too. When we moved into this house 5 years ago there was a cheesy self affirmation on the bathroom wall which I couldn’t wait to rip off and there is no adhesive left behind on the wall.

About JR Decal

JR Decal design, make and sell personalised wall stickers for any room (nursery, living room, or office), personalised mugs (for any occasion), personalised framed art (print only and framed), coasters, and tote bags. You can check out their full range of products here.