Sports Wall Stickers for Decorating Your Home

If you have a little boy, or a big boy, sports stickers can be a fun way for him to make his room his own. From the creation of a nursery for a newborn, to the addition of Fatheads for a teenager (or even a husband!), you can give him the room of his dreams!

There are lots of different types of stickers available. When you think of a nursery, you may think of decals of baseballs, footballs, and bats. But it doesn't have to stop there. If your family is into motocross racing, you can find decals for that. Just about any sport can become the theme of your little guy's bedroom.

As they get older, you may want to move to a more grown up look with the shadowed stickers. These are outlines of players, which tend to be less cartoonish than the nursery style.

Your child may also have a favorite player. In that case, take a look at Fatheads. These are lifesize stickers that look like photos of your favorite athlete. Almost any guy would love to have these on their walls - they may even make a good Father's Day gift!

Before you start applying your sticker, make sure that you have decided on its placement. Some of these are easily removable, but some will not be able to stick again after you peel them off. So choose carefully!

1. If you've just painted, you need to let your walls cure for about two weeks before applying the stickers. This prevents any problem with the paint.
2. Make sure the surface is completely clean of dirt and dry.  This will help your sticker stay better.
3. Some types of stickers need to be cut out before applying them.
4. Use masking tape to position that sticker where you want it.  This is especially important in those that are difficult to remove.
5. Detach the masking tape at one end.  Remove backing and apply, pressing down from the center to the outer edge to eliminate bubbles.
6. You may want to run over the sticker with a flat edge to get out bubbles.
   

Applying a large sticker is a little more difficult than applying a small one, especially if the sticker is in more than one piece.  For this type of job, you may want a helper.

First, clean the wall.  Make sure it's free of dirt or grease so that the sticker will stay put.  Also, make sure it's completely dry.

Again, you want to position the sticker before you actually apply that.  I find it helpful to mark with a pencil where I want it to go at after I've positioned it with masking tape.

After that, start at one corner and begin removing the adhesive. For this part, you may want to have another person helping you.  They can hold one side of the sticker while you do the other.  Starting from one corner, remove the adhesive, pressing the sticker down onto the wall as you peel it off.  Have your helper hold it straight.

For some stickers, you can peel them and reapply them if you have a problem.  But some are stickier than others!  Also, delicate designs have the tendency to rip at the smaller areas.  So be careful!

Finally, when you have it fully applied, then press it down with a flat edge.  Move from the center to the outside to fully remove any air bubbles.

With vinyl sports wall stickers, you will find that they can be applied and removed with little effort.  This can make for a fun, nontraditional toy for your boy's room. 

Apply these stickers at his height, and watch him act out his own sports scenario.  This is especially fun if you can combine several different players and equipment.  Fathead Tradeables are smaller, less expensive stickers that you can do this with. 

Getting them up is the easy and fun part.  But what if you want to take them down again?

A lot of stickers will be able to peel off without a problem. But if you have a more stubborn sticker, there are a couple of things you can try.

First, try spritzing it with water.  Wait a few minutes, then use a rubber spatula to scrape it off.  If that's not working, a paint scraper will work with a damp sticker.

If it's still not coming off, you can try a wall paper remover. First, try vinegar or fabric softener.  These can help some types of adhesives come out.  If that doesn't work, you'll need a wall paper remover spray. This is a chemical, so don't have the kids in the room when you use it.  Also, it does smell bad, so you might want the windows open.  We used DIF and it worked really well.