Displaying postcards and other paper ephemerata without any sticky stuff

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I’m writing because I have a decorating question I’d like to crowdsource to the creative readers of Offbeat Home. I have a lot of postcards that I want to use to decorate my new apartment, but I can’t quite figure out how. In my previous place, I tried that Blu-tack stuff (left faint stains on the walls and postcards, which often fell down) and tape (sticks permanently to the postcards, which I dislike). I don’t like the look of thumbtacks and while I’ve considered framing them, that would mean a LOT of frames, which could make the walls look cluttered as well as be potentially expensive.

How can I incorporate these postcards in my decor in an aesthetically-pleasing and durable way? -Ioana

Ooh ooh, I’ll go first! This is pretty low-design and done on a budget of zero, but here’s how I display stuff like that.

I call it “the discordant but dainty clothesline.”

Assembly takes about 30 seconds: I used two thumbtacks to anchor a couple old pieces of ribbon I found, combined with some mini-clothespins that were left behind at my baby shower. The result? A nice place to hang cards, snapshots, and other bits of paper ephemerata.

Homies, that’s just my beyond low-budget solution. Got any other ideas? Let’s rub our crowd sources together! (Just the tips!)

Comments on Displaying postcards and other paper ephemerata without any sticky stuff

  1. I use 3M Command products when I can’t use nails. Have ever since college, and they’ve come out with a TON of stuff. One of my favorites that might be helpful for you is these really neat little sets of strips that stick to each other kind of like Velcro:

    https://www.command.com/3M/en_US/command/products/~/Command-Small-Picture-Hanging-Strips/?N=5924736+3294529207+3294737341&rt=rud

    Stick one to the card, the other to the wall, and then put them together (I have to give them a little thump to get them to hold onto each other…you’ll know you’ve got it when you hear a kind of snappy crackly noise).

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