I'm all take and no give these days. We have almost collected enough bottle caps to do a mural...so much for having enough by earth day...oh well. Anyway the mural is going to be inside, hanging on the upper wall of the library and will hang for at least one year. We are looking at about a 6ft x 5ft mural. So I need your experience in choosing the base for the mural and the attachment method. I think I have ruled out foam core as being too flimsy but I worry that plywood will be really heavy. Is there an in-between material we can use? Do we really need to drill each cap in or can we use hot glue...how about gorilla glue or liquid nails? Did you assemble the mural or have adult volunteers or have student's do it? What types of attachment materials did you let the students use (hot glue gun, power drill?) I will have 6th-8th graders who can work on this project. Thanks so much for you ideas. I know there are tons of posts about this topic out there but honestly with baby demanding all my attention I don't have time to search through everything!
I think liquid nails or gorilla glue should work, i wouldn't trust Elmer's school glue though. As for a base surface how about the particle board, fake wall stuff that you find in old houses. Ug, I can't remember the name of it!!! You can buy it in sheets at places like Home Depot and Lowes in sizes, if I remember correctly, 8 ft. by 3 ft(?)maybe. YOu know it looks like fake wood paneling. Anyway, that should be sturdy enough yet light weight enough to hang and easily portable. Now to remember what it's called.
ReplyDeleteMDF might be lighter than plywood. I'm not sure, though.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the MDF (which you can buy at Lowe's) is probably the best choice. If you try hot glue, try both low and hot temp. I actually think the LOW temp is better at gluing plastics. And no Elmer's, not even Glue-ALl, or Tacky. They are best for porous materials, no good for plastics.
ReplyDeleteI have always used particle board. You can buy an 8'x4' sheet at Lowe's for $13 and they aren't too heavy. I've done three cap murals and they've all been on that material. The screws work best for attachment in my experience. I have kids hot glue the caps on first, then I screw it all together. The problem with glue alone is that the wood can flex a bit and pop the caps off. I'm definitely interested in hearing if any other methods work. I read on a blog about a teacher who was going to use an air nailer with small nails. That would certainly be much quicker than the screws!
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