If you follow me on Instagram (@greyhouseharbor) you may remember this photo from last fall. We dubbed it the “Great Snuggle Incident of 2014.”

It had been a few months since we’d converted Bug’s crib to a toddler bed. One fateful evening after bedtime books, Handsome decided the infant-sized piece of furniture would be a great place for a snuggle sesh and crawled in. Whether he was delusional or Bug convinced him it would all turn out ok, we’ll never know—but the result was disastrous.

The front support arms were crushed beyond repair, rendering the entire crib useless. It was a (now-outlawed, gasp!) drop-side crib that I could not sell or donate anyways, so the entire thing got scrapped. All except one piece…

Fast forward six months to today. We have lived in this house for over 2 years and I still have zero family photos on the walls. Zero. People are starting to question whether we’re a real family. Rumor at the bus stop is that we’re actually in witness protection.

I attribute this epic lack of photo representation to two things: my indecisive borderline OCD fear of putting holes in my walls and between my phone and my DSLR I have too many great pics and get overwhelmed. But not anymore!

Recently I was introduced to the print company Artifact Uprising. I adore that their products are “inspired by the disappearing beauty of the tangible.” Ugh, like an arrow right to my rebellious non-photo-printing heart! They offer an array of high quality printed tangibles, but I was especially drawn to their square print set due to it’s clean, timeless format. They even have an app that allows you to load images straight from your Instagram feed. Now I really had no excuses.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what I call happy mail.

Broken cribs, cool print companies… where I am I going with this?  Hang in there, friends.

I had saved the wire bed frame from Bug’s crib, knowing I wanted to turn it into a wall photo holder. It took awhile to figure out how to hang the frame because in order to clip photos to it, it needed to protrude ever so slightly off the wall.

First I cut a 5/8″ dowel rod (purchased in Walmart craft section) into 1/2″ wide discs.

Then I hammered a 1.5″ roofing nail into the center of each wood disc. Roofing nails are key, because they have a large head that will hold the frame in place.

At each corner of the bed frame, I tucked the wood disc against the wall behind the wire and snugged the nail up tight against the edge before nailing it down. In the second photo you’ll see a hint of the Blue Stik I also put on the back of each disc. Because the nail is going into plain drywall and isn’t long enough to reach a stud, the Blue Stik helps it stay put without being permanent.

To properly secure the grid, I ended up with 6 supports — 4 corners and 2 centered on the long sides.

Songbird was eager to help arrange the new space (pay no attention to her cold-weather-is-almost-over-so-mom-refuses-to-buy-new-leggings-that-fit-well wedgie).

We used mini clothespins to attach the photos. This way, they are easy to reposition or change out on a whim.

My hanging solution has held up splendidly, even withstanding the littlest not-always-gentle hands without a budge. This might very well be the kids’ new favorite spot in the house. Several times a day they stop and tell each other stories about one picture or another.

My goal is to rotate the photos on a seasonal basis. And I must say, our new interactive “memory grid” was totally worth 6 holes in the drywall. In fact, I’m currently scouting space for some actual framed prints now.

Don’t tell the U.S. Marshal Service.