Damage-Free Decorating for Wooden Train Layouts
Posted by Jessica Petersen on Feb 5, 2013
In my post about our Valentine’s Day in Vicarstown train layout yesterday, I promised I’d share my secret way to stick things to our wooden trains and buildings without worrying about ruining them.
Well, it’s not my secret, really. My husband showed me how to do it.
Originally, he came up with this solution back when we had only a small train set, almost two years ago. We wanted to use blocks as bridge supports, but every time the Little Engineer — who was the Really Tiny Engineer at the time — bumped the tracks, the blocks would all fall down. We wanted to keep our blocks nice for playing with in other ways, but we also wanted them to stay put.
So my husband started securing the blocks to the track and each other with small loops of No Residue Painter’s Duct Tape. This is an absolutely brilliant product. It’s stronger, thicker, and smoother than blue painter’s tape, and I feel it’s easier to remove as well. And best of all, it really doesn’t leave any residue. Since those early train layouts, we’ve used it in several more practical applications with our trains, and now to decorate the layout for Valentine’s Day.
The downside is you pay for what you get. It’s not cheap. But if you’re careful to use as small of pieces as you can, you can make it last. I cut tiny squares of it, stuck the stickers to the non-stick side of the duct tape, and then stuck the whole thing to the station.
I removed one of our hearts on the station to show how well this works:
See, easy to remove, no residue! And I was able to stick the tape and the sticker right back on.
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Hi, I'm Jessica. While playing trains day in and day out for the last two years, my Little Engineer and I have had a lot of fun and learned so much together. I'm excited to share our discoveries with other people who have young train enthusiasts in their lives. Read more about our family and how Play Trains! came about... 
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This is a great idea. It makes playing with trains even more special. I like the stacking block trick, too!
Trisha @ Inspiration Laboratories recently posted…Secret Message Art
The one thing with the stacking the blocks trick is that the unit blocks aren’t the same unit as the supports for most of the train sets, so it’s always a little off. We’ve had better luck with Legos…but that’s another post.
What a great idea – we’ll use if for sure!
Lorie recently posted…Kid Made Alphabet Books
Great!
Jessica recently posted…DIY Felt Valentine Train
Cute idea!
Emma recently posted…{10 Days of Hearts} Day 7. Danish Heart Basket
Thanks!
Jessica recently posted…DIY Felt Valentine Train
What a great idea! We will have to check out that tape. Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!
Carrie recently posted…Peg Doll Animals
It’s great stuff.
Jessica recently posted…Because I Love Mama…