Put an Art Hook in a Place You Can't Put a Nail With Sugru

We all have places where a nail isn't appropriate, but we still want to hang things. Luckily, sugru is a material that sticks to unusual surfaces, comes in a variety of colors, and can be formed into any kind of hook or tab. In this instructable, I'll show you how to use sugru to create a hook for art and other hanging items. Removing the sugru will take a little effort, but it will at least not leave a nailhole.

Make a mark if you need to determine an exact x and y coordinate. Here I use a garage door - it's part of our industrial art space, and we frequently have artists that want to hang art on this door. However, a nail is not appropriate, and we also want something that won't hurt if someone backs into it.

Sugru is a room temperature setting polymer, and soft-cures in 30 minutes. Don't open the package until you are ready to work. It firm-cures in 24 hours. I washed my hands beforehand, since I was working with white sugru, and didn't want to stain it with dirt from my hands.

I worked for a bit to ensure that I would have enough of a lip to the hook that wires and ridges on the back of pictures would fit over it, but it also wouldn't easily break off. I also wanted to make sure there was enough of a surface connection with the garage door that it wouldn't easily fall off.

So far, so good! We've used this hook now for an all-weekend art show, and it has held nicely without being intrusive when we don't have objects covering it.