How to Put Up a Fathead

I am a member of Steelers Nation and to honor my team, I turned my kids’ playroom into a Pittsburgh Steelers room. I painted the room gold, honored several past players, hung banners, and then got the Troy Polamalu Fathead that my friend had given me for my birthday in anticipation of this decorating job. Troy had been rolled up in a mailing container in the corner of my bedroom and when he was taken out of the box the directions fell out with him. The directions that stated, “Wait 30 days after painting before applying your Fathead to the wall.” Back into the container Troy went to lounge in a corner of the new Steelers room.

The 30 days came and went. I made plans to stick Troy on the wall. My friend asked if I knew where I had put the instructions and a day later I found said instructions and began reading the explicit, yet humorous directions: “Say Hello To Your Fathead. Now Listen Up!”

1. Find Me a Room with a View – “I was created to be the center of attention – to live where your world can see me in all my glory! The chart at the bottom details the best surfaces for my adhesive.” – The plan was to put Troy on the main wall of the Steelers room which will be and has been our world for some time. He will be directly to the right of the new flat screen television. The chart included my wall surface; painted drywall. Check!
2. Borrow an Extra Set of Hands – “If you’re installing a life-size Fathead wall graphic, an extra set of hands will really come in handy. One good friend should do the trick“. – My oldest daughter filled in the good friend part. She was needed. Check!
3. Measure Twice. Stick Once. – “Don’t be shy with the tape measure. I am re-positionable, but the sooner you have me where you want…the sooner you can show me off.” – Daughter measured while I stood around rolling my eyes. I have the ability to see that things will fit on a wall perfectly and knew Troy was good to go, but daughter reminded me of my forgetting to read the thirty day part of the directions. I waited while she measured. Turned out that Troy would fit. Check!
4. Clean My New Home – “Use a warm damp cloth and a dab of elbow grease – DO NOT USE SOAP or cleaning agents! Allow the wall to dry completely.” – I had just painted the wall 35 days ago and didn’t feel cleaning was necessary. I was also afraid the paint might just peel off with a cleaning. Felt this rule didn’t apply to us. Check!
5. Peel & Stick – “Unroll me all the way. I need up to an hour to lay flat and relax. Then, starting from the top, carefully peel me from my backing and apply me to my new home. If you make a mistake, gently peel me off and reposition me in the new location. Keep the backing for storage purposes in case you want to move me to a different wall later.” – I’m thinking that this direction needs to be closer to the top, say maybe somewhere next to the wait 30 days after the painting instruction. What if you have your good friend to help you for only 30 minutes? You come to that part of the direction and oh, sorry, good friend but we have to wait an hour while Troy relaxes. I highly recommend reading through all of the instructions first, and luckily I had done this over the course of several days and was prepared to unroll Troy and wait an hour. He ended up relaxing for 8 hours before we remembered him. We followed the directions and slapped him on the wall. Check!
6. Smooth Moves Me – “Use the squeegee provided to smooth out any wrinkles and bubbles until I look like myself again. Start from the middle and work your way out to my edges.” – This was what daughter was looking forward to, but we did such a professional job from the get-go following these instructions that there weren’t any bubbles to squeegee. Check!
7. Share the Love – “Your friends are going to dig me. Invite them over for a peep. Throw a bash!” – I’ve had tons of people over for a peep including the mailman and the washing machine repair man. I consider every Steelers game a bash. Check!

Troy spent a couple of weeks in his first position before we rearranged the room, peeled him off, and moved him to the other side of the television. This time my daughter was able to work the squeegee as he had quite a few bubbles that needed working out. But he still moved easily and went right back on with no trouble. In fact, he looks so good on the wall and makes the room come alive that I’m thinking I really need a teammate for him to keep him company when I’m not around.