Wednesday, March 21

Picture Trick

I learned a new picture hanging trick the other day and decided to give it a try in our office/guest room. I started with these 3 picture frames from a Dick Blick outlet. It turns out there is a Dick Blick outlet near my parents' house and I was introduced to it for the first time recently. And I'm hooked. There is a whole back room of as-is merchandise and I found a bunch of goodies! Including these bad boys for only $5 each. With their deep, clean lines they are just what I was looking for to fill an empty wall in this room. If you look closely you can see on the bottom frame why they were marked down. They are a kind of banged up, but the serious damage is all hidden on the back. There are a few scratches on the front, but I'm planning to give them all a matching coat of paint that should hide any flaws.
 
 

These frames didn't have any mounting hardware so I used a picture hanging kit (from Dollar Tree) to attach some eye hooks and wire to the back. That's why these frames are perfect for my new trick. The wire on each one ended up at a different height because I didn't do any kind of measuring. But don't worry, it will all work out!


Down to picture-hanging-business: I started by driving a nail halfway through a scrap piece of plywood (but I'm sure you could use scrap anything).

 

Then I hooked the wire of the first frame over the head of the nail.

 

Then I hoisted it up into position, letting the frame hang on the nail. This is great if you don't know exactly where you want your picture to hang because you can move it around without commitment.


 Keeping the nail firmly in place, I took down the picture and grabbed my hammer (with a great display of agility. not really, my husband handed it to me.). I gave the nail a quick tap on the head just enough to leave a mark on the wall.


 That's the start of my little hole. It marks exactly where my nail needs to go for this frame.


 So in goes the nail. I like to angle them down toward the wall (so the head is sticking up) just a little to make sure my frames don't slip off the end of the nail. If I was hanging something heavy I would use a screw & anchor instead, but these guys are super lightweight.


 After the first frame, I repeated this process for the second. I used a level to line up the tops of my two frames before marking my hole. I did measure the space between the two so I could equally space my third frame.


Of course, no project is complete without a little help from Baby B....

He likes to hold things up to his ear like a phone. Any things. And if he doesn't have something in his hand, he'll just put his hand up...

...and say "ehh-o!" It means "hello. :)

I repeated the process again to hang my third frame. After they were hung I marked the "left" "middle" and "right" so I can be sure to hang them in the right spots (so they will be level) after I paint them. I'm really happy with how this trick worked for this kind of project. I feel like it was the easiest way to get these level!


Now I just need to paint them and add some art. Baby steps.




Have you learned any new tricks lately?

3 comments:

  1. I love the Dick Blick outlet! I have to resist going to it every time I go to visit my parents. The guest room is looking great!

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    Replies
    1. I just found out about it last time I was there, I don't know if I'll be able to resist next time.... :)

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  2. Haha I really appreciate your trick. Can't believe it's effective, I need to try it. contact us

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