Friday, November 2, 2012

DIY: Wire Hangers

I made these hangers back in February, but was keeping them a surprise from MOH E and BM A, as a small little gift to go along with their dresses, which were also gifted to them.

I had been seeing these hangers for years, all over wedding blog world, and knew that when I was going to get married, that I would want them.

After seeing how much they were going for on Etsy, and other craft sites, I knew that I could make them just as well, and for much, much cheaper.

I took a trip over to Michael's and bought some 12-gauge wire, and then over to Target for some sturdy wood hangers.  I also used a pair of wire cutters and needle-nose pliers to help move the wire in the position that I wanted.  You will also need a drill, and some krazy-glue to attach the wire to the hangers.

I'm going to apologize now and let you know that the only pictures that I have are of the final products, as I was sitting in front of the TV watching shows with the family while I was making these.  Also, it's really hard to take pictures while you're drilling, so I also don't have any pictures of that process.  FAIL!

Starting at the end of a roll of wire, I left about ten inches of empty space, and then started to form the first letter of the name that I wanted to write.

The first name that I did was MOH E - Emily.  I decided that I wasn't going to worry about capital letters, and that everything would be done in lower case.  Because the wire was pliable enough to just use my fingers for most of the letters, I only used the needle-nose pliers to help make the "creases," like the 180 degree turns in the letter "m."  Also for the this name, I decided to loop the ends of the wire around part of the first and last letters in "Emily" to help it keeps it's shape.  Once the name was formed, I straightened it out gently, and then cut the wire ten inches from the last letter, just to make sure that I had enough extra to attach it to the hanger.

The next name I did was BM A - Alicia.  There wasn't much that I did differently between this name and the other name.  But, I will tell you that after having made only one, this one was so much easier to do.

After both MOH E and BM A's hangers were done, I started up on mine.  Because I wanted mine to say "Mrs. NewLastName," I actually traced the wooden hanger onto a piece of paper and then wrote out the letters just to make sure that they would all fit size wise.  Then, I got to work on forming the letters, adding a few more twists and loops in to make it look pretty.

Once I was finished, I took out the drill, and drilled holes in the bottom of the hangers where I wanted the wire to attach.  Make sure you test the drill bit to make sure that it's not too thin or too thick - you want the wire to fit in the hole snugly, but not too tightly that you end up bending the wire when inserting it in the hole.  Also, you should use a piece of tape around your drill bit to help guide you into the hanger without risking drilling through the top.  This will also help you determine the depth when it comes time to cut your wire to fit in the hole.

I placed each wire name in the center of the hanger, and bent where the wire met the hole that I had drilled.  Make sure that if you are using hangers that have hooks that don't turn, that they are all going in the same direction.  I compared the length of the bit up to the tape marking, and the excess wire, and then snipped where the lengths matched.  I slipped each end of the wire into the hole, and made sure it looked right, then removed the wire, added some krazy-glue into the holes, and slipped the wire back into the hanger.  I held the wire in the hole until it stopped moving when it was lightly twisted and pulled, just to make sure that it dried in the right position.

Here are the finished products!!

MOH E - Emily / Personal Picture * I fixed the "m" after this picture was taken - it doesn't look so wonky anymore ;)

BM A - Alicia / Personal Picture

My Hanger - Mrs. Z / Personal Picture * Edited for Privacy

So, what do you think?  I'm actually pretty proud of them! Did you DIY your own wire hangers for yourself and your girls?  Can you believe the cost of these on craft sites?! CRAZY!

No comments:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Pin It button on image hover