Does anybody have any cheap or free ideas for how to hang plates on a wall? I have heard Sticky Tack works, but have had posters that I used that for come down with it. I found some great looking plate hangers, but they were five dollars a piece, which is pricey when you want to hang about twenty plates.
Any ideas for invisibly hanging plates for cheap is what I am after. I want a pretty hanging plate display in my dining room that is not going to break my very slender budget
Thanks.
By Anna Shobe from ID
I know of a person who had a collection of plates. She had a carpenter install a molding to the wall about 2 or 3 feet below the ceiling. The molding had a groove so she could place the plates against the wall and the groove would keep them in place. Looked great. But it may be costly.
You can find plate hangers at the local Dollar Trees. They have springs on them for tension and adjustments for smaller or larger plates.
How about a plate shelf? This is a narrow shelf that you hang and it has a groove in it for the plate to set as it leans against the wall. Old Victorian houses had something of this nature that went all the way around a room. If you do that you can move the plates around on a whim without worrying about nails holding hangers.
Use this link!
www.theartfulcrafter.com/
Not sure if this is something you'd want to do, but this is how I hung some large metal plates on my wall. I got some sturdy picture hanging hooks (the saw-toothed kind) and glued them onto the back of the plates with super glue.
If you are wanting to hang quite a few plates. Study the way one of the wire hangers are made and make some yourself from clothes hangers or other wire. I bought several different sizes at Wal-mart for less than $2 each. Check your dollar stores and thrift shops I see them there quite often also.
They sell heavy duty double stick tape at Home Depot, Lowes, Target and Walmart, to hang 12x12 mirror tiles on a wall. I'm sure if they would hold a mirror tile they would hold a plate.
I hate the plate hangers they sell for this purpose. I have some Wedgewood plates that I had hung with those and the hangers after a while left marks on my plates that didn't come off!
Now what I do is get heavy duty fishing line. I loop it over the top and the bottom of the plate about 1/3 the way down from the top and up from the bottom, and tie it with a good knot in back. Then I hang this on a nail or whatever type hanger you trust on the wall. The fishing line is all but invisible, and is strong enough to hold the plate securely.
For un-replaceable and breakable things, I do not use the hooks that stick on the walls. I like those, and do use them for many, many things all over my house. But for things I can't replace that might break, I just feel better with a picture hook.
For this same reason I wouldn't even consider the double stick tape, no matter how strong it is. Moisture (humidity) and time will eventually cause it to not be so sticky and down will come your plates! Believe me, been there done that and lost some beautiful plates that way!
A couple of people have suggested using a plate shelf or molding to set the plates on and have them lean against the wall. These are very attractive and work well as long as you don't have kids or pets, and as long as you never have a loud clap of thunder, or even worse, as long as you don't live anywhere near a military base where they occasionally practice with their big guns! The sound waves (believe me even living 10 miles from Ft Bragg we get it here) travel for many many miles and will cause your walls to shake.
I also wouldn't use the super glue tip from Tapestry Lady either. It might work for her metal plates but for breakable plates, super glue holds good, but not forever!
I went to the Dollar Tree and found hangers at $1.00 each, this was a great idea that you gave me too.
My plates have been up for years now, but I'd assume that if the plates were valuable it's not something one would want to try anyway! You end up with a permanent hook on the plate. Glue works better on some surfaces than others so I'd test it first and see. It's an idea that worked for me in a pinch though it might not be for everyone. Common sense, obviously. :-)
I was wondering about this too because I have some wooden plates that I wanted to display without messing them up. Perhaps velcro? There are some brands that take a little muscle to pull apart (the male from the female part). Maybe even put a small nail in the center of the piece you stick to the wall just in case.
How much are plate hangers at Dollar Tree?
If you can find them at the Dollar Tree, they should just be $1. Everything costs the same, it is just the package amount that increases. I doubt you would find plate hangers in multiple packs.
