DIY Personalized Wire Hanger

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It's good to be back everyone.  :)  Here's a mini update on my life after my adventure with SJ Made. I was whisked away on vacation with my mom to Washington DC.  (I'm going to create a pin board and write a blog post on that once I get my pictures off my camera).  Once home from vacation I had to deal with a dead graphic card on my computer.  Since I don't have the $300 (quote from the Apple store) to get a new one, I'm using my boyfriend's and sister's computer in the meantime.  Unfortunately my camera doesn't register on my boyfriend's computer so I can't get my photos off.....First world problems right?  Luckily I have a wifi camera so I was able to email myself a few photos to get this blog post done. However, I still don't have a permanent solution for my computer problem, but hopefully soon.  Now that everyone is caught up on my personal life, here's the DIY blog post you've all been patiently waiting for.

My friends are getting married in a couple of weeks and I couldn't help but make this hanger for the bride.  I love making these personalized hangers for my bride friends.  It's something that not too many people think about getting for their wedding day because most of them cost between $20-30 on Etsy and trying to keep within your wedding budget buying a wedding hanger might not be on the top of your list.  But little do people know, this is an easy do-it-yourself project you can do that adds an instant wow factor in photos of your hanger for your wedding dress (or any bridesmaid dress).  I don't have a pin for this, since I learned how to do this for my sister's wedding some months before I started my blog but hopefully you'll be inspired to pin it. :)

 

What you'll need:

•  1 wooden hanger (Bought @Target)
• Floral wire
• Pliers & cutter (scrap cloth)
• Print out of the words you want to have "written"
• Drill (for hole in hanger - not pictured)
•  Glue gun (not pictured)

 

Floral wire is super flexible and easy to work with which is perfect for this project.  The downside of that is that any bend you make in the wire leaves stress marks, and the pliers can be a little rough on the wire leaving nicks on the wires.  To fix this, I just wrapped some scrap cloth around the pliers in order to soften up the rough edges.  

A few things to keep in mind before you start:

• Getting the letters  to your liking will take some practice so cut off a small piece and bend and unbend it a couple of times to practice some hard letters 
• Layering up on the wire is okay because people will look at the hanger straight on
• The print out that you have will be a guideline so try to keep it as close as possible. But also keep in mind that a guide is just that - a guide.  So don't freak out if your letters aren't matching perfectly.  As long as you have the correct general size to fit in between the hanger, you're good to go

 

You want to start by leaving some space to the left where you will start your first letter.  Some letters, like this N, you will need a little creativity to make it work. I found that where you would typically draw a straight line (N, I, L,Y,K etc...), it is best to loop the wire or make the wire go back down on itself (picture below).

 

Continue tracing your letters the best you can and for any letters with circular parts (a,o,p, etc), you will want to think about how to layer it (as I had mentioned earlier).  For the 2nd "n", I kept the wire close together by bringing the wire down and squeezing the two sides together with the pliers so that it was flush.  

Next, you will want bend the wire up on itself.  From there continue making the top curve of the n.

Don't be afraid to sketch out and draw the letters out if the printed font doesn't match up to what you envision.  Or, if you're having trouble envisioning it, it helps to sketch it out as well.  :)

 

I've seen hearts done differently, but this one is my go-to.

Once you're done writing out your phrase, line up the ends to where you think the holes will meet.  You can either drill up and make your words hang down a little(which can be seen in my first photo), or drill straight to the sides to make your words in one straight line.

And glob some glue over the hole and stick the wire in.  The wire should force the glue in the hole and around the wire keeping it in place.  Do that to both sides, and then you're done!