Monday, May 21, 2012

DIY Personalized Bridal Hangers

I've been waiting to reveal my DIY bridal dress hangers, not merely to keep you all in unbearable suspense, but rather because I had several "difficulties."

My original inspiration came from the tons of wedding blogs and etsy stores that now sell these cool, but completely unnecessary wedding details. Like this:

So after seeing lots of tutorials online, being the thrifty person that I am, I decided to embark on the personalized wedding dress hanger journey.

The Personalized Wedding Dress Hanger Journey
1.  I bought/rounded-up all of my supplies:
- Wooden hangers
- Aluminum wire (12 gauge and 16
     gauge) - You can get it in the jewelry
     section of a craft store or at a
     hardware store
- Needle-nosed pliers
- Template for "guiding" - I downloaded
     and used the font Little Days from
     dafont and typed out my name in
     Microsoft Word
- Ruler
- Drill
- Drillbits
- Hot glue
- Flower

2.  I measured 1/2 inch in from the edge of the hanger and marked where to drill with a sharpie.

3.  I drilled.  You don't need to go too far, just enough to fit the wire in with some hot glue.

4.  I tested the hole with the aluminum wire.  The first drill bit that I used was actually too small, so I went up a size.
 I broke the drill bit.  Not suggested.

5. With all of the holes drilled, I was ready to get started with the wire. I practiced...
...and practiced...
...and practiced.
I actually went through an entire package of aluminum wire. 

To be honest, I wasn't planning on spending so much time practicing.  I was trying to make the hanger fo' real each time, but kept messing up.  I messed up a lot.  I'm also a perfectionist so if I got a tiny part wrong or plier teeth marks in the wire, I would stop and start over.
6.  I started to question whether or not I would be willing to complete this project.

7.  Since I had used the entire roll of 12 gauge wire, I decided to give the 16 gauge a try. 16 gauge is smaller and weaker so it's easier to manipulate, but also more likely to get messed up later.

8. Success! I bent the wire so that it would line up with the holes and added in a drop of hot glue, followed by the wire. I had some leftover stickers from Jessica's bridal shower gift, so I added our wedding date to the top. 
  

9. Lastly, I hot glued a flower to the hanger.  I used a generous amount.

So there you have it.  I didn't know if it was possible after so many mistakes, but I am happy with how it turned out. I plan on making these for my bridesmaids too, I just have to pick bridesmaids first.  Hobby Lobby has the 16 gauge wire on sale for 50% off this week, so I grabbed another two packages for .98 each so that I can make 4 more when I get my butt into gear and make some decisions.

Most difficult part? - the letters A and C (sooooo painful!)
Easiest part? - everything except A and C

Price breakdown
Hangers - $5.00 Walmart
Wire (12 gauge) - $3.50 JoAnn (after 40% off coupon)
Needle nose plies - $2.00 Walmart
Tiny Needle-nose pliers - $4.50 Hobby Lobby (after 40% off coupon)
Flower - .99 Hobby Lobby
Stickers - on hand, but $1.49 at Hobby Lobby.

Currently, the hanger cost me $16, but if I end up making 5 of these, the total for them would come to just about $4.00 each or $20 total with the cost of the extra wire.  Not too bad considering you can pay over $20 just for one!

What do you think?  Are you planning on ordering/DIYing a bridal hanger?  What is your unnecessary wedding detail?

Edit: 10/11/2012
Here is an example of how I bent the wire to form the C and the A.

5 comments:

  1. How did you end up making the c's and a's. I'm having the most trouble with those.

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    Replies
    1. Same here! I had to start over again and again because of both the C and the A. I'm posting a picture of the directions that I went in that worked out the best for me. The C is pretty much standard, but there were several ways that I tried to shape the A. Other than that, it was mostly practice and following the letters than I had printed on paper. Good luck!

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  2. I've done a lot of letter based wire work in the past with other projects and I have found that if I use a lettering templete - personally - I become a perfectionist! Usually free-handing it works so much better for me! Also, a tip for "C", "a", "S" and "O" - find a circular object about the size that you're wanting and use it to guide/wrap the wire around. :) LOVE this DIY project and can't wait to see the Bride's and other Bridesmaids reactions! SOOOO excited! Thanks for posting this. :)

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  3. Great DIY project. Thank you for sharing

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  4. Love it!! Thx for sharing!!! Going to attempt it this weekend!!

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