Pinterest Challenge July 2011 | Details {Plates}

 On the left is the inspiration pin and the right is the finished project.

The hanging plate component of the project took just as long as the painting part as far as wait time. There was lots of looking and nudging and photographing to get it right. To start, I looked around the house to figure out what I already had.  I knew this was something that I would want to change or add to as I find different plates.

I was able to gather 6 of the 8 plates, so in the end I did purchase two of them. After gathering the plates, I laid them out on the dining room table to get a feel for placement.

 The plate next to the "cat" plate did not make the final cut.

Fortunately the short side of the dining table was almost exactly the same length for the top of the cabinet.  After deciding on an arrangement, I laid down craft paper to outline the plates to use as a pattern for nailing the hangers.

 

Next I taped the paper to the wall, which was a very annoying task.  After checking out the pattern, I ended up making two more patterns to adjust the spacing.  After the spacing was fixed, I put the plate hangers on each plate.  Some plates were easier than others due to sizes of plate hangers and the diameter of the plate.  I would definitely recommend that you buy a few extras just in case one gets bent too much or even so you have some to add to the display in the future.

For the hanger hook placement {provided with each plate hanger} I held the nail in the hanger hook in one hand and placed the plate, held by the other hand, on the hook.  I centered the plate in the designate place on the pattern pushed gently to make a small mark so I knew where to nail.  I repeated the process for each plate and all were extremely close to matching the outline on the pattern.

 After all of the the hanger hooks were up and the plates look good in their spots,  I removed the plates from the hooks and gently tore off the paper from the wall.

In case you are curious about where the plates are from, the blue cat plate and the red plate are from Anthropologie, and I purchased those.  The yellow "B" plate is from La Plates. The three white/cream plates are from our everyday dishes and are made by Villeroy and Boch.  The blue and white saucer is a blue willow pattern, and the last plate with the black, pink and gold rim is an antique I somehow acquired from my mom.



The plate hangers used in the photos I purchased from Home Depot in a mad rush to get the project completed on time.  If you look at the photos close enough you can see the prongs on the plate hangers are more like snaggle teeth that delicate little plate holders.  I found some at Target that were silver and smaller in the part that curves over the front of the plate.  I am considering trying those, but when I tried to get one on the biggest plate {blue cat} I mangled it beyond recognition.  Good thing they were only a couple of bucks.  As another idea, I am thinking about snipping the ends to make them smaller.  This is probably my biggest disappointment of the project. I kinda like the idea of a little gold though that the snaggle hangers offer.

For accessories, I went with two glass CB2 vase/candlesticks and a red recycled glass chickadee vase from Arhaus.  I have two large white pillar candle holders from Zgallerie that also look good, and that is a better match to the inspiration pin.  However, I am obviously not going for a match but just more of the same feel of the piano pin.

A little greenery completes the accessorizing!  I will be honest that they were only in the vase for the length of time that it took to take the photos.  I wish I could have live plants inside the house, but my two cats would just devour them.

 

That is it! In case you would like to see the inspiration pin and the finished project together here you go!