Hangers with Words

One of my favorite projects I sought out to create were hangers with words.  I first learned of these through the bridal blogosphere, as nearly every single blog had them in bridal gown images.  The hangers with wired words are more attractive than the plain plastic hangers, a fact a wish I had known 3 years ago!

All is not lost, though, the hangers aren't just for brides, they can be for any occasion actually.  Since I am a mom-to-be, I thought why not make one for my baby girl?  Here is my little tutorial for making Hangers with  Words.  It's rather simple to do.

Supplies:
16 guage floral wire
hanger (for shirts/dresses)

Directions:
1)  Start off by writing your word onto a piece of paper.  Write it rather large, and in a cursive style that will be easy to trace with wire.  Remember the old school days of writing in the form of D'Nealian? Kind of use that reference to writing your big loopy letters.

2)  I chose 16 guage floral wire, as it is easy to bend and work with.  I started with the end section, went in about 1 1/2" and then bent it-this will be the part that wraps around the hanger.

3)  I then wrapped that end around the slot on the hanger, wrapping twice to make sure it would hold taught.  Once I had the end piece secured, I aligned the wire to the width of the hanger to figure out where my start point would be for the word.  With the word "baby" already written down, it helped guide me to where that starting point would be.

4)  To really work with the wire, I removed it from the hanger, keeping the form bent where the end section was, so I wouldn't lose track of it.  Then I started in tracing the wire around the letters as best as I could, holding the wire firm with my left hand, and looping with my right hand.  As I mentioned 16 gauge wire is rather easy to work with, and is quite bendy.

5)  From this point it is up to you on how to maneuver the wire around the wording.  Play with looping over or under with each letter if it looks off.  With the "Mrs" wire, seen at the top of this post,  I really had to figure out the r and the s to make it look the way I liked it.  Having the word printed as a guide truly helps!

6)  Once you are happy with your word, then take your wire after the last letter, hold that tight, and section off another 1 1/2" and wrap that around the opposite slot on the hanger.  I made sure that the end piece would not be seen from the front facing hanger, so when I wrapped it around, the end nicely fell to the back side.  And there you have it!

It's so cute, and makes a great gift to give someone, or even yourself!  You can be as simple as pictured here, or doll up the hanger even more with a pretty bow, wrap the hanger itself in yard or silk, the possibilities are endless.  Have fun and enjoy this project!