Dress Hangers

Materials

• wood hangers
• sand paper (for finished wood hangers)
• small wooden plaques
• wire (bent into name)
• acrylic paint
• acrylic paint sealer/top coat
• scrapbook letter stickers
• silver Sharpie (optional)
• rhinestone stickers (optional)
• ribbon
• jewelry wire

Instructions
1.  If you're using finished wood hangers (most sold in stores are), you'll need to sand off the top coat or the paint won't stay on. It only takes a small piece of sand paper per hanger and about five minutes. Once the hanger looks dull, the top coat is off.
2.  Paint each hanger and wooden plaque, depending on the color you may need two (or more) coats.
3.  After they dry, add the letter stickers on the front of the hanger in the center (I did the girls' bridal party roles) and to the plaques (this is where I put their names).
4.  Write the wedding date on the back of the wood plaque with Sharpie.
5.  Apply the sealer on top of the letters so that they are really adhered to the hangers and plaques.
6.  If you choose to do so, add the rhinestones (or other embellishments) once the sealer has dried.
7.  Use the ribbon to tie a bow and string a small piece of the jewelry wire into the bow.
8.  Wrap the wire around the hanger handle so that the bow is at the front.
9.  Drill two holes in each wood plaque and string the ribbon through creating a loop, tying large knots at the back. (If using satin ribbon, burn the edges so that it doesn't run or rip.
10.  Hang the plaque around the back of the hanger so that the name faces front.

For instructions with pictures, click here.

Hanging with Friends

I finished the bridesmaids hangers! My parents were here this weekend and my dad drilled the holes in all the plaques, as well as the Mr. and Mrs. signs (which I also finished). They look really cute and I'm super happy with them! I can't wait to give them to my girls!

Juliana

Jessica

Cristina

Shannon

Nicole

Hannah

Olivia

Matt's sign

My sign

Hanging by a Moment

I got the wire for my dress hanger! That means that I was able to finish my hanger!!

the wire

my completed hanger!

I bought more wire yesterday at Walmart so that I can continue working on the bouquets. I also received two of the brooches I ordered in the mail today, however, one of the purple ones is way too pink so I had to find another one on ebay that I'll have to order. I may use this pin some other way, maybe give it to my flower girl since it's little pink flowers.

Being Da Vinci

I went to Michael's (again) today and bought supplies for the Mr. and Mrs. signs for the reception. I also got small wooden plaques that I'm going to use for the girls' hangers. (I decided that it would be too much to by the wire for them all, so I'm only getting it for myself and I using the nameplates for the girls.) Here are the Mr. and Mrs. signs so far (I need to outline the letters since they blend in from far away, drill holes, and string the ribbon):

And here are the nameplates (they're finished except for drilling holes and feeding through the ribbon as well):

I also contacted the seller on Etsy about ordering the wire for my hanger. When I go home next weekend, I'll have my dad help me drill the holes in everything and then I'll put on the ribbons and they'll be done! One more thing to add to my completed list!

Hang In There

I went to Michael's today and bought some more letter stickers as well as glitter paint and ribbon for my hanger. I came home and finished the hangers, with the exception of the wire names that I'll be ordering. (I'd like to make them myself, but I really don't think they'd come out very good. I'd rather have someone do them that knows what they're doing.)
Here are pictures of the hangers with what each wire will say:

"Mrs. Denver"

the back of mine

"Juliana"

"Jessica"

"Cristina"

"Shannon"

"Nicole"

"Hannah"

"Olivia"

my mom

Matt's mom

I also painted the inside of the guestbook card boxes black which made them look really great. And I'm currently spray painting more frames for the table numbers which means the apartment smells awful.

Coming Along Smoothly

An update on last night's post:
I went to Walmart this morning and bought some 3M sandpaper to get rid of the finished layer on the hangers. I started right when I got home and it took me less than 5 minutes to sand each hanger. After I sanded them, I put one coat on each hanger and let them dry (I did it in a pattern: sanding one hanger and then painting it then moving to the next). Once each had dried I added another coat which is when I realized that the silver paint I was using for mine looked awful. I changed mine to black and I plan on adding a clear glitter coat over it tomorrow. Once they dried I added the silver glitter stickers on each (I used them for our moms' too but I didn't sand and paint them, just left the hangers the way they came). I then painted over the stickers and paint with the top coat. (I have to finish this tomorrow because I ran out of the sticker letters that I need.) After that all dried, I added on some rhinestones (not on our moms') and tied a bow using the ribbon from the bouquets/boutonnieres. I used some 24 gauge silver wire to attach the bows to the tops of the hangers. Once I order the wire names I'll add them on, too, except for the moms'.
For directions with pictures on how to make these hangers (so far) click here.

Home Depot: We Have a Problem

I went to Walmart on my lunch break today and found five packs of wood hangers for under $5. I was really excited except that they are finished. So after work I went to Michael's to get paint for them (as well as more ribbon, silver wire, stickers, and embellishments) and forgot to get sand paper. (I'm not sure they carry it, but I forgot to go to Home Depot or Walmart.) I was super excited to start the hangers and then realized that I wouldn't be able to paint them without sanding them first. Thank God tomorrow is Saturday and I can run to Home Depot as soon as I get up!
I also messaged the etsy seller that had the wire names and she said she drops the price piece to $5 for bridal parties. It's still $3 shipping per item, so $8 total, but I think I might get them for all the girls (but not our moms). It would be $64 total which I wouldn't really mind spending. With that in mind, I found silver glitter stickers that I will use to spell out their roles. I bought white glitter ones for my hanger as well as pearl and rhinestone embellishments.
Here are the acrylic paints that I bought for the hangers, though:

 Holiday Red

Light Orange (from painting wine glasses a year ago)

 Yellow

 Hunter Green

Bright Blue

Plum

Pink Blast (also from wine glasses)

Hang On

I've been looking on Etsy for personalized hangers for my bridal party and myself. There are many options, but they are individually $8 and up which would mean at least $64. I love the ones with the bent wire, but I also saw one that was simply a painted wooden hanger with a name and design on it. I like this idea and it's something I could do myself! I found a 10 pack of wooden hangers online that will cost less than $20 with shipping. I can buy paint at Michael's and either get stencils or attempt to paint their names freehand. (Probably going with the stencils because who knows what it will look like otherwise.) I think I may buy one of the wire parts of the hanger with "Mrs.Denver" for my hanger to make it stand out since they're only $6.50. Plus, doing the painting myself, I can write on both sides of the hanger, perhaps the girls' names and their role as well as adding the date of the wedding. Maybe some fake flowers, rhinestones, and other embellishments, too. And with the 10 pack, I'll be able to do one for mine & Matt's moms! I'm so excited about these!

On another, completely unrelated note I made a "picture" of the wedding party and Matt and I.

I used familystickers.com to make the characters and tried to find bodies that corresponded with each person!