Step 11: Attaching Hanging Hardware

There are lots of choices for hanging hardware, but I always use some simple brass clips and picture wire that can be found in any major home rennovation center. I buy mine at Home Depot. The hanging clips come with the necessary screws, and the wire can be cut with regular scissors. Note that the clips have a “top” and “bottom.” Attach them with the hinge outward.

Hanging clips
Attach the Clips
Attach the clips about a third of the way down from the top of the frame, and try to center them horizontally in the wood. My frame is 17.5 inches tall (since the diploma is in landscape orientation), so I measured down 6 inches on both sides and made a horizontal line. The back lip of the frame is 1/2-inch wide, so I measured in 1/4-inch and made a vertical line. Then I screwed one clip on either side of the frame, with the screw centered over the marks I just made. Since the frame is relatively narrow (1/2-inch), I first drilled pilot holes to prevent the screws from splitting the wood.

Attach the clips
Attach the Wire
Take some strong picture-hanging wire and thread it through one of the clips. Run about 4 to 6 inches through the hole and bend the wire at the brass clip.

Run 4-6 inches through and bend
Loop the wire through a second time and pull it taut. This will provide stronger hanging capacity than a single loop would.

Make a second loop
Twist the remaining wire back on itself. The tighter you twist it, the stronger it will be.

Twist the remaining wire
Thread the other end of the wire through the other hanging clip and cut the wire such that 4 to 6 inches extra wire go through the loop. Pull the wire snug and repeat the same looping and twisting process on this end. When you’re done, you should be able to lift the entire frame by the wire, and there shouldn’t be so much slack in the wire that it protrudes above the top of the frame when hanging.
Finished!
Congratulations! You’re finished! I hang my frames using some hanging hooks that I buy at the same place as the hanging clips and picture wire (Home Depot). They look like this:

Wall hanging hardware

Finished Frame
I hope you found this information helpful, and I encourage you to try your hand at making your own frames. It’s not hard, is very cost effective, and very rewarding when you see a picture you took, in a frame you built, hanging on your wall. I’d love to hear what you thought of these pages.