Posted by Erin…
Earlier this year I moved into a new apartment where my bedroom is in a second floor loft space, overlooking the family room. Due to a combination of my claustrophobia and sheer laziness, we decided to hang a curtain to separate the rooms instead of having one of Manhattan’s famous prefab walls built – the same walls that turn every two-bedroom Upper East Side apartment into a convertible three-bedroom. I’m a sound sleeper, so not having a wall doesn’t bother me at all. ..except for the fact that it makes hanging things on the walls nearly impossible. My very handy, sweet boyfriend hung the curtains from the ceiling for me, but warned me that rods definitely couldn’t support that much weight. With a lack of wall space, I found that I had very little surface area to hang picture frames, vintage posters, or the decorative hooks that I used for my faux pearls and grandmother’s purses. After thinking about this situation for a short while, I found the perfect solution to combat the photo problem and help give my room more personality.
I love the look of picture frames that hang in a row, like these from Target, but knew that they would be way too heavy. Eyeing some Grosgrain ribbon, I was determined to recreate the look of the frames, minus the weight. Checking out my finished project, I think I did a good job!
Supplies:
Grosgrain ribbon
- ½” – 2” wide, depending on how big a frame you would like
- Any color you like works, although make sure its not sheer
- Approx. $3.99 at Michael’s
Grosgrain ribbon with wire
- 2” wide or bigger
- Any color, can be sheer
- Approx. $3.99 – $5.99 at Michael’s
Your favorite photos
Hot Glue Gun
Instructions:
- Lay out the photos you will hang in a row on the same ribbon, I suggest two or three.
- Measure each side of the picture.
- Cut four pieces of the non-wire ribbon, two just longer than the vertical sides of the photo, two just longer than the horizontal sides. Remember to cut the Grosgrain on a diagonal so that it doesn’t pull.
- Lay the pieces of ribbon along the edges of the picture, making sure the four sides fit together and form a rectangle, just like a frame. The edge of each piece of ribbon should be laying on the edge of the photo.
- Using your hot glue gun, place a small line along the edges of each photo, and then lay the grosgrain ribbon along each side, so that the edges meet and make a frame around the photo.
Corner
- Take the Grosgrain ribbon with wire, decide how long you would like the frames to hang from the curtain rod, and measure that much of the ribbon. Add another few inches and cut.
- Starting at the end of the ribbon that will hang down, position the pictures on the ribbon, leaving enough ribbon at the top to tie onto the rod, nail, etc. that the frames will hang from.
back of the photos
- Glue the photos, positioning them on the ribbon.
- Take the finished product and hang it over the curtain rod, or whatever you plan to hang the frames from, and tie or glue the ribbon to hold it in place. Hide the extra end behind the photos. You’re done!
Good luck! While I did mine all in black because that was what I had handy, any craft store has a huge selection of grosgrain ribbon – mix up the colors and have fun with it!
