arcs and Crafts

By Julie White

I’ve seen examples online of people using wire inside of empty frames in order to hang pictures, so when I found a piece of chicken wire in my driveway (thanks to the construction site next door) I decided I’d try making one of my own. I bought a framed painting at arc for only $2.99 and emptied it so I was left with just the frame.

I wanted to leave the frame as-is so I decided to spray-paint the chicken wire to add some color.

I laid out the wire over the frame so that I knew what size I needed in order for it to fit inside.

Using a wire cutter I cut it down to the right dimensions

and fit the wire, wrong side up, into the back of the frame.

Once I had the chicken wire in the correct spot I stapled around the edges of the back side to secure it to the frame.

I also lightly stapled in one staple higher up on the back that I could use to hang the frame from a nail on a wall.

Right side up, it looks great with the turquoise wire inside!

I hung pictures on it with tiny clothespins

and also used it to hang up some vintage fishing lures.

I really like how it turned out, though I wish I’d used a larger frame so I had space to hang more pictures. The fact that it only cost me $2.99, thanks to arc, was a pretty sweet deal.