DIY Wall Hanging

I am slightly obsessed with all wall hangings…you could literally string anything together, put it on the wall and I will love it. From macramé to clay to metal, I just love how they add dimension to a space and are a nice addition to any room that already has framed art adorning the walls. In a lot of cases wall hangings are an affordable way to add interest to a room, but when I began looking for a large wall hanging for our new house (with so many blank walls to fill!!!!) I found it hard to find a large-scale piece that didn’t break the bank. I eventually gave up on my search and opted to try to make my own. I am happy to report that the wall hanging diy was a success. If you also love a good wall hanging you have come to the right place. I break the entire process down for you below. (I also created a roundup of ready-made options below for my less crafty friends).

What you will need:

air drying clay
cookie cutter (I used the 3.5" circle)
twine
dowel rod
hand saw + sandpaper (if you want to customize the size of your dowel)
paint + paint brush
sharp knife
rolling pin
wax paper
skewer (or other sharp object to poke holes in the clay)

Once you have gathered all of your supplies (I was able to order everything that I didn’t already own on Amazon-so easy), you should sketch out the shapes/patterns you would like to use. Once I sketched out my design I was able to determine that I needed 13 full circles and 19 half circles. Once you have your game plan, it is time to dig into the clay. Simply grab a ball of clay and lay it on a piece of wax paper. Place another piece of wax paper on top of the clay and begin rolling out the clay to your desired thickness. Be careful not to go too thick-the weight of the clay adds up quickly. I made them about 1/8" thick and by the time I strung them all together the dowel rod was beginning to sag in the middle ever so slightly. I would suggest keeping them thin! Don’t worry about making them all the exact same thickness though-the handmade pottery look is trending after all.

Once you have your piece of clay rolled out to the desired thickness, use the cookie cutter to cut out your circle. Place it on a wax paper lined cookie sheet (or any flat surface) and poke holes so that they can be strung together. Then repeat…..a lot. For the half circles, I followed the same steps above but simply cut the circles in half using a sharp knife. (don’t tell Kyle, but I used one of our fancy steak knives and it worked great)

Follow the instructions on the clay that you purchased for drying times. My package said to wait 48 hours. I did not wait 48 hours. I have no patience. I waited about 24 and they seemed just fine to me!

Some of the circles dried lighter in the middle and darker around the edges. I loved this look, so I painted all of the circles to mimic that using this paint. I only used one coat of paint and I was not very careful about how I applied it. I was going for the “handmade” look and I loved the result!

Now the trickiest part. Stringing them together. I laid them all out in the pattern that I wanted them to be hung in and decided on the spacing. I strung each circle about 1” apart…again, no need to be perfect! I simply tied them using normal knots. I tied a loop on the top circle and slipped the loops onto the dowel rod. I ordered a 48” dowel because I wasn’t sure what width I wanted to use and ended up cutting it down to 35” using a hand saw.

The last step is to tie the twine to either end of the dowel rod and hang!