Frugal solution: hanging plates

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you're gearing up for a wonderful Autumn weekend.

I wanted to show you a little project I've been working on in my guest room. Next week I'll show you the completed room. . . Lord willing, I'll finish the room just in time for the arrival of several overnight guests.

My guest room has a long wall that I've never quite figured out how to accessorize--so I've left it alone. I had four old art prints that I wanted to use, but the grouping was a little too small for this wall.

Then I found this at Goodwill:

Haviland china, made in France. Six of them, to be precise. $0.68 each. They were terribly stained, but pretty, and I decided that I could take a chance with them for that price. I brought them home and ran them through the dishwasher, and they came out looking brilliant! Stains gone!

I wondered how my prints would look hanging with the plates, and I figured there was no harm in trying it out.

First, I readied my plates for hanging by hot-gluing saw-tooth hangers on the back. I figured the charm of my bargain would be marred by having to spend money on plate hangers. Besides, this method works well and can't be seen from the front.

**Edited to add: A couple of readers commented that hot glue might not hold up, especially for the long haul, so perhaps it would be a good idea to use something a little more substantial to hold the sawtooth hangers onto the plates. I'll reinforce my hangers with a strong, long-lasting adhesive. I've used plain hot glue to hold lots of lighter items with great results, but plates are a little heavy, so I'll take their advice to heart and recommend that you do the same.**

My method of hanging things in groupings is very scientific. I eyeball it. When things look even, I call it good.

Four prints and two plates. Hmmm.

I wondered if I should stop with just this grouping, or if I wanted to use all six plates. I didn't want to put holes in the wall and then decide that I didn't like the whole composition, so I copied Holly's method of taping plate-sized pieces of paper to the wall.

I liked it (thanks, Holly!), so I decided it was worth it to keep going with the hammer and nails.

And here's the final result:

What do you think? Come back next week and see the whole room!

**I'm joining Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now, Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest, and Show and Share Day at Just a Girl.**

P.S. The winner of the Halloween giveaway is Tanya from FrouFrou Britches. Tanya, your package should arrive soon!