The "Swirled" Plate Wall

It sounds uber fancy.

But, really, it's not.

Although it is pretty :)

Instead of getting a jump on the millions of chapters in my textbook I'm supposed to be reading

(I mean, a test on the first week of school, really??)

I decided I'd show you my plate wall instead.

I have to tell you that I'm quite proud of this little ole' wall.

It took some time to round up all the plates that would fit together just perfectly.

And then the hanging, and the falling... (you'll see...) and the re-hanging.

And now it makes me smile every time I see it :)

See? Boring boring blank wall.

Actually it's only blank because I took down the big canvas picture that was here to make this.

So I left myself with a blank wall.

Oh well.

I've known that I wanted a plate wall since we moved in so I've been collecting them since then.
Yup. Two years, guys.

I'm sure I could have done it a lot sooner than that, but I was looking for the perfect plates.

I could have done the ever popular all-white wall.

But I wanted more color.

So I'd pick one up here and there

until I had a stack that I started playing around with...

Ugh. I'm so glad that nasty carpet is g.o.n.e.

I was good with this layout for the moment...especially since I knew I was going to add some patterns to some of the plain Dollar Store plates...

I used some ceramacoat paint to whip up some stripes and chevron-

the black and white plate was done the same way I did the ones for little man's pirate party. 

After I had finally decided I had enough plates to hang,

I started buying the 'Disc Hangers' from Hobby Lobby.

I only bought a few each time I went because even though they're only 2-3$ a pop, it added up quick.

These things are awesome- no more seeing little plate hooks pop around the sides :)

I followed the directions to adhere them to the backs and let them set the allotted time.

While they dried,

I cut out sheets of paper in the shapes of each of the plates to get an idea of how big they each were.

This was the easiest way I could find to hang them.

I labeled each paper as well just so I wouldn't get confused.

Then I hung each piece of paper on the wall with tape.

I had laid the plates out on the ground in the design I liked, and then just copied that design onto the wall with the cut-outs.

That way I knew how much space they'd take up before I just started nailing them up there. 

I literally started from one corner and worked my way out.

It was super easy once I had all the cut-outs up there.

I wanted a more 'swirl' pattern than just a straight-across or symmetrical pattern.

So I worked out and down the wall :)

 I pretty much squealed in delight when I saw all of them up there.

I've been collecting them for so long, I didn't think they'd ever get hung!!

Here's some close-ups of some of my favs:

My little birdie plate from Pier One. 

This blue and brown embossed one and the cream embossed one are from Pier One too.

If you wait for their sales, their plates are super cheap :)

Once they were all up, I was able to notice any gaps that I didn't like.

And I realized I had completely forgotten about my gorgeous Willow House plates I won a while back!

They are gorgeous so they had to fill in the gaps (the pretty brown swirled ones)

So here it is after I added a few...

Did you notice that the white platter in the middle changed?

Well that's my 'falling' story.

After I hung all my plates, me and hubby were watching TV and we heard a loud crash.

I didn't even want to look- I was afraid the whole wall had come down...

so Hubby came back with the pieces of the other white platter...

Then... I found the perfect replacement above...and it fell a couple days later.

Its' like that part of the wall was cursed or something.

I was so sad because I was in love with that new, ruffled plate.

It took me forever to find the replacement for that one...

Here's the sad line-up with the new replacement at the end-

I'm still in love with the middle one but TJ Maxx never got anymore...sad times. 

And a few months after the wall was hung,

we got some new/old dining room furniture.

My grandma, who passed away a couple summers ago, had left her furniture to be divided among all her kids and grandkids.

I was so excited to be given one of her dining room sets that date back to the 1940's.

So when the buffet was moved in,

the plate wall got moved...

It just seemed to go better on that back wall, so your eye was drawn to it as soon as you were in the room.

The buffet was pulling your eyes to it and away from the previous wall, so they looked a lot better together :)

Plus not a single plate has fallen since moving them... I guess this wall has a better plate attitude :)

Although I'm still working on decor for the top of the buffet.

One step at a time, guys.

So there ya have it,

the 'swirled' plate wall...

Here's where each plate was purchased (at least as best as I remember):

(working from far left corner down)

*3 Brown Swirled Plates- Willow House

*Yellow Bird Plate- Pier One

*Small Brown & White Plate- Pier One

*White Square Plate- TJ Maxx

*Large Cream Ebossed Plate- Pier One

*Blue Square Plate- Pier One

*Blue Chevron Plate- Painted Dollar Store Plate

*Large Yellow Plate- TJ Maxx

*Black and White Bird Plate- TJ Maxx

*Beige Starburst Plate- Pier One

*White Platter- TJ Maxx

*Tiny Square Plate- Pier One

*Black and White Chandelier Plate- TJ Maxx

*Blue Embossed Plate- TJ Maxx

*Black and White Striped Plate- Painted Dollar Store Plate

*Cream Leaf Plate- Pier One

*Cream Octagon Fleur De Lis Plate- Walmart

What do you think?
Worth the wait to gather the perfect ones??

Do any of you have a plate wall?

I'd love to see them- be sure to leave me a link :)

Linking to:

Get Your Craft On @ Today's Creative Blog

Anything Related @ All Thingz Related

One Project At a Time @ A Bowl Full of Lemons

Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts

Hookin up with HOH @ House of Hepworths

Under 100$ @ Beyond the Picket Fence

Everything but the Kitchen Sink @ A Little Knick Knack

Remodoholics Anonymous @ Remodelaholic

Sunday Showcase @ Under the Table and Dreaming

Craft Catwalk @ Embellishing Life

Craftomaniac Monday @ Craftomaniac
Show & Share @ Southern Lovely
Weekend Wrapup Party @ Tatertots and Jello
Tuesday Talent Show @ Chef n Training