I’ve been working on two gallery walls in my home recently and I thought I’d share some of my favorite tricks and see if others had some that they would like to share.
I know that Command Strips are all the rage these days and I do like them for some things. But for the most part, I do my picture hanging old school style. With nails. *gasp!* I know! But the holes!!! It’s okay. If I can’t touch them up later, I’ll have the perfect excuse to paint the whole room a new color. Hubby just LOVES that! 😉
First of all, I buy almost all my frames at thrift stores. The only time I buy new is if I get impatient and can’t find the right one at the thrift store fast enough. Or if I need it to be very specific.
Have you ever had to put a sawtooth hanger on a frame so you can hang it?

Do they make nails smaller than the ones that come with those?!?! Ugh! I used to hammer my fingers every time.
Now I use a couple of pieces of duct tape to hold the metal piece in place.

Then I just poke the tiny nails into the tape and they stay there all by themselves till I give them a tap with the hammer.

Then nail them in and peel away the tape.


Easy peasy! No smashed fingertips.
This is my best friend for making sure that the pictures I hang on the wall STAY straight.

You can find it in most craft or home improvement stores. Usually near the other adhesives.
Just a tiny ball of it on each bottom corner of the frame does the trick.

Hang the picture, use a small bubble level to get it level and then gently press those bottom corners to the wall.

When you take the picture down, you just remove the putty and you can even reuse it!
Keeping the pictures level is especially important on gallery walls. Once a couple of the frames goes crooked, it just looks a mess.
Speaking of gallery walls, if you get all your frames collected and hung and then find that you don’t have exactly the right pictures to put in them yet, try using scrapbook paper that coordinates with the colors in the room or with the theme of the gallery. It’s a great way to hold the place until you collect just the right pictures.

Also notice that an empty frame is a nice way to camouflage a thermostat or some other nuisance that a builder may have put smack in the middle of the wall that was clearly meant to be your gallery wall!
Since I buy my frames from thrift stores, I’m not picky about the colors. I just do a lot of spray painting. I have found that a couple of wooden skewers placed under the frames when I spray paint them, prevents them from sticking to the surface I’m painting them on.

So, what are your handy picture hanging tricks?

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This soup recipe is from my sister-in-law. It is perfect for this time of year. Smells so delicious when it is cooking. And…did you know that you can get a ham bone from your local butcher? Many times they will give it to you for free. Just ask!

2 cups Great Northern Beans
1 lb ham with bone
2 quarts water
2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 whole onions- chopped
1 garlic clove
3 whole potatoes cut 1″ thick
1 tablespoon parsley
3 large carrots cut 1″thick
3 stalks celery cut 1″ thick
1 teaspoon paprika

Cover beans with water and bring to boil. Let them sit for 1 hour and then drain. (If using beans from a can then skip this part).
Add 2 quarts water, salt, and ham. Let them simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Remove ham bone and cut off meat- shred it or dice it, return meat to soup.
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil- then add to soup. Stir in the rest of ingredients. Simmer until vegetables are to desired softness. Add pepper to taste.