I mess up a lot of DIY projects. In fact, I mess up nearly every single one, though usually I am able to fix my mistakes before I blog about it and give y’all terrible advice. That was not the case with my plate wall though (original post HERE).
After hanging the plate wall I waited a couple of weeks to blog about it to make sure all was well. Then about a month after that, things went south. Quite literally. (That is if you are assuming the sky is north and the ground is south, which I know is not actually the case.)
My plates had been doing fine, then one morning the boys and I were working in the kitchen and heard a giant crash. Elijah yells “Mommy! Plate broke!” and sure enough…
The biggest plate had come busting right off the wall. It wasn’t that the paper clip had broken or bent, it was the glue…the gorilla glue wasn’t holding. Then over the course of a week or so three more came unglued and shattered all over my dining room. Funny thing, that first plate was only one that came off during the day…all the rest broke in the middle of the night. So after a few exciting nights I took them all off the wall and pulled off the paper clips. The original place that I had found the idea for DIY plate hangers had used hot glue and said they had been there for 10 years, so I figured she knew better than I did and I hot glued them all back on.
That very same night two more plates came unglued and shattered all over my floor. ACK!
So I took them all down and did a little research. Then I went to Amazon and bought a tube of E-6000.
This stuff is serious. I did’t take any pictures of the back of the package, but its covered in cancer warnings. Anything that may possibly give you cancer has got to be good, right?
So I found some more thrift stores plates and redid all my hangers with the E-6000.
The stuff smells pretty bad and takes 24 hours to set, and this time I feel REALLY confident that those plates and paper clips are going to be together for life. And if start to come crashing off the wall in a month I will fess up to giving you terrible advice…again.
So the moral of this story – no to gorilla glue, no to hot glue….yes to E-6000, for now.
Here is what the plate wall looks like now…
Anyway, that is my confession. I updated the original post so that all those innocent Pinterest visitors won’t have the same thing happen to them!
UPDATE 11/13/13- It has been almost a year since I rehung the plates using E-6000 and nothing has come crashing down. I think it’s safe to say we have a winner!
I wll hoov to myPinteest and update – TFS
Oh, wow, I had no idea about all the cancer warnings. I use that stuff all the time though and it is awesome. Your plate wall looks great! So glad the yellow plate didn’t fall and break =/ Love that one!
Yup, cancer warnings all over…though mostly if you live in California (evidently California knows something the rest of the world doesn’t?). The yellow plate did fall and bust, I was sad about that one! The one you see on top now is a very similar (though less awesome) one I was lucky enough to find.
love the plate with sunflower… glad to see hung on the wall. it didn’t fall and break.
My first thought was ‘Oh man, she used the Gorilla Glue’. I made the Dollar Store hurricane lamps with candle sticks and vases and they would just become unglued every couple of months. Possibly your humility was high in the house because I couldn’t even wash my vases without that glue just separating. The bottle of Gorilla Glue just sits on my shelf now and I went back to good old Super Glue. Sorry you had to lose some plates in the process though.
Gotta’ watch that humility!!! LOL!
Hobby Lobby has these yellow sticky discks with hooks pretty cheap. I love E 6000 but these discs work geat for plates. http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/3-disc-plate-hanger-731877/.
I love your blog!
I was so close to buying those the first time I did the plate wall, but I just couldn’t justify paying three dollars to hand a 50 cent plate :) I’ve heard they work great though!
Hi there, just came across your blog & have to say, I LOVE it!!! I can totally relate with the repeated DIY “imperfections”, lol! Yet I still keep going because when there’s good results…IT’S GOOD!!! Anyway, had to just tell you how wonderful you are…
Oh, and E6000 has been my new BFF since it was introduced to me a little over a year ago!
Looking fwd to exploring more of your adventures :)
Thanks Heather! I agree, when DIY goes wrong it is frustrating…but when you finally get it right it is awesome!
Awww..tats bad! the plates not holding up and three of them crashing..but the wall is beautiful again! yeayyy!! :)
Thanks for posting about this – I do want a plate wall too someday so I’ll keep this advice. Too bad about the plates though…
I can’t believe the hot glue didn’t hold for you! It’s been my trusted side-kick for many a year now. I’ll have to have a talk with it…
Hot glue has failed me many a time, but I live in a climate that can get very hot. E 6000 seems to hold up really well. Great looking wall! Thank you for sharing!
That e6000 is amazing cancerous stuff! We use it when nothing else will cut it! The wall looks gorgeous! :)
Yes, I did play a quick game of “Which of these are not like the others” and identified the 3 that came crashing down in the night. (Medicated brain ftw). At least the plates were nice enough to only sacrifice the ones that weren’t stellar – opening up the door for you to add the sweet polka dot one that ties in w/Colonel Mustard, head of the Command Center across the way. :) And now that Elijah has mastered pants perhaps he should sport some shoes for safety? Or even a hardhat! :) ~ Dee @deeconstructed.com
Haha, you would be the one to count my plates! That yellow one on the top is different too, its a similar but less awesome one. And I seriously thought about not posting that picture with Elijah and the plate, cause it looks like I let him run around on shards of sharp broken plates. That’s as close as he got to them, promise!
I promise not to turn you in to Family Services – I just can’t help notice the hazardous worksite conditions what with my OSHA reporting background at all. It looks to me like he is doing a fine job of pointing our your deficiencies. I’d say that boy has a fine future in project management ahead of him! And you have no idea the things I count under medicinal influence….
I love Summertime around here. Kids running in and out if the house, a satisfying ‘slap’ when the screen door bangs shut.
When I saw your screen door go up on the same wall as those place that was the first thought that went thru my head, “uh oh, there go the plates’. Could it be related?
Great job coming up with wor arounds and being straight with your readers. You are a creatve doll!
Xoxoxo
~K!
I can’t believe the slamming door/dangerous plate wall never crossed my mind! That might have loosened them up a little, though all but one fell in the middle of the night. Who knows, hopefully the E-6000 is strong enough to hold through the abuse!
E600 is the bomb!!!! Love that stuff, once it set’s up you are golden!
Good to know! Mine are hung with hot glue and cardstock, but that’s only the light melamine plates. The heavier plates are hung with Disc Hangers, which do the job at a hefty price. If you think $3 per plate is hefty, and I do.
I almost used those disc things the first go around, but I just couldn’t pay that much. The plates were only .50-$1.00, I couldn’t spend $3 just to hang them!
I hadn’t seen the original post, so this one is perfect for me…I am so doing this!!!
Love the plate wall (and that zingy yellow table in the last post). Everything is coming together so well!! Still adore the wall treatment :)))
Totally! I had seen your post a while ago and thought of doing it with E-6000 because I had some on hand. That stuff IS serious.. same glue people use to make those cake stands out of plates & candle holders that are so popular. Glad you found it and that things are working out now! I had a similar problem recently when I put up a bunch of mirror pieces with self adhesive back. They last 4 months before they started crashing down ! So scary!
Isn’t it the worst when you have something hung for awhile and you think it’s good…then it all falls apart? I’d rather have it all come down on the first day and get the scary midnight crashing out of the way!
One suggestion for future plate hangers, if you bend the paper clip with a needle nose pliers so that more paper clip is in contact with the plate, it may help keep them more secure. As you have them, there are only 3 little spots that connect the clip to the plate. If you have the clip flat along the plate, then bend it around the lip of the plate you would have a lot more contact between the clip and plate for the glue to work with.
I wish I had thought of this…I noticed that it was only touching in three spots so I just added a bunch of extra glue so that everything is touching something. This is a way better idea though! I really hope I don’t have to use it, lol.
Does that room get colder than the rest of your house? I know some things I have hot glued, then put outside where it is cold, the hot glue just peels right off! E-6000 is my go to glue! It holds forever! I try to leave stuff in a well ventilated room though because it smells awful! (Must be the cancer-inducing chemicals!)
Actually, it does get colder…and hotter. It’s kinda hanging out there all by itself and surrounded with windows so the temperature varies more than anywhere else in the house. Another reader pointed out that the plate wall is right next to my slamming screen door, so it was just the perfect storm I guess!
Hey, you know how we all hate to change things when we love how it looks and then wind up keeping it f.o.r.e.v.e.r! Sometimes we need a little shove!! Really looks good now with more golden/mustard colored plates…even a better match for your command centre!
Haha, thats so true. I remember when my mom was helping unpack after moving and told me “be very thoughtful about where you put things, because it’s likely they will be there forever.” So true. Thanks, I like it with more yellow too!
I love your plate gallery wall! Too bad one broke! Good to know what glue works – thanks for sharing!
I’m so sorry, but appreciate the heads up, I had passed along the tip of the gorilla glue and paper clip to my daughter-in-law who wanted a plate wall, luckily she didn’t get it up yet.
That is your pantry door, right? Does it have a spring loaded thingy on it?
There are also these awkward springy hooky wiry things you can hang your plates from. They stretch around the back of the plate and hook on each side, then have a loop-ish kind of thing for attaching to the wall. If you use picture hooks, they won’t ever fall off. I’ve usually gotten them at the dollar store for really cheap, like multiple hangers for one or two bucks.
Good thing nobody got hurt, and good thing they weren’t priceless heirlooms, hey? Live and learn – that’s my DIY strategy!
Cheers!
I love your plate wall….would love to do the sme type thing in the future…will wait though to hear how your new solution works in the long run.
I SWEAR by E-6000 glue! I have used it to make jewelry, a dessert stand (two ceramic plates and a cheap chrome candle holder) that has been through the dishwasher dozens of times and still holds together, and I have used it to repair my favorite pair of heels. Love the Plate wall by the way. Very good use of space.
I love E6000. I discovered it about 12 years ago . . . I glued 6″ iron star on to my shutters. 12 year later we have long since moved, but I drive by our old home frequently and the stars are still hanging just fine . . . heavy iron stars hanging outside, mind you!! So of course it will work perfect for a little plate! I have no idea why I never thought of this!! Thanks for a great but simple idea!! ♥
Brenda
P.S. I also use E6000 to fix the heels on my cowgirl boots . . . and it holds up amazingly . . . even when I walk in the mud! :)
Do you think that this concept would work with some sort of string or ribbon glued on the back of plates instead of the paperclips?
I haven’t tried it but I don’t see why not, as long as you use the right glue and plenty of it.
It is so sad to me that people ignore 100 cancer warnings on a package just so they can hang up some stupid old plates. But when you get cancer, we’re supposed to hold fundraisers for you and shed pink tears and donate. OKAY THEN.
I highly doubt that the occasional use of E6000 will cause cancer. If so, there will be a lot of us crafters doomed.
Thank you so much for this! So glad to have come across the pin because I want to hang plates but do not want to spend a ton on plate hangers, so I can do some special glue and paperclips- wonderful post! And thank you for the year later update!
Love E-6000…!!
If used in a well ventilated area….outside or the garage or open a window….ts perfectly safe.
i’ve used paper clips and pop tops…both work great on the plates :)
Just wanted to ask how your plates are holding up now. Any issues with them coming down?
Erin
This is awesome!! We’re military, so we move around a lot, but its killing me not to have a plate wall, lol! I’m currently using E6000 to make a gorgeous suncatcher for the backyard, and now I’m going to try your idea for a neat vintage Pepsi plate I found that is super light (it’s made of tin) but is way too big for traditional plate hangers (and I just couldn’t pay the $3 hangers; what a cheapie I am! :D) This wall & your ideas are great! I have to see your other stuff now :)
Love your plate wall, but I am amazed at the number of people using E6000! Yes, it will hold, but the one time I used a fairly small amount for a simple craft the 3 small cardboard toilet paper roll/paper items lived in my garage for about a year. I could still smell the awful odor until that time. Have not used it since, & one of the artists in my altered art group is worse than me about the smell making her sick – so none of us use it for the materials in class or in our round robins. Maybe it just affects some people more than others. For that reason the $3 hangers would be a bargain to me to avoid the E6000. I have also used the old-fashioned wire hangers described by another poster. but never for as many plates as you were hanging. They might not look as nice with a large grouping.
Argh! My heart dropped when I read you use E6000. I avoid using that though it’s a great product. I wear goggles and a special chemical filter mask and work outside when using this stuff but I’ll give it a go. My plate are 3, 4 and 6 inches too small for those ugly wires.
Yeah, I don’t use it on much because it is nasty, but nothing works better.
Honestly, I’m not entirely surprised that the Gorilla glue didn’t work for you. I have something of a love hate relationship with it. If you read the directions carefully, it says to use a bit of water to help activate it better, and to clamp the things you’re gluing together to ensure a strong bond. Having used the Gorilla glue super glue on some miniatures without clamping, as soon as you used it the first time, I knew it was going to expand on you, and kind of winced. That the plates started falling down, probably has to do with fact that you didn’t clamp the paper clips to the plates, and the glue was then allowed to expand. The whole point of the clamping with Gorilla Glue is to keep the parts you’re gluing closely together and prevent it from expanding during the drying process. That’s typically why I only use it to glue together things I’ll be able to easily clamp, and even then, I don’t use it much because there are just too many steps to make it work right, even though it gives a strong bond.
Then what do u use for the wall plates ?
I love E-6000, I have used it for years…at one time I made concho earrings and used the glue…it did a great job….
Thank you for the corrections you posted on how to hang the plates! I collected 50 USA state plates for my restaurant and also DID NOT want to spend $3 apiece for the hangers. I followed advice I found on-line to make my own using felt and paper clips and hot glue! Ugh! I have lost 2 plates and just searched on how to do it better when I found your article. THANK YOU! I will be removing ALL 48 states from the wall and will use E6000!
hi, I’m curious about how it will turn out when you try to remove the glue and paper clip. I’m worried it might ruin the back of it. The back of it has a lot of words that i dont want to be ruined. When anyone has removed them clips using E6000, did any of the backing of the plate come off too? thanks!
I use those adhesive disc hangers available at craft stores and never have a problem. Plus, they are easy to remove if you decide to use the plate in another way…such as eating if it’s food safe…or you want to change your grouping to different colors. And no cancer warnings!
Thank you for your great advice!
Good to hear. Mod Podging a bunch of pokemon pics to a piece of wood. Adhered hangers with E6000 (the wood is not thick enough to screw the hanger fixtures to it).
This post shows a great sense of humor dealing with the problems that inevitably occur in any project, and gave me some chuckles. Much as I love “tried and true” ideas, I’m leary of blogs where the projects just seem to come together too easily; in my experience, there are always some hiccups. I like how you used plates that actually look like what I see in local thrift stores, but got such a pleasant effect with the arrangement.
I own a collection of Blue Plates that were given to me at special events, ie. marriage, births, etc. I am to glad they incorporate two holes on the rim in back to string the picture wire through. Our wedding plate still secure after 45 years.
This is so funny! I used the E6000 with “D” rings. I ignored my husband’s insistence that they dry for 24 hours. I had one plate up that came crashing down within an hour. Now I’m letting everything set for the full 24.
What type of hanger did you use to hang the paper clips on? I’m going to try your project I’ve always used E6000 and I’m glad you made me feel better about that.
Thanks
Kathy
I plan to hang some teacup saucers. Is it possible to remove the E-6000 and clip someday?
You have written everything in such an interesting way! Will surely try this!
Hi, was surfing the net for gorilla glue and wall plates and came across this. The last update was 2013 !! And updates in the ye 2022? :)
Sold the house and got rid of the plates in 2016…but they held up perfectly until then!