String Guide for D-Ring Artwork
Running a loose string from the wall screw through the D-ring so the ring can be steered onto the screw blind.
Hang Forks on the Nails to Catch a Heavy Mirror's Wire
Hooking a wire onto nails you can't see, under the weight of a big mirror, is guesswork. Hang a fork on each nail first — the tines give the wire a wide target, and you slide them out once it's caught.
can't get picture wire on the hook, hang a picture on two hooks, wire keeps missing the nail, hanging artwork by yourself
The Problem
Hanging a big mirror or picture on a wire means getting that wire onto two or three nails at once, blind, while holding the whole weight at arm's length. You can't see behind the frame, the wire sits slack until it catches, and you find out whether you got all of them only after you let go.
The Technique
Give the wire something bigger to land on than a nail head.
- Drive your nails or hooks as usual, at the spacing the frame needs.
- Hang an ordinary table fork on each one, handle down, so the tines stand proud of the wall.
- Lift the mirror into place and lower it. The wire drops across the forks and is caught by the tines, which present a target inches wide instead of a nail head you can't see.
- With the weight resting on the forks, slide each fork out from under the wire one at a time. The wire settles onto the nails as you go.
The forks are a temporary widening of the target. Once the wire has landed and taken weight, they've done their job and come straight back out.
Pro tip: Slide the forks out from the middle first if you've used three. That leaves the two outer ones supporting the frame for as long as possible, so the mirror is never balanced on a single point while you're still working behind it.
Safety note: This makes the wire easier to catch — it does nothing about whether the fixings will hold. A heavy mirror needs the nails in studs or on anchors rated for its weight, and the fork trick will happily hang one on fixings that let go a week later.
DIYsolvr helps you find the best DIY videos. Browse all 526 techniques