Professional framers and most people know that their artwork is worth every penny it cost to protect with a good frame and UV-protected glass. But framing art is so expensive and some things that we want to frame are not worth the cost like a movie poster or scratch-off poster. Not to say that these things are worthy of being displayed, but an inexpensive way to hang and display art makes it more accessible to a wide audience and not such a big investment. 

Of course, it’s nothing new to make a  cheap frame but this tutorial is to make a really simple but beautiful art hanger for just a few bucks worth of material. 

So the first thing we’re going to do is measure some half-round, 1-inch trim. Regular old pine trim from the hardware store is just a couple of dollars and you don’t even need the whole thing but you can buy that whole length of trim and make several of these art hangers. You could paint or stain the wood, it also looks good in a natural wood finish. 

The picture hanger should be about an inch wider than the art of this scratch-off poster that you are making it for.  Make a measurement and add an inch on each side before cutting the trim. 

So if your poster is 18 inches wide you can cut the trim 20 inches long to have a 1-inch overlay on each side. 

A handsaw is a great tool to have in your craft toolbox just for projects where it’s not worth it to haul out you know a power tool or a lot of people don’t have power tools or don’t have the space for them.  A good handsaw is sharp and effective don’t take up a lot of space. Make slow even strokes, this will work better than if you lean into the cut and try to force the handsaw. Cut the same length of trim for the bottom. Use a sanding block or some sanding paper and smooth any rough edges. 

Next, we will add the magnetic material. You can buy sheets of magnetic material at the craft store for just a few dollars. Cut four strips that are just a little bit skinnier than our pieces of wood trim. The trim is just over an inch wide so we’re going to cut four pieces, inch-wide strips of the magnetic material. Go slow it’s gonna get even results.

Some magnetic materials have a sticky side, it sticks great to the wood. If not just use hot glue or a little super glue.

We’re going to add some cord to hang it now. I think this would look really cool with some leather or ribbon, you can be creative with this part.  I’m going to use some cotton cord from the hardware store, just going to measure out the length of it about 24 inches long, I just want it to look clean and simple. You can put an eye-hook screw on each end of the wood frame to attach the string or attach it with hot glue. If you want you can also tie the string onto the wood where it is wider than the poster. (the overhang). 

Lay the trim face down, the magnetic strips you glued on will be facing up, lay the poster on the magnetic strip and add a second magnetic strip to sandwich the poster. The magnetics will hold the poster in place for hanging.