Featured Chalkware question -

I sent my daughter two fairly heavy chalkware plaques. I was horrified when I took them down to send that the only thing holding them up was a thin loop of wire embedded in the plaque. One was actually loose. She told me today it had come out in transit and she definitely can't hang them without some kind of replacement.

So now we are trying to figure out how to hang them. Does anyone have experience with attaching a hook with epoxy on chalkware? I know it works on ceramic because I made some ceramic plaques in a class and we used epoxy and it's very strong, but will it hold on chalkware?

On our wall when I was 12. I won a musical jewelry box at my Mom's Stanley Party.

 

Fabulous photo! Look at the cuteness of you!

Debora

 

You know my Mom's friends and the presenter geared it so I'd win the jewelry box raffle. I was dying for it. It disappeared after I left home but I found one like it a few years ago at a yard sale and bought it.

I also still have the gateleg table he's leaning on and you can just see one of the embroidered arm rests on the sofa - I have a ton of those that were my mothers.

And the curtains were plastic if you remember those.

 

The epoxy will be stronger than the plaster and may pull away from it if just glued to the surface. You really need to embed something into the plaster. I would drill a small hole into the back, fill with epoxy and insert new wire. I would drill the hole at a slight upward angle so that the wire will have a "hook" bend in it, ensuring it won't easily pull out. This could be done with plaster of paris rather than epoxy, but think either will work. Would use braided picture wire for this.

 

Very informative answer. Thank you

 

I have some chalkware here on the walls and there is the originally wire loop thing.
I always hope they don't come crashing down.

 

Bev that photo's a classic (as is the music box & plaque).That wallpaper reminds me of my Grandmas & our first house.

 

Agreed completely with @verybrad. The epoxy isn't the issue, it's the composition of what it's stuck too. His suggestion is a good one.

 

Many thanks, Brad. That sounds like a working solution. My mother was in the Army and I got a Handy Andy toolbox when I was 8 and graduated to real tools as I got older. My daughter has inherited the tendency to learn how to fix things and she also has a complete tool box. I'll pass this along and I'm sure she can handle it.