Martha Stewart shows how to make your own custom-fitting hangers: http://www.marthastewart.com/good-things/wire-plate-hangers Plan on using the disc hangers linked below. I used to have a bunch of the classic wire hangers and never really liked them. Here is a bloggers post about hanging plates: http://blissfullydomestic.com/2008/hanging-plates-as-art and another bloggers post: http://downandoutchic.blogspot.com/2009/04/plate-wall.html from goldschool.typepad.com: and last, but my favorite that I plan on copying. From "Stalking the Wheats" by Joni at her Cote de Texas blog: Here is a link that might be useful: Disc Hangers

Those were the same hooks that I used. When I used them, I first put the adhesive side on my wooden letters and let that sit for sometime to give the adhesive a chance to stick, and then I removed the other side of the adhesive and stuck it to the wall. I put a pillow under the letters on the floor in case they fell. I did have problems with one letter where I did not wait after putting the adhesive to the letter and that letter fell on the pillow. I tried subsequently to get it to work, but it kept falling so I used a new strip, giving it that wait period and since then none of the letters have fallen. Because of this I also needed to remove the strip from the wall which is similar to the Command Hooks which I've used on my fireplace for Christmas stockings. You just need to pull on the bottom tab in a vertical downward direction really slowly so the tab does not break and there was absolutely no wall damage. I will say I'd be a tad nervous about using them on antique plates...esp because the back of the plate is smooth so I'd be particularly careful to give it perhaps even an hour for the strip to adhere to the plate before getting the other side to adhere to the wall and I'd definitely put pillows below for one day as from my experience, if it's going to fall, it will fall in the first hour/day. The other nice thing about these strips, is that you can pull the up the velco and remove the object from the wall, make any slight readjustments, clean, whathaveyou, and reattach the velco strips to one another.

Thanks for all the feedback. I think I need to learn the difference between being thrifty and just plain cheap! I've learned it intellectually, but some attitudes are stored deep. It doesn't help that my taste is much more modern and streamlined, but DH wants to keep the family pieces that furnish that room. (One comes from my great-great-grands, so I don't complain.) First, I've googled the seller on CL to see if she would consider mailing it to me if I paid in advance via PayPal - no response so far. The CL post is a really good deal, with some of the accent pillows as well. (The seller is about a 5 hour drive from me, I might consider the trip down if she'll send pics first. I have family there I should visit one of these days.) The $150 price is clearance from Rose Tree, with no returns. I could actually buy the full-size set for $300 elsewhere. Yikes! My cheap bones hurt at the thought. I've actually found a few other comforters with those colors, and 2 or 3 would even work in the room. But I don't like any of them as well! That POttery Barn one would be fine, but for whatever reason I like the RoseTree Ashford better. Another alternative is to use a blue and white set, with light terra cotta sheets, or deep terra cotta matelasse shams. The linked comforter from linensource is one of those. Here is a link that might be useful: Colonial blue white comforter

Thank you, mlraff53! That's exactly what I was hoping to see!!! I've had the blue and white against white or wood for so long that I just couldn't envision anything else. And how lucky for me that you picked Baby Turtle as that's just the color I'm playing with! LOL. I had been thinking about painting my living room/dining room a shade of blue but can't find one that doesn't freeze me and the Baby Turtle looks good in the room and great around the fireplace so now I'm exploring a different path. But with so much of my blue and white collection in those rooms I didn't want to hate the combo. Thanks again.