Upcycled Belt Wall Hanging

Besides doing lots of different diy projects I also do mixed media art. From past projects, I have found belts with lots of detail look great on the mixed media art bottles I love to create. I approached my local charity shop and asked them if they would collect the belts that were too damaged for resale and I would buy them. Little did I know I would end up with loads of them. I hate wastage so I wanted to try and turn them into something I could use in my home. This leather belt wall hanging was the result. My inspiration for this project was this wooden wall art I made using scrap wood. I thought it would look cool to cut up the recycled leather belts and create a textured wall hanging.

For the base, I used a recycled mosaic mirror that had fallen down and broken. I must also mention it was not my first attempt at this project, my first attempt failed and I will also share why it failed. I only included my failure so you don't get too confused by the photos. The size of the wood circle was 600mm across.

I removed all the Mozaic tiles from the wood and covered the base in a really cheap plastic leatherette fabric. This way why my first attempt failed. The hot glue would not want to stick to the surface of the faux leather but I only discovered this when I held it up once completed.

In my first attempt, I also glued the recycled belts in a random manner which was not the look I was going for. It looked a bit too messy for my liking.

The charity shop did think it was a strange request asking for old damaged belts, but I use them when I create my mixed media art bottles. They add amazing texture to the surface of the bottles. They told me they get a huge amount of belts that are just thrown in with the clothes instead of the bin. I also asked all my friends in the beginning and this got me a fair few belts too.

But the number of belts I received was well over what I would need for my bottles but were perfect for this project. This was only a small amount of belts that were in the bag.

For my second attempt, I wanted to keep the belts going in the same direction. I started by cutting the belts into smaller pieces and using a hot glue gun to attach them to the base. I started at the top and worked my way down filling in all the gaps.

For this project, I would recommend using black hot glue because it blends in better with the belts. You can mix all the different colours and textures.

When you get to the edges, to get the correct shape here is how I cut mine. I placed the belt in place and used a marker pen to trace the shape from below. The pen mark is then used as a guide to cut the leather belt to shape.

Once the surface was covered I felt my leather belt wall hanging needed a focal point. I was looking around my local charity shop and found this contraption above, I believe it is a steamer. The shape and design of the steamer I found appealing and felt once painted it would look great. I painted it black with spray paint and rubbed some silver wax over the surface to highlight the textures.

Next, I drilled a small hole in the centre and screwed the steamer onto the board. My husband saw this project and commented that it looked like a Vikings shield with the steamer. Feeling I may have gone too weird on this project, I replaced the steamer with a small mirror. I would love to hear your thoughts on which one looks better.

Next, I drilled a small hole in the centre and screwed the steamer onto the board. My husband saw this project and commented that it looked like a Vikings shield with the steamer. Feeling I may have gone too weird on this project, I replaced the steamer with a small mirror. I would love to hear your thoughts on which one looks better.

Another trash to treasure project was this antique dresser I restored. It was fit only for firewood until I gave it new life. See the tutorial in the link above.

See how I brought new life to this old leather top desk.

You can find lots of great unique projects on my website Unique Creations By Anita