Picture Frame Kitchen Assistant

One thing you'll often find at yard sales, flea markets - even attics and basements - is an old picture frame, probably with broken glass or a missing backing. Those are the best kind when it comes to reusing the frame as a kitchen assistant.

The larger the frame, the better, since you'll be using the picture frame to hold all your pots, pans, and other necessities. Start, of course, by cleaning the picture frame - maybe even painting it. The frame must be solid wood for this project. Other choices of decorating the frame include using decoupage to attach kitchen-related pictures, or covering the frame with cloth. You won't need the glass or the backing, so set them aside for a future craft.

After you've decorated the frame to your liking attach four eye hooks - one in each corner of the frame - on the back side. Now hold the frame to the ceiling, and mark the four corners, or measure the frame, then mark the measurement in the area where you'll be hanging the kitchen assistant.

Screw four C-hooks into the ceiling - one where each corner of the frame will hang. Purchase chain by the foot or by the yard, then attach the chain to the eye hooks of the picture frame back. It's very important to match the marks on the ceiling with the exact place where each eye hook will go on the back of the frame. Otherwise, the chains won't hang straight down like they should; they'll hang at an odd angle instead.

Before actually hanging the kitchen assistant lay the frame on the counter or a table and screw in small C-hooks around the perimeter. These will allow you to hang various pots and pans or other utensils. You can hang the pots and pans directly onto the C-hooks, which you'll attach to the front of the frame, or you can add chain extensions which hang down and have an additional C-hook on the end of each chain. The chain extensions are very helpful if you have high ceilings or the frame doesn't hang low enough for you to reach.