We wanted pew hangers, but had some specific criteria:
- Low cost
- Versatile enough to use for a variety of events
- Easy to install and remove
- Generally unaffected by casual bumps of pedestrians, children, etc
- Had to fit the pews at our church
(The last two criteria pretty much removed all the options we’d seen online.)
We eventually arrived at this solution: a pew hanger held in place by a ribbon attached to special hooks discretely located on each pew. (Click on the following images to expand)
The beauty of this custom solution is that the ribbon can easily be changed out with a ribbon of a different color/thickness/pattern, and the glass tea light can be used as is or replaced with a small wreath of flowers or other decoration. It took a little bit to set it all up, but now that the groundwork is in place, we can install and remove these pretty quickly. And the versatility of the particulars make this project suitable for a wide variety of events.
These pew hangers are built around “Tealight Wall Sconces” (about $5 for a pair). We supplied our own battery-powered tea lights (about $17 for 36), and used 4 rolls of red ribbon ($1.50/roll) to put it all together. We used tiny safetypins and 20-gague wire (aka “bailing wire”) to make metal “hangers” to attach the hangers to the pews.
For special occasions, the effect is definitely worth it, and the visual impact works well even if you skip pews.
Making the Pew Hangers
Each pew hanger required 35″ of ribbon. We cut a fishtail on one end of the ribbon. The fishtails are designed to extend down below the wall sconces as an extra design detail. To prevent the ends from fraying, we singed them by passing them quickly over a small flame.
We used a pen to mark two notches on the underside of the ribbon: the first notch was 12″ from the end of the fishtail, and the second was 13″ from the end of the fishtail. These notches marked the spot where a safetypin would be used to attach the ribbon to the top loop of the wall sconce.
There were several reasons we chose to use safetypins: they were quick to attach, secure, out of sight, and the result left a small billowed fold in the ribbon that kinda/sorta looked like a design detail (as opposed to a boring, visible/creased fold in the ribbon or an unsightly metal pin poking through the ribbon to secure it).
Securing the ribbon pew hangers to the pews was a two-part process:
- On each pew, we made and installed tiny wire loops, placed in a discrete corner on the pew seat, tucked out of sight underneath the pew cushion. (Sorry, no photo.)
- For each ribbon, we made a tiny wire hanger that would hook into the loop we installed on each pew. The hangers are shaped just like miniature 1″-wide clothes hangers. To attach the ribbon to the hangers, we first seared the ribbon to prevent fraying and then folded and stapled the ribbon around the hanger.
When it came time to attach each ribbon to the pew, it was simply a matter of raising the pew cushion a bit and hooking the ribbon into the loop. Voila! Quick, discrete and secure!
And here they are installed and lit for our Christmas Eve service.
