My son and I recently put together a Pix Brix version of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”. For those unfamiliar with the product:
Pix Brix are a multi-award winning pixel puzzle brick that utilizes a unique patented connection system. This simple 1 piece slide + stack system allows the user to create 2D pixel art and 3D builds by connecting vertically, horizontally, and even diagonally.
Here’s the picture from the front:
When we were done, my son immediately wanted me to hang it up on his wall, but no hanging hardware was provided. So what to do? Conveniently, Pix Brix pieces are about the same size as 1x1 standard thickness LEGO bricks and will securely connect to LEGO studs. With this knowledge, I decided to build some hanging brackets out of LEGO. Here is the result (this is the right bracket; the left bracket is just a mirrored version):
The basic idea was to create a low profile mounting bracket that would hold a hanging wire. The lowest profile I could come up with was two thin LEGO layers. My bracket has a channel for a wire to exit and a cylinder for the wire to wrap around. I wanted to maintain as much brick to brick contact as possible, so I made the wire channel one brick tall and filled in gaps.
To use the bracket, I created a loop at the end of the hanging wire and placed that around the cylinder with the wire running out of the channel. Then I attached that to the back of the picture. I found that holding the wire taught helped keep it in place while connecting the bracket. Figuring out the overall wire length took some trial and error to get the wire sag right for where I placed the brackets. The brackets added a bit of depth, so I opted to add a couple of spacers at the bottom of the picture to account for that. Here’s what the back ended up looking like:
With all of that hardware attached, the picture was ready to hang. A simple nail into drywall was enough to hold the weight. If you use this method of hanging a Pix Brix picture, let me know how it goes and if you come up with any improvements to the bracket.