I started doing fan mounts on wood plaques. It's very inexpensive and not hard if you you have access to a band saw, belt sander, and a router. I get old barn lumber and sand them down. I've got some NICE plaques from 150+ year old barn boards. I get the wood for free, so all I have to buy is the Borax to preserve it, epoxy, stain and polyurethane, and some hardware. I have less than $10 in my mounts.

These are a couple of my first attempts. I've been doing fan mounts now for my family and friends for free for several years, but I think I'm going to start charging. I haven't done any of my own yet because my wife doesn't like dead critters hanging on our walls!

rw