Yet another "Fix-it" project

So, here's the deal...
I took down my Christmas decorations, and with them came the wreath that was so beautifully displayed above my mantle. Well, now I was confronted with a blank piece of drywall above my 1st fix-it project, my mantle. Of course, I had to find a painting, and obvs. I wanted one of those awesome mountain landscapes from a gallery in Park City. Yes, I know which one, I have been looking at it every time I go up there for many years now. At any rate, the price of those pictures are needless to say, a bit too much for the budget. And, I am not quite that well established in life yet to feel as though I deserve one. At this point, I had to start thinking of smaller things I had bought in the past and had stashed away somewhere. Well, I thought of one, a cool picture of a rodeo clown (very artistically done, and ripped, etc) that I had given Rob a few years ago and he hadn't yet found a place to hang.
Now the project begins: hanging this rather heavy painting on drywall. So, I set out to find the two studs because those will obvs. be the best bet for security. I find them, and sadly enough, they are set too far apart to leave the picture properly centered above the mantle. (side note: I'm not even sure that the mantle is centered above the fireplace to begin with). Well, now we're down to the next option of "drywall anchors." I'm sure you've all dealt with them, those annoying little plastic screw sort of looking sheaths that go over the screw, expand and "grab" the drywall as they go into the wall, and provide an anchor for a painting.
Okay, so we've got the anchors and the supplies, we just have to hang it. Easy, right? think again (at least we did). I begin by drilling a pilot hole, ya know, a small hole so that the plastic itself doesn't crumple from trying to bore through the wall itself. Got the pilot hole, now begin to screw the plastic anchor into the hole. Turn, turn, and oh boy, it's shattered. Rob's turn....Turn, turn, and it crumples. Except this time, it was about half way in, and the crumpling leads to half of the plastic anchor being stuck in the wall when we go to remove it. Get the pliars. Get it out. Try again, a bit bigger hole (maybe that was the problem)...not the problem, crumples again, gets stuck again, and this time, won't even come out with pliars, just pulls off so that the plastic is flush with the wall. Well, clearly, we leave it there and start with a new hole. What intelligent person wouldn't?
At this point, we look on the internet and make sure we are not missing anything. Well, they all say to do what we've been doing, but one site says to make a pilot hole large enough that the anchor can be pushed into it almost all the way and "tapped" in the rest of the way with a hammer. So, here we go (mind you we are now dealing with drilling holes about the diameter of my index finger)...drill the hole. Put in the anchor, it fits most of the way, tap it, it's flush with the wall. Awesome, well now wasn't that easy? NOT REALLY...We must now screw the actual normal metal screw into the anchor to add the proper support. Hand Rob the screw, he begins to twist it into the anchor and then I hear an uh-oh. I look up to see that the screw is only about 1/2 way in, and the anchor is also about 1/2 way into the wall (ya know, being pushed through the wall). Rob now asks me what he should do. At which point, being the genius that I am, I figure, try to screw it back out. That is all well and good until the screw comes back out fine, but leaves the anchor still pushed 1/2 way into the drywall.
Genius thought #2: Okay, so screw the screw back into the anchor and hopefully it will grab onto the anchor more, before pushing too much farther into the wall, at which point we can pull them both out. One slightly flawed error in my thinking...The anchor and screw simply push completely through the wall (there is nothing behind it, clearly, in afterthought, seeing as how it's around the fireplace) and we hear them drop into the space behind the wall (I'm assuming onto the top of my fireplace, but who really knows what's behind the wall). Well, that didn't work. CLEARLY. Okay, so we finally figure it out, the good old method of using normal screws and putting them into the studs. Needless to say, it's hung, off-center, and thankfully covering the four to five gaping, index-finger sized holes in the drywall (some still filled with anchors and some not). That should be a fun patching job before I move out.