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Award Artistry

Today was the girls first swim meet. When we got home tanned, tired, and flush with new ribbons and medals, I told the kids to put their awards away and get ready for a shower. They said they couldn't because they didn't know where ribbons go. Now this is 90% procrastination, but 10% of their complaint is real. Their ribbons are in the memory boxes, in drawers, on dressers, and generally all over the house. So after a little rest I told the kids we could make something to put their ribbons and medals on.

Since it's the beginning of summer, and I have an online shopping problem, we have lots of good cardboard boxes that I thought we could put to some good use. Here's what we made:




And here's how we made them:

Step One: Find a good, thick box and cut a panel off.


Yep, I posted a picture of that. I've been well trained in the art of being fair by my girls and if one step gets a picture, they all get a picture. :)

Step Two: Pick your fabric and plan out your final product. Map out how you want your final product to look and then start gluing the fabric to the cardboard. Abby wanted hers all one color so it was easier to plan out than Briana's. With Briana's the order of the gluing was important to the design. Leave fabric wrapping over the sides of the cardboard - it will look prettier in the end that way.



The back doesn't matter. When you nail it to the wall, no one will see the back.


(Unless you post it online.)

Step Three: Turn it over and admire. You're basically done.



Step Four: Use push pins to add your ribbons and use large basting/safety pins to attach your medals. If you push the basting pins in from the back with the hook side (vs the pointy side) on the bottom, they will hold well. I put lots of extra pins on so that next time they get a medal (like Tuesday's swim meet) they can pin it on themselves.




Quick and easy, and made all with supplies I had around the house. If you want to spruce it up a bit you can put it in a shadowbox to better preserve the ribbons and have it look better on the wall. You can also use ribbons, jewels, or anything else to better decorate. If you crisscross ribbons and use round pushpins where they cross, and on the edges, the kids can slide the ribbons in.

Now there's no excuse when I tell the kiddies to put their awards away...not that the kids won't come up with a new one. The artistry for awards medal goes to Mommy. Your move kiddies.

<3 Pedigreed Housewife

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