So this weekend we had our 5K race and this surfaced a problem I have never encountered before. Jared and I have been amassing a small pile of medals. I can instantly see that if we continue to do races like we are planning to, I am going to have no where to put all these medals and race bibs.
Like any good woman, I know Pinterest has the answer!
So I search "medal hangers" and several pins came up. I paroosed for a little while and decided to use a combination of a couple of pins along with my own ideas. You can see the pins I borrowed ideas from here:
http://diddledumpling.blogspot.com/2010/05/tutorial-vintage-looking-painted-sign.html
http://pavementrunner.com/diy-medal-bib-holder/
Credit where credit is due! I couldn't have done this without these ideas and how to's!
So I love rustic "Texan" looking decorations. After all, I am born and raised in Texas! So I went to Lowes and bought some cedar planks. Not only do they smell amazing, but they made me reminisce about the summer my parents decided to rebuild our fence by hand. So many cedar planks!
Did you also know that Lowes cuts wood for you? I picked out two planks that were 6" wide and one that was 2" wide. They cut the 6" wide planks into four 16" pieces and two 32" pieces. They cut the skinny plank into 6" long pieces.
From there I used wood glue, nails and two skinny boards to join two fat boards. As seen below...
I repeated the process with the other four fat boards. I used three skinny pieces instead of two for the 32" long pieces to add extra stability.
Then I went to my computer and found a font I liked. Then I typed out everything I wanted the sign to say and flipped the words on my word document so that everything read backwards. Then I printed on an inkjet printer.
Then I cut out my pieces and arranged the papers where I wanted the words on my boards. Ink side down!
Then I started the ink transfer process. I used a spray bottle to saturate the paper. It's best to wait a couple of minutes to let the water start to release the ink from the paper.
Then I used the cap of the sharpie and basically scribbled over the paper to let the ink transfer. You can see the first blog link above to get more detailed instructions.
Once you have done this for each word you can remove the paper and ink should stay on your board! Do this for all the boards you want to do!
Then my husband so graciously used a wood burning tool to outline the letters. He got one at Michaels when he was making a time capsule box for our wedding. I think this looks very rustic and "Texan-y" hehe. It also helps the letters to pop!
Then I painted in the letters with pretty cheap paint. It looked more like a stain than paint which I thought made it look cooler.
Also at Lowes were some cool looking tacks. I thought they looked like they could have been made by a blacksmith in the 1800's so I got them. They were only $2 for a whole bunch! I took the two smaller boards and measured out the holes for the running bibs that I was going to hang on it. You can click on the second blog link for more ideas too. I had two sizes like she did so I staggered the hangings so they would all fit!
Then on my long board I hammered a bunch of tacks to the bottom to hang our medals on!
Attach some rustic farm-looking string to the corners (with tacks of course!) and you have a sign! Hang your medals proudly and stand back and admire (this is a very important step lol). I'm pretty happy with how mine turned out!
Now we have a very big reminder for why we run every time we enter our bedroom as well as a reminder of all the faithfulness God has shown us in the past!
Now on to our next race...the Houston Turkey Trot!
Happy running everyone!
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