First things first: I have been looking for a way to display my running medals. I love training for them, earning them and getting them… unfortunately they sit on a shelf for awhile, then eventually get moved into a bag under the stairs. For all my hard work, this seems a rather unfitting resting place. I did a Google search for medal holders, or racks, or some search along this lines and found this. I thought: “What a wonderful solution for not only medals, but race bibs.”I hold onto all of my race bibs and they sit in a shoe box. As you can see, I like holding onto things, but display them poorly.
I thought the idea was fairly simple and being a fan of HGTV (yep, I typed that), I figured I would try and make my own. A little DIY project that I thought I might appreciate on a personal level in the long run (pun totally intended). But to be upfront and honest, doing it myself: 1) Cost more than ordering it and 2) took a lot of trial and error to finish. Again, here is the link for my inspiration if you would like to save yourself some time and money.
But if you want to get all Tim “The Toolman” Taylor and build one yourself, here is how I made my rendition.
I purchased two pre-cut boards from a local craft store that cost me around $14.99/ea.
They have embossed edges, which was a nice touch (roughly 19 inches wide by 9 inches tall). I then purchased some gray spray paint for $3.99 and covered both sides.
Once that was done, I purchased some stencils (around $4.99) and planned on using some leftover white paint I already had in the house. I decided to use “RACES” for the bibs, but it could really say anything.
I taped up the stencils where I wanted them and applied the white paint.
As you can see: FAIL. The paint just didn’t work. This was some old paint, so it might have been too “watery” and just leaked through. I wiped down what I could while it was still wet, then simply covered the mistake up with another layer of gray spray paint. I essentially hit the “reset” button.
Since I was having success with the gray spray paint, I went back to the hardware store and bought some white spray paint ($3.99) and re-taped my letters.
As you can see, much better. (There was some white between the E and the S that leaked through, but I spray painted a Q-tip with gray and simply covered it up. (Easy-breezy.)
Next step was attaching the hanging hook for the back.
As for the front, I looked at my race bibs and there were 2 sizes. Big (NYCM, Rock n Roll Marathon size) and small (everything else). So I penciled in where the hooks needed to go and twisted the screws in. This was also the solution for the bibs on Etsy.
UPDATED with Measurements:
The top hooks are 6.75″ apart and the bottom hooks are just under 8″ (close to 7 and 7/8″)
The size of the wood is roughly 11 inches wide by 13 inches tall
Once that was done, the bib project was finished.
I then repeated the same steps for the medal holder. I decided to go with RUNNING since my race distances vary, so I couldn’t write MARATHONS. There are plenty of options that could be used, but I wanted to keep it simple.
After spray-painting both sides (above). I taped my letters.
As you can see, they only supplied one “N” in the box, so I had to create place holders. Spray it, then add the missing “N” where needed.
Then I measured where I wanted the hooks and screwed them into the board. I decided to go with various positions to have some medals hang at different lengths. Here is a sample of the front and back hooks for both. Packs of 4 cost me under $2. Make sure that the length of the screw isn’t longer than the depth of your board.
I placed nine hooks, since I have a decent amount of medals, it needed to be able to hold quite a few at different lengths. I placed them about 3.5″ apart from one another.
And that is pretty much it. Since it will hold a lot of medals, I placed 2 brackets on the back for support. I’m sure it would have been fine with one, but better safe than sorry.
Here is the final product. I only placed one medal on each hook for the photo, but I’m planning on each hook holding multiple medals.
As you can see, everything seems to have worked out. After a few missteps and multiple trips to the hardware store, they are up. I’m very happy with them and even though it cost me more in materials then it would have to simply have placed the order off Etsy, I’m glad it is something I was able to accomplish without injuring myself or cutting out the electricity in the neighborhood.
Here they are living happily together on the wall. Let me know what you think….
What do you hang your medals or bibs on?
Those look amazing! They look more like furniture than the usual hooks for medals. I love the idea for the Bib Holder. Great job!
Does anyone know the actual sizes of the display boards? My daughter would like me to build her a set of these for this Christmas. I made some rough estimates based on the dimensional information provided, but more accurate information would be wonderful. Any information available can be sent to blanda3004@aol.com
Thank you
They can really be any size you want them to be. The ones I used in the post I bought from a Arts & Crafts store. It could easily be a wooden square that you bought from Home Depot (or a hardware store) and decorated.
The medal holder I used was roughly 19 inches wide by 9 inches tall.
The bib holder was 11 inches wide by 13 inches tall.
Thank you so very much for the updated information.
This is awesome! Love this idea, thanks for posting!
Thanks for sharing! I need to do this.
Those are pretty awesome! I actually like your design better than a lot of the ones I have seen. If only I wanted to put the time in to do that.
Looks great!!
that looks awesome! love that you made it yourself! congrats on all the races and the hard work put in…so much better now that you can display it!
I love crafting and running so this post was an epic win in my book. I LOVE how unique this looks! So freakin cute…you may have influenced me to finally organize my stuff!!!!!!
great idea! looks really cool!
this is awesome!! very impressive. i need one!
I love this! I just told my Husband last week I need him to make me something to put my bibs & medals on! They are currently just tacked to a bulletin board – which is fine – but I want something cuter to hold them! I'm going to show him this! Nice job!
This is fantastic! I too saw the ones at Etsy, but couldn't get over the eye-popping price. I'm crafty but just couldn't get my brain to engage enough to figure out how to make these on my own. I'm planning on making one set for my husband for Christmas, then another one for me for…after Christmas.
Thanks!
I hate medals! Period! I toss them in the trash, usually at the race! Marathon medals are the worst & getting worse every year. Gaudy things! Wish they would go away & make entry fees less. Bibs go in a folder by date with time, pace & race comments on the back.
Good for you. Perhaps you could just avoid the medal receiving area and let those who appreciate the medals receive them.. That way we can avoid the negative comments on an otherwise great optimistic page..
There are charities which you could choose to donate your medals to. Where they give them to sick kids, depends on which on might be in your area.
These are awesome!!!! I wall paper my office with my bibs so I can see them all the time, but this is a much cleaner, easier idea- thank you!
Look at you Mr. Crafty!
Great idea and nice work. Currently, all my medals are hung on a chair post. Someday…
I am headed to the craft store tomorrow..love it!
that is awesome. I don’t want to pay a lot, but I want to have something to show off my medals. Maybe I should send this to my hubby. XMAS idea!!
Not sure I can be this handy, but this is geat!
This is awesome. I have held off buying one of these because some of them are so overpriced. I will definitely have to try making my own!
I give all my medals to special needs kids I work with. Means more to them than me.
I just found this and LOVE it. Yesterday I went to the craft store to buy the supplies to make these. Hopefully they’ll turn out as nice as yours. :-)
These are great! I’m going to head out to the craft store right now. An advice to others who might want to make this, most craft stores like Joan’s and Michael’s have 40% off coupons online. And the dollar store probably carry the letter templates.
Looks great! Can you let me know what store you purchased the hooks? I have only seem the half circle hooks but like the straight ones you used.
Thank you
I LOVE these!! Awesome job : ) It is my goal to make myself some after my first full marathon this weekend!!
Love this idea….my bibs are sitting in a file folder…would love to do this.
BTW…I put a call out on my blog for a males blog to follow and several mentioned yours…so here I am!!!!
Love this! Thank you, this is the first tutorial Ive found with the actual dimension!
Nice! Thanks for sharing…
What’s the largest bib you’ve gotten? I’m trying to make mine and am concerned about not pre-planning for future sizes =-)
Hi!
What kind of hooks are for the front and back?
nice one! will do this! :)