She's Crafty (or cheap, you decide)

So I have accumulated a fair number of race medals this year thanks to the Hogwarts Running Club and Geek'd Out Running Club, and since they are all such adorable fandom medals I really wanted a way to display them (or show off, whatever).  I found some great medal hangers online by Allied, and while they were really well made, I didn't want to shell out $60 - $80 at this time. 

https://www.medalhangers.com/

As I consider myself to be a relatively crafty girl, I decided that I could totally pull off making my own hanger for much less. I of course hit up the holy grail of the DIYer, Pinterest, to find some inspiration. After a quick trip to Lowes and AC Moore I had everything I needed to fabricate my hanger. Here is the finished product:

In total it cost me around $25, the most expensive part being the letters at $1.15 each.

I've had quite a number of people ask me how I made it so I thought I would put together a little tutorial below in the event you'd like a more frugal option to display the fruits of your labor too!

Supplies:

• 6" by 3' pine board (I used 1/2" thick)
• Cafe curtain rod
• D-ring hangers
• Wood screws (make sure they are shorter than the thickness of your board)
• Metal clip
• Black spray paint
• Wood letters (optional)

Instructions:

1. First, spray paint the board, curtain rod and clip black.
   
2. Attach the D-ring hangers to the back of the board. (I also put some rubber bumpers to the back to help protect my wall from scratches)
   
   
   
3. Attach the curtain rod to the front of the board, I chose to place mine on the top right side of the board so that in the future if I need more medal space I can add a second rod below it.  
4. Use a screw to attach the clip to the left side of the board. I positioned it so that I could display my race bibs without them hanging over the edge of the board.  
   
5. Add another coat of spray paint, making sure to cover the screws.
6. Glue the letters to the top of the board. I purchased black, 2" letters from a local craft store. This step is optional and would have brought down the cost of the project by about $15.

And there you have it. It took me about 30 minutes to complete the entire project (plus time for the glue to dry).  I hope this inspires you to get crafty and show off your medals!