Workout Wednesday: DIY Medal Rack

I've spent far too long drooling over all of the beautiful medal racks on Pinterest.  Suddenly, I stumbled upon a simple one on Etsy that had me thinking "I could so do that myself!"  My poor row of coat hooks that I have been using is looking overburdened and my hard won finishers medals deserve better.

(Source)

So, armed with a drill, a paintbrush, and a Home Depot gift card..I was set to get crafty.   This one is so easy, anyone can do it.

Supplies:

• Board of the desired size of your medal rack (I used a half inch thick piece of sanded poplar)
• hooks of your choice
• Paint - 2 colours -  I bought pre-tinted testers that were on clearance for $1 each
• Paint brush
• Drill and 2 bits - large and teeny
• Newspaper or plastic sheeting as a dropcloth
• Creative slogan of your choosing.  I went with "Medal Whore", as I am sure you are all shocked to find out.

Step 1

Mark two holes in the top corners - this is where you will drill through with a large-ish drill bit to create a way to hang your medal rack.  For measurement guidance - I lined the tape measure up along the edge of the board and then marked a half inch. It feels like cheating, but it makes it even and equal.

Step 2

Mark where you want your hooks.  I used the width of the tape measure along the bottom of the board and then did my best to eyeball them evenly spaced (I so failed LOL, but I don't care either.)

Step 3

Drill the hanging holes right through the board, then switch to a much smaller bit to drill pilot holes for the hooks. Knock all of the raggedy pieces of wood away from the holes

Step 4

Slather paint all over the board.  Make sure you put newspaper down first.

Step 5

When the paint is dry - draw the slogan onto the board lightly in pencil or chalk.  I used soft pastel because that was what was handy - I found that a faint impression of the letters remained when I brushed the excess dust off.

Then, using a small brush - trace the letters in paint.  (At this stage, I also took a moment to run an X-acto knife around the edge of the board to separate it from the pools of paint I slopped around the edge)

Bonus step: you can urethane it once the lettering dries, if you so desire

Step 6

Screw in the hooks

Step 7

Hang on the wall

Step 8

Fill with all of those lovely medals and celebrate the medal whore within! (not a great pic, but you get the idea)

I'm not one to wait for my hubby to get around to something - I'd rather leap in and get it done - no matter how imperfect.  And, trust me - mine is definitely imperfect...the hooks are nowhere near evenly spaced. And I was too lazy to paint the back side.  But it is fun and has so much more room to put any future medals I might haul home.

Happy running - after all, it's the only way to collect those medals, ya know...