Spring is nearing, and with it, convention season. For those of you with badges, keychains, and pin collections, why not display your SWAG when not wearing it at cons?

In this Instructable, I will go over the materials and steps required to make a badge and keychain holder out of some ribbon, string and a chopstick. It's pretty much Macgyvering this wall art, and does not require any sewing or tools (unless you want to get fancy)!

Cost:

I'd estimate the cost at less than $5 for a simple piece, or $10 if you use multiple ribbons like in my example.

Time to make:

If you have a sewing machine or stapler, it could take as little as 15 minutes. If you use glue that needs to dry, it may take a few hours.

Step 1: Gather Your Supplies

For this Instructable, you can modify the supplies to your liking. I recommend:

(1) Chopstick or wooden dowel
(1) 6 to 10 inch length of string or shoelace
(1-3) ribbons of your choice
- I recommend that is at least a half inch wide for badge clips and pins to hold on to. I found the bottom, riveted faux leather strip at Joann Fabric, and it's perfect for keychains!
- The length of these ribbons are dependent on your collection - mine is expansive, so I had 6 feet of each! But as little as 2-3 feet of ribbon would make for a nice piece.
Sewing machine, sewing kit, glue, or stapler to seal ribbon

Optional:

Sharpie or back paint to color chopstick/dowel
Glue to affix string to dowel

Tip:

There are always coupons for craft stores such as Joann Fabrics, Michaels, AC Moore, etc.

Step 2: Cut and Sew/seal Ribbon

Take the ribbon and fold approximately one inch to the "back" of the ribbon. Be sure to leave enough hollow space for the dowel to go through!

Hand sew, machine stitch, staple shut, or glue a line to seal the ribbon. In these pictures, I machine sewed the skull ribbon, and stapled the faux leather strip.

Step 3: Thread the Dowel

Once the seal is complete (or dry if glued), thread the dowel through the ribbon(s).

Tip:

If you care about color, before threading you can paint or color the dowel with a marker (Sharpie). It's all about aesthetics for this part.

Step 4: Add Hanging Rope

Tightly tie the string to both ends of the dowel.

Tip:

I recommend adding a drop of glue to keep everything from sliding off if it's hung a bit sideways!

Step 5: Attach!

Use badge clips to clip on to the ribbons and pin through the ribbon fabric to hang them. If you have a riveted strip, use the holes to hang your keychains through.

Tip:

In my pictures I had attached these before threading and hanging the dowel. It may be easier to attach your SWAG once this is hung vice before - that is your preference.