Hello there!
First of all a big, huge thank you to my readers, many of whom are friends and acquaintances, who have approached me around town, in the grocery store, on Facebook and on the football field to say you enjoy Shine Your Light. I can’t tell you how much that pleases me, and I love your suggestions of topics you want to see on here! This blog has been so uplifting for me as we go through a bit of a transition in our lives and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed making new friends through the blogosphere and dishing about home improvement, cooking and family life with you!
When I was framing, one of the most popular categories of my customers was sports memorabilia. I can’t tell you how many Patriots, Celtics, Bruins and Red Sox items I framed – in particular, signed shirts. In my son’s room I hung a signed Patriots shirt as a focal point and we pulled the color scheme from this item (thankfully the N.E. Patriots and Boston Red Sox share the same colors so it was easy to incorporate items from both teams.) I chose not to frame this shirt, but I did mount it on foam board so that it would hang nicely. Here are some tips on using your own sports shirts as decor in a child’s room, basement or gameroom. Even shirts that are not signed by the athlete make great wall hangings for the sports enthusiast!
First, purchase a piece of foamboard in a similar color to your shirt at a craft store. I bought a 24×30″ navy blue board at Michaels for just a few dollars.
Decide which side of the shirt you want to display and center the foamboard inside the shirt, pushing it all way up to the collar. Typically the back is displayed so the player’s number and name can be clearly seen, and this is where an athlete would sign a shirt also.
Use straight pins to attach the collar of the shirt to the board. Watch your fingers on the backside! Push the pins down at an angle so they are embedded in the board and not sticking out all over the place.
Many sports jerseys have emblems on the sleeves. Fold the shirt to display these and pin the inside edge to the board. The outer edge will not be attached to the foamboard, but instead will be attached directly to the wall.
The excess fabric on the bottom and sides of the shirt will be pinned to the other side. Use pins to secure the shirt all around the perimter on the backside.
Mount the shirt on the wall using upholstery tacks. I found black tacks at the local hardward store. Start by hanging the shirt with a couple of tacks through the board inside the collar so the tacks are not visible. The upholstery tacks have longer “nails” on them than regular tacks and will be secure in the drywall when nailed in with a hammer. After you have attached the collar to the wall, add some tacks inside the fold of the sleeves. Stretch the sleeve out onto the wall and attach the inside of the sleeve.
Make sure the number on the shirt is centered! This picture below shows puckering on the left side under the sleeve because the 39 was not centered on the board. I had to unpin some of the fabric from the back and attach it directly the the wall so the number would be centered. Don’t make my mistake or it’ll drive you nutty!
This is an easy project and a great way to display your favorite sports paraphernalia!
Go Pats!
