Enamel pins are kind of a big deal these days, aren’t they?   They’re so cute and cool.  And aaaaall the kids are collecting them.  Displaying them is a whole OTHER deal.

I’ve seen banners, hanging fabric, pennants, and other ways to show of a lovely collection.  A common theme is corkboard.  I took the quick simple way out a while back, and grabbed the adhesive corkboard squares you find in office supply stores….which lasted a few short months before they all came crashing down in shambles…My friend Aletta came up with a suggestion:  what if we DREW a background for them?  The best part:  it was fun and easy to make, and I could do it with the daughter!

I got a couple of embroidery canvases (it’s made to stitch through, so the fabric is a little softer than regular painting canvas, but those would probably work too), and some Sharpie markers.We started by taking a couple of pins that sort of went together, and drawing backgrounds behind them.If I started this project having some fun, it was nothing compared to the fun the kid had.  Myla is age seven and tells stories as she draws, so this project was PERFECT for her imagination.  She’d grab a pin and start doodling, telling stories as she went–adding characters, sceneries, and battles between pins.

It didn’t take long before we had filled our three canvases up…And we ended up with some fun, funky little canvas displays…Mine looking a bit like a Keith Haring comic book …And Myla’s turning out pretty cool as well…Later, we decided they needed a little color, and Myla gave me permission to add to them all.  I didn’t want to take too much away from the pins or the drawings, so very light washes of acrylic paint seemed to really bring everything together.And voila–DIY pin displays!  Ready to hang right on the wall!  And if you feel like wearing a pin for a day, just take it off the canvas and put it back on when you’re done!Here’s a better look at them, one by one:  Myla’s first one was a tree scene with most everyone hiding in the trees from Casper (who is famous, because there is a camera taking photos of him), and a random arm holding Audrey 2 over everyone…Her next one features Immortan Joe and the “blood bag” Mad Max (see–he’s hanging from the ceiling?) fighting, and two starry-eyed monsters stealing eggos and threatening a very passive, jet-pack flying stormtrooper.  At the bottom, a lunch lady chases the running dishes, as the cats all jump on a trampoline, and beetles climb all over a building full of people.

Like ya do.And mine has a skelecorn and magic floating arctic wolf protecting the land from an alien invasion, a strong-arm with tattoos,  a very worried arctic fox stressing over tree-climbers, and and Pee-Wee unwittingly driving into a city being attacked by Audrey 2, the Thing, and Godzilla.  Yikes!And there you have it!  Easy to do…fun for you AND for a kid…looks pretty on the wall, and yet still super functional!So go out and give it a try!  Or tell me about your DIY pin display ideas–what do you do to enjoy your pin collection?

(Our pin collection featured here:  anxiety wolf by Namoi Romero , pinup Dale Cooper by Emma Munger, the Thing by Annie Frenzel,  chubby Stormtrooper, Spiderman, and Casper unmasked by Alex Solis), windup bird by Bleu Louise, Godzilla and box cat by Noosh Studios, sloth, hedgehog, and Nessie by BoyGirlParty, alien-head girl by Julie Filipenko, clean plate club by Mab Graves, Immortan Joe and Mad Max by Pinhead Company,  tiny bat, mama otter with baby, and ray gun by LuxCups Creative, bunny-bat and broken-hearted otter by Flat Bonnie, coleoptera beetles by Dianafloresblazquez,  Dark Crystal by Zen Monkey Studios, arctic wolf face by Monica Knighton, starry-eyed monsters by BeATrashCat, skelecorn and wicked black cat by Bbllowwn, and a few others that were either gifts or that I can’t seem to recall…)