Recognition and Achievement Awards Display

This is a continuation of the article on mounting medals and trophies for display.

Not all of the items in the display cabinet shelves are medals, ribbons and trophies. There are many other items in your kids' stuff that are bound to add interest and variety to the display.

A portrait for instance, easily identifies the shelf to its owner. Adding these pieces of items will even out and balance the number of items that are showcased among the shelves so none would appear lackluster.


Items Included in the Display Cabinet
  1. Portraits

    All the kids have them. The portrait photos have a standard measurement of 8" by 10". These have been paid for as part of the graduation fee. They're professionally made and come with attractive sleeves or jackets.

    Sadly, they've been stored like books in bookshelves so they were hardly appreciated. So why not pull out these "freebies" from their sleeves and display them?

    The portrait photo automatically identifies whose awards are on the shelf. Of course they need to be updated periodically as the child matures and reaches another milestone.

  2. Action Shot Pictures

    Photos of kids posing with their awards are good. Actions shots where kids showcase their talents, skills, provide an interesting perspective.

    Some schools have photographers that cover recognition, graduation and other specific events like Holy Communion rites. Rummage, you may find them.

    If not, and you have a digital camera where you took a picture of the child, then look at those as well. Crop the picture to take out the non-essentials or distractions in the picture frame. Keep the image tight especially for action shots.

  3. Buttons or Special Pins

    if the child has been actively involved with clubs or organizations that have club buttons, then include them. Ditto for model pupil awards or a button that commemorates an event special to the child.

    Buttons add a 3-dimentional texture on the awards display board. Don't overdo it though. Heavy and bulging keychains tacked on the board may be out of place.

  4. Certificates

    These come in all sizes, shapes and colors. Choose the really nice ones (colorful, unique or special awards) and hang or mount them by the sideboards of the display shelf.




    Due to space limitations, all else, like the regular ones can be piled on the floor of the shelf.

  5. Photo Albums, Souvenir Programs and Books

    Although these supplement and essentially document the achievements, they may be best kept separately due to their size and volume.


Achievers Corner Display Cabinet

Here's the completed awards display cabinet with brief description of highlights on each part of the showcase.
  1. Top Surface of Cabinet

    If there are trophies or plaques that are too tall and would not fit in any of the shelves, then the top of the cabinet is an option. Hopefully, the award doesn't hit the ceiling! Here, several other awards (not belonging to the kids) were positioned on top.


  2. First Shelf

    In the succeeding photos below, I temporarily removed the sliding glass panels to have a better view of the shelves' contents.

    The combination of colors on the medal ribbons gives this shelf a colorful display. See the photo below. A certificate in a plastic jacket leans on the left sideboard while a certificate without a holder is attached (double-sided tape) to the right.

    A shot of the child playing the piano and diving in a swimming pool gives a clue to the child's interests.


  3. Second Shelf

    In the above photo, the trophy on the left adds glitter to the second shelf. Its green accent complements the green accent of the graduation toga. The awards are supplemented in the display with actions shots.




    Notice how tight the focus is on action shots. Discernible from the images are the swimming strokes: backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke.

  4. Third Shelf

    In the third shelf as shown below, the portrait shows the child in her school uniform which still evokes formality. Other items are two "Model Pupil" button pins that the child received.

    This particular shelf shows posed pictures with the child showing the award with parents. One action shot is self-descriptive with the banner above the child saying "Piano Recital".


  5. Fourth Shelf

    An action shot of the child in the above photo (fourth shelf) shows freestyle swimming. Notice the neat and ordered display of the medals. The multi-colored round ribbon award provides variety to the display.

  6. Bottom Cabinet

    This bottom cabinet with swinging doors is ideal for storing School Yearbooks or Annuals, Graduation books, Commencement programs, Souvenir books, Old School Badges (or ID cards), Old Class Pictures, Swimming Programs, Piano Recital Programs and other keepsakes.


    Notice how the books are stored vertically in the photo above. Be sure to label the spines of the souvenir books so they're easily identifiable. It's difficult when you have 4 kids rummaging all through the souvenir books just to find theirs.




Go ahead, post your comment below!

Flor D said...

Hi! May I ask where did you buy the 4-shelf display cabinet with sliding doors? And how much? Thank you.

Blackdove said...

Hi Flor. This was a long time ago. These are the San-yang brand of knock-down cabinets that you can assemble. I believe it was bought from Puregold. A word of caution though, the "wood" panels are not real wood but laminates. That's okay if the purpose is only for displaying awards and memorabilia.

Flor D said...

Yes, i will be using the cabinet for displaying my daughter's awards. I was searching the net since yesterday. Luckily, i stumbled upon your site. I hope this kind is still available now. Thank you so much. :)

Blackdove said...

Glad to have helped, Flor, and thanx for stopping by.

Flor D said...

Hi! Today my bookshelf has been delivered. The brand is Megaboom, model BS-190. It is also a 4-layer bookshelf with 2-door cabinet just like your San-yang. I bought mine for 2879.20 pesos. Original price is 3599.. Luckily, FC Hone Center is on sale :) Next step now is to arrange my daughter's awards. I'm really thankful for your idea. God bless :)

Blackdove said...

Good! So will you be assembling it? Or was it delivered already assembled? Now that you mentioned it, I remember buying a wider bookshelf (than the Sanyang brand) also from FC Home Center. It's in the kids' big bedroom and my 4 kids use it to store their pocketbooks. It's neat and has held up so far. Your daughter (only child?) must have plenty of awards! Congrats! By the way, there are related posts in this blog that show how I mount the medals and the materials I used. Use the 'next' or 'previous' posts button below. Good luck.

Flor D said...

It was already assembled except for the sliding glass doors which they put when they got here. Yes, my daughter is my one and only child. She's an achiever academically, in chess and journalism too. I think you will agree if I say that our children is our gem and being an achiever is a bonus lol. Anyway I will read again how you setup and arrange the medals and ribbons. Till then... :)