Martial Arts Belt Display Vase

Martial Arts Belt Display Vase

Dear husband is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.  We've been talking about getting one of those belt displays that you hang on the wall, but they either looked really cheap and chintzy or were very expensive, so I told him I could totally make something.  Well, I still hadn't made anything when I stumbled across storing them in a vase.  I could do that.  I could totally do that.  So I wound up one of the belts and measured it.  Hubby wears a size 7 belt--which is the equivalent to a XXL(he probably only needs a 6, but better to be a bit longer than you need than to be too short).  At any rate, his belts measure about 5 inches in diameter when they are wound up into a circle. So I bought a vase that was 5.4 inches in diameter (according to the label) and 15 inches tall. He has 8 belts to display, so the height should be perfect with a little extra room at the top to toss in some medals from tournaments or maybe to make a lid for it later.  I thought I had hit the jackpot when I found this vase at Walmart for $15.  Perfect, I thought, well...sort of.


It came with a giant sticker on the front of it.  When I peeled it off it left a whole bunch of sticky residue.  So I washed it and used a bunch of Goo Gone.  Thank goodness for Goo Gone. A few minutes of scrubbing later, and it was sparkling.


Next I began winding his belts up--starting with his white belt. 


I rolled it up as tightly as I could and put a pin in the end of the belt to keep it from unraveling.


Then I dropped the belt into the vase.  Simple and sleek looking.  I was looking forward to the rest of the belts!


I started winding up the rest and noticed something.  not all of the belts are the same width or the same thickness even though they are all the same size from the same company.  So I had no problems at all until I got to the brown belt.  Apparently it's a bit bigger than 5 inches (especially with the black electrical tape they put on it to track the levels before you can test for black belt), and the vase, the 5.4 inches is the diameter of the vase on the outside, not on the inside.  5.4 inches on the inside would have been perfect!  So I rewound the brown belt a couple of times and put an extra pin in it half way through and I was able to squeeze it into the vase.  The temporary black belt (the red and black one) was also tricky since it has two layers of fabric on it where the red is (and I was informed after I took the photo at the top of this blog post that the black side goes on the bottom, so I had to pull it out and flip it over, but I managed to squeeze it in too).

But the black belt, it was a different story.  I rewound it 3 times and couldn't get it to fit.  I think the glass gets a bit thicker at the top of the vase too, so that doesn't help.  So aside from some sort of ironing or washing or something that makes the black belt a bit thinner, I couldn't get it into the vase without pulling the last two layers of belt up and it sticking over the top edge of the vase.  Now I know, buy a 6 inch vase.  So if you have a teen or child in TKD or Karate and you want to store 8 or fewer belts in a compact display, this vase from Walmart will probably work perfectly. Heck even if you're a small adult, it should work perfectly--it almost worked perfectly for us too--unfortunately Rob won't let me cut the last 20 inches of his black belt off so it will fit in the vase :-P. So this project is super easy and looks pretty good--as long as you get the right sized vase for your belts.

Martial Arts Belts Display Vase

Comments

  1. Grace_ImpactMay 7, 2015 at 9:52 AM

    This is fantastic Sarah. I will do this for my belts so thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ayesha KamalJune 2, 2015 at 4:19 AM

    Great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  3. silvergecko264August 10, 2015 at 3:21 PM

    Thanks Sarah! I have been trying to figure out what to do with my son's belts to display them as inexpensively but nicely as possible. Thank you!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJune 23, 2017 at 4:01 PM

    My daughter will be thrilled with this idea though she only has 3 belts to display. Thank Sarah!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Plastic Wrap Alcohol Ink on Small Ceramic Bowl

Image
A while back I picked up some small white bowls from Big Lots ( these look similar ) with a nice satin finish. I already inked one bowl using the flame method , but I still have a few bowls left, so I decided to give one the plastic wrap treatment. I got out my craft mat and some alcohol inks . Then I cleaned my bowl with rubbing alcohol on a paper towel and removed the sale sticker from the bottom. I tore a piece of plastic wrap off the roll that was large enough to cover my bowl, and I set it down on my craft mat, being sure not to smooth it out. Then I dripped ink on the plastic wrap until I liked the combination of colors and the plastic was mostly full of color. Then I placed my bowl in the center of the plastic wrap and carefully applied the plastic wrap to the sides without smoothing it out too much (so it keeps the wrinkled pattern). Then I flipped it over to dry. I ended up using 7 colors on the bowl. I wanted something bright and fun so I we
Read more

Splatter Resist Alcohol Ink Tile

Image
I still have some ceramic tiles left from my last run to the hardware store, so when I remembered I had saved the contact paper heart from my Valentine's Day Glass Etching project, I knew exactly what I wanted to try. I grabbed some bright alcohol inks , canned air , a 6 inch ceramic tile , and my contact paper heart. I originally cut it out free hand by folding the contact paper, so it doesn't have to be perfect, but I'm sure if you have a cutting machine you could use that to make whatever shape you'd like in contact paper or vinyl. I peeled back the paper backing and applied the heart to the middle of the tile (as best as I could eyeball it). Then I rubbed down the edges of the contact paper. I squeezed out a drop of alcohol ink near the edge of the heart and used canned air to blow the drop out from the center of the tile. I usually hold the can with my right hand and a plastic lid with my left (I use the lid from the small plastic box I keep
Read more

Alcohol Ink Washer Necklaces

Image
I received a package of alcohol inks for Christmas and then bought a second set with a 50% off coupon at Michael's.  I've used them now to make coasters and to decorate some candle holders .  I was just getting my sea legs with these inks to begin with.  I applied the ink directly onto the surfaces and played around with rubbing alcohol as a blending solution.  But I thought it was high time that I used an applicator to use them the way they were intended.  Of course, the applicator is just a stamp with some velcro on it and it costs 6+ dollars....not to mention buying the pre-cut pieces of felt. So I figured I'd make my own.  I was very much in a use what you've got mentality, so I grabbed a scrap piece of wood and a couple of strips of velcro (hook and loop tape).  I used the hook side and lined two pieces up next to each other.  Luckily they were just the right width. I had the sew-on kind of velcro, so I spread some tacky glue thinly onto the surface
Read more