• Organization
    • Car Organization Tips
    • Declutter Trophies And Medals
    • Game Organization
    • Inside Purse Organization
    • All Organization Post
  • Cleaning
  • DIY
  • Family
  • Gift Guides
  • Printables

Full Circle With Jess

Helping You Find The Joy In The Little Things

  • Contact Me
  • About

March 7, 2022

Declutter Trophies and Medals The Easy Way

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I'll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read the full Disclaimer.

This post is all about how to declutter trophies and medals.

declutter trophies and medals

If you’re here, I am assuming it is because you also have one too many trophies and medals cluttering up your life. And you are looking for easy ways to declutter trophies and medals, am I right?

I get it! I have two kids and both have been playing sports since they were 5 and they are now 12 and 13! So yeah, that is A LOT of trophies and medals!

And let’s be honest, although we want to keep these memories for our kids, for when they grow up, the truth is these items end up becoming a burden for them instead. Seriously though? How many of you have actually kept all the items your parents passed on to you from your childhood? Or how many felt burdened by the massive amounts of unorganized boxes that your parents passed on to you?

This is why a while ago I decided that if I was going to keep keepsakes for my kids to enjoy when they grow up, I was going to find ways to best organize and store these items. This way, we would actually be able to appreciate and enjoy these items throughout the years. And also when the time comes to pass on the keepsakes to my kids, it will be something they can enjoy with their kids instead of it being a burden for them to deal with.

With that said, here is what I did to declutter trophies and medals in our home, how we are keeping the trophies and medals clutter under control, moving forward, and also suggestions on what to do with old unwanted trophies and medals. 

How To Declutter Trophies And Medals

Here is the gist of what I did:

I removed the engraved part of all the trophies and I ended up donating the actual trophy. And for the medals, I removed the ribbon and only kept the medal part and also donated the ribbons. I then used glue dots to glue the plaques and medals to the belonging sports photos. 

Table of Contents

  • Declutter Trophies And Medals | The Steps
  • Dont’ Have A Photo Album? Here Are Some Ideas
  • How To Decide What Is Worth Keeping
  • Suggestion For What To Do With New Awards
  • Suggestions For Where To Donate

Declutter Trophies And Medals | The Steps

Step 1 – Gather Supplies (supplies I used)

Buy From Amazon

Buy From Amazon

Buy From Amazon

You will also need a chisel and a donation box.

Step 2 – Create a Photo Album (if you Don’t have one)

where to donate old trophies

Step 3 – Consolidate all trophies and medals in one area

old trophies

Step 4 – Purge

Decide which trophies and/or medals you want to keep intact and which ones you’re okay with just keeping the plaques and medals. Once you have sorted them, separate the ones you are keeping intact (if any) from the ones you are removing plaques and medals.

ideas for storing trophies

These were the only ones my kids wanted to keep intact. And for the rest, we only kept the plaque and medals.

Step 5 – Remove Plaques and/or ribbons

Safely use the chisel to remove the engraved plaques from each trophy. And for the medals, just cut off the ribbon.

Some trophies didn’t even need the chisel, I was able to remove the plaque with my fingers. 

kids trophy display ideas

Step 6 – How to glue the Plaques and medals

Once you have removed all the plaques from the trophies and cut off the ribbon from all the medals, line them all up on a table in order by year.

Then use the glue dots to apply the medals and/or plaques to their designated picture. (as shown in the pictures below)

Initially, I had only added one glue dot per medal, but later added two per medal, and that worked best.

do trophy shops buy back trophies
medal display ideas diy

Step 7 – Insert into a sheet protector 

When gluing the plaques and medals to the photos, it should look like the picture below. Then insert the finished product into a sheet protector. (as shown below)

trophy and medal display ideas

And that is it! Repeat steps 6 & 7 until done.

This literally helped me get rid of several boxes of trophies and medals and a lot of clutter! However, we still got to keep the parts that matter from each trophy and medal. And they are nicely displayed and organized so that we can enjoy them for many years to come!

Dont’ Have A Photo Album? Here Are Some Ideas

  1. If you have the sports photos handy, create a photo album with your child’s sports photos. Here I show you how I made my kids’ photo albums.
  2. If you don’t have a picture that pertains to the trophy and/or medals, take a picture of your child holding each trophy and/or medal and use that picture in place of their team photo for the year the trophy/medal belongs to.
  3. Don’t want to take pictures? You can use cardstock paper instead. Use glue dots to secure the plaque and/or medal to the cardstock paper in order by year.

How To Decide What Is Worth Keeping

I let my kids pick their favorite trophies and those we kept in their bedroom displayed. It surprised me to see them pick only a couple and the rest they were okay with letting go. Note: We kept ALL engraved plaques from all the trophies. We only got rid of the trophy, not the engraved part.

So all that to say, what is worth keeping is up to you and your kiddo. But just keep in mind that if you keep everything, then nothing is special. Really give it some thought and keep only the very best!

Suggestion For What To Do With New Awards

Well, this system is fairly new to us. However, we plan to have a designated space in our kids’ bedrooms to display their trophies and medals for a year.

After a year, we will decide if we want to keep it intact or only keep the plaque and medals. This will minimize the clutter by a lot. And we will still be able to enjoy the trophies and/or medals for a little while.

And every so often we will revisit the trophy and/or medal they kept intact and make sure they still want to keep them. If they don’t, then we will take the plaques/medal off and add them to their photo albums.

Suggestions For Where To Donate

Once you decide what trophies, medals, etc. you’re getting rid of, you will have to decide what you’re doing with them all. I do not recommend just throwing them in the trash. So here are a few ideas on what you can do to make sure they don’t end up in a landfill somewhere.

  • Check your local trophy shops and see if any will take them or if they know of a place where you can take it to recycle near your area. Many trophy shops will take these items as donations. And they refurbish them and resell. Just make sure you remove any of your information from the medals, trophies, etc. before donating them.
  • Donate them to awardsmall.com. I found this website online and they charge a $20.00 flat recycling fee, which includes 25 trophies. From what I read on their website, they accept gently used trophies, awards, and medals. They are then recycled, re-used, and re-gifted to non-profits nationwide. Check out the website and see for yourself if this is a place you would like to donate to.
  • Call your local recycling facilities and check if they accept them for recycling. 

↓ Liked the post? Pin it for later! ↓

What to do with all those trophies and medals. No more clutter. Pinterest Pin.

This post was all about how to declutter trophies and Medals

Other Posts You Might Like:

  • Game Organization | How To Organize Board Games, Card Games, and Puzzles With Zipper Bags + Photo Boxes
  • 25 Teenage Girl Room Organization Ideas That Really Work
  • How To Create An Organized Keepsake Bin

Posted In: All Organization Post, Declutter Trophies And Medals, Family, Organization

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Meet Jessica:

About Me
Hi! My name is Jessica, the face behind Full Circle With Jess. Here at Full Circle With Jess, we share all our tips, tricks, and hacks relating to family, organization, cleaning, DIY, and so much more!

Follow Me:




Let’s Be Friends On Instagram

I created this little “doggy station” for our I created this little “doggy station” for our pup Skye’s stuff. 

This area is right by the front door, so I made sure to store all the things we reach for when we are heading out the door with her. Or things that we use often and wanted them handy in the living room.

It’s only been up for a few of days and it has already made life so much easier.

Adding wall shelves is a great way to add storage space to any space. Especially when you have little storage space to work with.

I DIY’d the shelves because I wanted them a certain size and for the stain to match her crate cover, but you can definitely buy shelves too.

Blog post going live today with all the sources. Stay tuned in stories for that! 🤗
Heres a quick tip to help you keep your mail clutt Heres a quick tip to help you keep your mail clutter tamed!

If you are anything like me, you hate going through your mail and having to deal with it that very moment. Sometimes we just don’t have the time or the mental energy to sit there and deal with every single piece of paper that comes in to our homes.

So setting up a simple filing system such as this one can go a long way with keeping all the paper clutter tamed until you have time to file it wherever it needs to get filed.

Here are my tips:
1-Set up a small filing system such as this one, that applies to your most common mail categories.
2-When you get your mail, open all of it.
3-Sort all your mail and file it in your filing system.
4-Shred and throw away any papers you don’t need.
5-Any mail that needs your attention, put it in a basket, in an area where you know you won’t forget it.

Take these quick extra steps when you get your mail, and you can finally say goodbye to all the mail/paper clutter! It takes a few extra minutes to do this, but in the long run, it will save you a ton of time.🙌🏻
Before and after of my nephew's clothing closets. Before and after of my nephew's clothing closets. 😍 (swipe for the before- last two pics)

Keeping up with your growing kid’s clothing closet and drawers can be very overwhelming. I think many, if not all, parents can relate to this.

And when life gets busy, things like a closet aren’t top priority. And once it gets a little out of hand, it’s even more overwhelming to get it back in order. Especially when it’s sentimental stuff like your kiddos stuff.

I’m so happy I got to help my sister with her son's closets.

She’s a busy mama with a cutie little boy and needed help to get his closets back in order and functional for his growing needs. And I was more than happy to help her do just that!
-
When organizing a closet, functionality is number one in my book. And we organized these closets with exactly that in mind.

You can make something pretty all day long, but if it’s not functional for you or the person who will handle the space/s, it will not last. #functionalnotjustpretty

👉🏻Today in stories I will share my top tips and my go to process to tackling large (or any size) purging/organizing projects without getting overwhelmed.
And it’s done. I really dragged out this mini DI And it’s done. I really dragged out this mini DIY project this week. 😂 But hey life happens and things sometimes get pushed back.

Anyway, I’m so happy with the way it turned. But even happier to say that I MADE it! Making things with your own hands really feels so good.🙌🏻🤗

(See highlight for how to make it)

And I would say that this is definitely another beginner friendly + budget friendly DIY. So if you have been itching to DIY - this one is another great option.
DIY Basketball hoop is done! So freaking happy wit DIY Basketball hoop is done! So freaking happy with the way it turned out. Like my son said, “it looks pretty good!”🤣

I would definitely recommend this DIY to anyone. It’s so easy to make, and this is coming from someone that has no clue what she’s doing when it comes to DIY. So if I could make this, so can you!🙌🏻

(How to make it is saved in my highlight bubbles under “basketball.” Full detailed blog post coming soon too)

Summary: 
I used plywood for the backboard and got it cut to size at @homedepot. My board is 24 x 17. I sanded the entire board lightly, cleaned then used @varathane stain for the entire back board and black @rustoleum paint for the black lines. I created the lines with tape.

The hoop is an 8 inch hoop I got for $8 on Facebook marketplace. You can buy new, but Facebook market place has a ton of second-hand ones. You just have to remove to the original back board it comes with.

I used 2 - lag screws to mount/secure the to the wall. I screwed it directly into studs. I then painted the screws black so they wouldn’t be as noticeable.

Total cost: under $20. I already had the stain and paint, so all I bought was the plywood and hoop.

Let me know below if you would give this a try?
I just made DIY drawer dividers today, and I am so I just made DIY drawer dividers today, and I am so happy about how they turned out. (swipe to see them with clothes)

When I saw Monica @house.of.esperanza make her own drawer dividers for her kitchen, I was inspired to make my own instead of buying them.

Thank you so much for the idea, Monica!

Not only did I get out of my comfort zone and used a handsaw for this project, but I saved a good chunk of money by not buying expensive drawer dividers and just making my own! Win, win!

(tutorial available on my website - click the link in my bio)
Follow on Instagram




Categories

Site Disclosures:

  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions

Follow Me:

Copyright © 2022 Full Circle With Jess · Theme by 17th Avenue