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Vintage Decor for a Little Girl's Room - Displaying Vintage Horse Show Ribbons and Pennants
Jenni Jarvis • Jan 27, 2021
Vintage Horse Show Ribbons
Another idea I grabbed from Lay Baby Lay! I also got the idea of monogramming an initial on vintage wood tennis rackets from her. She has such unique ideas and genuinely cool style. I love it, and I have gone wild searching for vintage horse show ribbons online. My go-to sources right now are Etsy and Ebay, and sometimes you can buy an entire lot for a pretty good price if you pay attention to the auctions. It's so fun to collect all the different colors out there AND places around the world. I have some in French because they are Canadian. I love the style of the 1960s ribbons. My absolute favorite ribbon is a green one from Teela Wooket
Camps. The name was so unusual, I Googled it and it was a girls' camp in Roxbury, Vermont that many prominent peoples' daughters attended from across the country. I saw somewhere that Nixon's daughter Julie was a camper. Pretty interesting.
Arranging your Collection
I used a mix of mounting methods to arrange all the ribbons. Per Joni's suggestion on Lay Baby Lay, I ordered the mt brand of washi tape
off Amazon to use because it holds well without damaging surfaces. If you have something that's just not sticking, you can always use a velcro-style Command Strip, too. Horse show ribbons have clips on the back and you can put tape behind the clip (with the sticky side facing away from the ribbon), then press it on the wall or surface you wish to attach it to.
In this group, I taped the yellow ribbon directly to the wall, my green Teela Wooket to a painted wood block, and the simply clipped the pink ribbon on the corner of a picture frame.
As you can see, I clipped a pink ribbon on each end of the fabric scrap swag I have hanging over the windows. A few larger ribbons are displayed on the heart memory board above the bed.
Using Ribbons as Part of a Gallery Wall
I grouped three cream ribbons together as part of this gallery wall, and you can see how I displayed the others. I tried to be sure everything was balanced while taking into consideration size, color and weight of the actual items. If you have pink, blue and yellow, balance the arrangement by having each color in different areas and not all stuck together.
Vintage Pennants
These adorable vintage pennants are both pretty small in scale to what you expect when you purchase a modern-day pennant. I found these on Ebay and Etsy and they are all in great condition. I chose these because they are Kentucky landmarks and we have visited Mammoth Cave more than once. It was originally a bright blue pennant, but the front faded to light grey and I love the color as is. I used washi tape to mount these to the wall and love the mix with the other vintage items.
More Pennants
I have not visited either of these Canadian landmarks, but the colors and style sold me on both. Storybook Gardens seemed perfect for a little girl's room with the fairytale name and mix of red and pink. I also loved the pastel mix of colors in the Niagara Falls pennant. I think they fit perfectly here, above the beautiful ribbons.
More Ideas for Mounting Pennants
I painted over an old Hobby Lobby framed print, and added the mustard-colored frame with a plan to paint a landscape on it, but it was the perfect size and color for this awesome pennant from Kentucky Dam Village State Park. It's extra special because we've been there more times than I can count, so it was fun to get to include something so familiar.
Using Vintage Decor
I love to use a mix of new and old, and kids' rooms are no different. I've always gravitated to vintage or vintage-inspired items for these spaces. Pennants and ribbons are each so unique and you can choose the ones that best suit your taste and style. I have a feeling I'll keep collecting both and you'll see them pop up again. If you're interested in finding some, be sure to check out Etsy and Ebay, although local antique shops and flea markets are other good ideas.
You can hang the rackets alone, or if on a larger wall, feel free to arrange other smaller items around them!
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I can't remember the first example of fluted wood furniture I saw, but it was probably either this gorgeous custom wood bathroom vanity from Chris Loves Julia , or the DIY fluted coffee table Fariha shared on Pennies for a Fortune . The custom cabinetry was done professionally using a router for each line, which isn't something I possess the skills to do. This did help inspire the colors I used in our bathroom remodel, though! I really connected to the method Fariha used to build the coffee table--wooden dowels. What a fabulous idea!
I did a little refresh in our daughter's room, and I decided we needed some large-scale art. I actually planned to order a print, but inspiration struck on a trip to HomeGoods when I saw two HUGE framed canvases on clearance for $25 and $9. I grabbed them up and headed home, with my head filled with ideas on what to do with them.
I love peel-and-stick wallpaper so much! It's an easy, DIY fix for any space that just needs a little refresh. Because it's easily removeable, I feel much more confident going ahead and choosing a pattern. I struggle to commit to traditional pasted wallpaper--I think it's because we removed so much of it when we bought our house. It is no easy task. Peel-and-stick is also very economical, so if you decide to change it up a few years down the line, it doesn't feel so bad. I've now put it in four areas of our house. Today, you'll see the kitchen and den. It's the same pattern in different colors. I love how much the simple pattern really just makes each space.
Just for fun, here's a freebie--a digital download for some fall wall art! This quote is from Anne of Green Gables. I still want to read the book, but I was a huge fan of the series Anne with an E on Netflix. Just click on the file, download it and print it at home or send it to a place like Office Depot. Happy October!
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