Mile Posts: DIY Race Bib Art

When I first started running races in 2000, it never occurred to me to save my race bibs. I had the t-shirt. Why would I save a piece of paper? As the years went on, and the races added up, so did the memories attached to that piece of paper. I began my collecting of bibs.

In 2010 Pinterest entered the world and voila — if you needed an idea of what to do with just about anything, you could find someone crafty on the site who had already done it.

Years ago I taped together a bunch of bibs and arranged them in an old vintage frame. I still like it, but now that I have more bibs, I wanted to make something that I could add to year after year. Finding an identical vintage frame wasn’t happening, so I decided to do a canvas & Mod Podge picture.

The canvas is light weight. It is easy to move and hang in different areas of my house if I would like. I can also make another identical one next year when I have more bibs.

This craft is easy, so even if you aren’t the DIY type, you can certainly do this!

I bought my crafting supplies from Michael’s. There was a sale going on and I had a coupon. #winning

What you need:

• Paint Brush (I prefer wide brushes.)
• White Canvas
• Race Bibs
• Mod Podge
• Scissors or a pocket knife

First I laid out my bibs on the floor and decided which ones I wanted to keep and which ones I wanted to use for this project. Then I placed the entire design on the canvas, so I could move things around to get the look I wanted before anything was permanent. I started with placing my bibs at the top and working down, making sure there was no white space between bibs. Once I settled on how I wanted everything placed, I began applying the Mod Podge.

I painted the Mod Podge in a half moon brush stroke, so it looks more like a painting than race bibs put together. As I worked I would lift up the bibs and place some of the Mod Podge under to act as the glue. This keep it firmly attached to the canvas. Because I was going for a painted look when up close, I did three layers of Mod Podge on top of the bibs. Make sure to let it dry completely between layers. As the Mod Podge goes on it, looks like glue. Once it’s transparent and hard, it’s dry enough to put your next layer on.

Once everything was dry, I trimmed the excess off the bibs that were hanging off the sides. You could wrap the bibs around and Mod Podge them down, or if you liked the look of them extending out, just leave them as is! The possibilities are endless.

Want more ideas of how to get crafty? Check out my Pinterest boards.