Recycling Show Ribbons

Many collectors recycle the ribbons that they win at live shows. Some shows such as my own Happy Trails as well as Great Lakes Congress, hand out recycled ribbons to class winners, a practice that saves money and reduces waste. On Pinterest are many creative ideas for using horse show ribbons beyond the show ring (quilts, wall hangings, tote bags, and more - go check it out!)

The day after Thanksgiving I found another way to recycle ribbons.

Our family always has a gingerbread house decorating competition during the holidays.

This year's completed entries on display in my living room.

We purchase the gingerbread house kits and tons of decorating supplies. These are set out on my kitchen island for everyone to use.

Pony Pal Kate helped me make mine. (All that candy was a huge motivator!)

This year we added a Junior division - I'd found a Mario Brothers gingerbread kit online and we set it out for Ian, Julie, Mila, and Kate to decorate.

They were very serious about making their gingerbread house.

Pepper quickly figured out that the best place to hang out was under the kids' table where she could eat all the crumbs and sprinkles that fell onto the floor. Smart doggie!

After we finished, the judges came in to check out our creations and pick this year's winner. (As you can tell by their expressions, they take their judging responsibilities very seriously.)

We were all anxious to hear what they thought, especially those in the junior competition.

Kate, Ian, Julie, and Mila were so excited to participate and very proud of their creation.

Giggles as they listen and wait. Then, the announcement was made that the Mario gingerbread house had placed first in the Junior division!

And, surprise!! Blue ribbons were awarded to all the Junior entrants! Pony Pal Julie exclaimed, "Oh, I have always wanted to win a blue ribbon!" That made me glad that I had been able to slip out and run upstairs, open my tub of ribbons, and grab one for each of the entrants in the Junior division.

The winning (and only) entry in the Junior division was most definitely worthy of that blue ribbon.