These painted washers are perfect for personalizing gift bags, labeling each player’s equipment, or just to use as necklaces for added team spirit. Get the team together and get painting!
This project is pretty versatile because you can easily customize the washers for any sport. You can also use nail polish from around the house or opt for acrylic paint and paint brushes. Spray paint may also be a good option to get the job done fast.
Materials:
- Washers ( 1/4 in x 1-1/4 in)
- Paint
- String, rope, ribbon, or chain
- Permanent Marker
How To:
If you have the whole team together making these then hand painting each washer, one at a time is a viable option. If you’re the team mom and you’re doing this all by yourself, however, you may want to consider using spray paint to speed up the process. Lay out all your washers on newspaper and grab some fast drying spray paint for your base color. Apply one or two coats to your washers and let dry.
Since I only bought a few washers to paint, I went ahead and used nail polish that I had around the house. I wanted to paint soccer balls and baseballs so white was going to be my base color. The nail polish I used was Sally Hansen’s xtreme wear in the color White On (300).
After, the washers are painted and dry, add the details. For the baseball, I painted the seams in red using Sally Hansen’s All Fired Up color (460). My “seams” aren’t perfect and looking back, I should have used a small paint brush but I think it’s still fairly clear that it is supposed to represent a baseball. For this washer, I used parachute cord in red to loop through the hole.
Next, I painted a washer to resemble a soccer ball using OPI nail polish in Black Onyx. I started by painting half pentagons around the edges. Then, I painted one around the center hole of the washer. To finish the look, I outlined the edge of the washer with the black polish.
For this washer, I used a silver ribbon to loop through the center.
Now, all you have to do is add each player’s initials or jersey number. After waiting for my paint to dry, I took a Sharpie and wrote the number on to each washer. Be sure to wait until the paint or polish is completely dry or your marker won’t write very well.
All Done!
Like I said before, you can get really creative with these. Try doing basketballs or team colors instead. Attach these to each player’s equipment bag as a sort of name tag. As you can see, I looped a ribbon through one of the washers and made a bow, perfect for exchanging gifts at the team party!
