PUNCHED OUT MEDALS

Virtual learning has been the worst. Figuring out this new medium while dealing with all the uncertainty and scariness of the pandemic has been an enormous mountain to climb for everyone, young and old. Making it through and finishing for summer seems like a huge accomplishment and deserves recognition. To acknowledge the difficulty and celebrate the perseverance, we made some shiny medals only using craft punches. Punch out some for your troopers!

MAKE AWARD MEDALS WITH CRAFT PUNCHES

MATERIALS

Cardstock in various colors—We sourced ours from Paper Source

Gold foil paper or Assorted metallic foil papers

4-inch scissors

Craft glue and/or glue pen

Adhesive backed pins

Various craft punches (pictured above):

MEDAL ONE

• 1-inch circle punch

• 2-inch circle punch

• Banner punch

MEDAL TWO

• 2 1/2-inch circle punch

• Hexagon punch

• 1 1/2-inch circle punch

• 1-inch circle punch

• Triangle punch

MEDAL THREE

• Hexagon punch

• 1-inch circle punch

• Triangle punch

MEDAL FOUR

• 2 1/2-inch circle punch

• Starburst punch

• 1 1/2-inch circle punch

• 1-inch circle punch

• Triangle punch

• Banner punch

MEDAL FIVE

• Banner punch

• Hexagon punch

CERTIFICATE

• Matte photo paper, or heavy card stock if printing on a laser printer

• Scissors

• Pen

• A2-sized envelope

INSTRUCTIONS

ASSEMBLING MEDAL ONE

To begin, prepare all the shapes:

1. Six circles punched with 1-inch circle punch, 2. Circle punched with 2-inch circle punch, 3. Two circles punched with 1-inch circle punch, each cut in half, 4. Circle punched with 1-inch circle punch, 5. Two flags cut with banner punch, 6. Flag cut with banner punch, 7. Two circles punched with 1-inch circle punch, 8. Two circles punched with 1-inch circle punch, then punched again to narrow circles, 9. Flag punched with banner punch, narrowed with scissors.

To assemble the upper portion of the medal, arrange the four semi-circles around the 2-inch circle base and secure. Glue the 1-inch circle on top.

Adhere a small portion of the six gold 1-inch circles underneath the perimeter of the 2-inch circle. Then fringe the exposed circumference.

Begin the bottom assembly by overlapping two flags and securing them. Then add another flag, offset downward, so that the seam of the flags underneath is covered.

Place two of the larger 1-inch circles on top of the flags and secure. Next adhere the two double-cut 1-inch circles on top.

Finish the bottom by adding the narrow flag on top and securing. Then connect the two pieces by gluing the bottom to the back of the top piece.

ASSEMBLING MEDAL TWO

To begin, prepare all the shapes:

1. Circle punched with 2 1/2-inch circle punch, 2. Three hexagons punched with hexagon punch, then punched again twice to yield six diamonds, 3. Circle punched with 1 1/2-inch circle punch with edges fringed, 4. Circle punched with 1-inch circle punch, 5. Triangle cut three times with triangle punch, 6. Triangle punched with triangle punch, 7. Hexagon punched twice with hexagon punch, 8. Hexagon punched twice with hexagon punch and smaller piece fringed, 9. Hexagon punched twice with hexagon punch.

To assemble the upper portion of the medal, arrange the six diamonds in a star pattern and glue down onto the 2 1/2-inch circle. The adhere the fringed 1 1/2" circle in the middle. Finish the upper portion by securing the 1-inch circle on the top.

Adhere the fringed-chevron to the largest chevron shape, leaving a small margin at the top and a larger on at the bottom. Then glue the small chevron to the top of the fringed-piece. Glue the narrow v-shape to the large triangle. To finish the bottom, secure the assembled-chevron to the assembled-triangle.

Complete the medal by gluing the bottom piece behind the top piece.

ASSEMBLING MEDAL THREE

To begin, prepare all the shapes:

1. Hexagon punched with hexagon punch, then punched again twice to yield two large diamonds, 2. Hexagon punched with hexagon punch, then punched again twice to yield two medium diamonds, 3. Circle punched with 1-inch circle punch, 4. Circle punched with 1-inch circle punch, then punched again to narrow, 5. Strip measuring about 4-inches by 3/4-inches, 6. Three triangles cut with triangle punch, cut down about 5/8-inches, 7. Two triangles cut with triangle punch, cut down about 5/8-inches.

Begin assembly of the upper portion by adhering the smaller diamonds in the middle of the larger diamonds, and the cut down circle in the middle of the whole circle. The attach the tips of the diamonds to the back of the circle.

Moving onto the lower portion, glue three triangle together. Then adhere two other triangles in the middle of the gaps. Try to make all the bottom points even.

Turn the triangle assemblage over and glue the strip to the top—ensuring that you only use a thin line of adhesive at the top. Cut off the ends of the strip at an angle, leaving a bit of an overhang. Then cut fringe along the length of the strip.

Finish by gluing the upper portion to the bottom portion.

ASSEMBLING MEDAL FOUR

To begin, prepare all the shapes:

1. Circle punched with 2 1/2-inch circle punch, 2. Starburst punched with starburst punch, 3. Circle punched with 1 1/2-inch circle punch, 4. Circle punched with 1-inch circle punch, 5. Three triangles cut with triangle punch, fringed, 6. Three banners punched with banner punch, narrowed with scissors, center punched twice and cut in half.

Begin assembly with the upper portion of the medal. Place the starburst on the large circle and secure. Stack the 1-inch circle on the 1 1/2-inch circle, secure, and glue onto the starburst. Lastly, arrange five pairs of parallelograms around the assembled circles and secure.

Next stack three fringed-triangles and secure. Finally glue the triangle stack to the backside of the assembled top.

ASSEMBLING MEDAL FIVE

To begin, prepare all the shapes:

1. Six banners punched with banner punch, 2. Hexagon punched with hexagon punch, fringed, 3. Hexagon punched with hexagon punch, cut twice to create medium diamond, 4. Hexagon punched with hexagon punch, cut twice to create small diamond.

Overlap two banners and secure for a total of three pairs. Then overlap the pairs in a a star shape and secure.

Glue the hexagon onto the assembled star's center, then add the medium diamond followed by the small diamond.

ADDING ADHESIVE-BACKED PINS

Adding pins is easy. Simply peel off the paper backing (we had to use tweezers on some stubborn ones), and stick to the back of an assembled medal.

MAKING THE CERTIFICATE

1. Download the Award Certificate PDF.

2. Print out the certificate sheet with your printer settings set appropriately for the paper you are using. Ensure that you are printing at 100% scale.

3. Cut out the certificate with scissors or a craft knife.

4. Fill out the award and gift it!