Easy End of Year Student Award Ribbons

Hey teaching friends! As I am not so much a crafty person, I have found that washi tape is definitely a medium in which I seem to be able to work and make something look cute.

I grabbed some new tape from a Pick Your Plum deal, and Downtown Tape has also graciously sent me 25 rolls of their awesome tape as well, so I have to tell you in advance: I have an entire summer of washi tape projects on the roster for your classroom! I have a list as long as my arm, and am so excited to see how some of the projects come out! Yay! {Check out my Downtown Tape stash below.}

To kick off things, I am starting off with a super fun end of the year awards ceremony change from the routine: washi tape student awards!

Note: I am one of the least crafty people out there, so if I can make these, so can anyone.

Let’s get this party project started! You will need only a few items:

Washi tape in one or more colors of your choice
Craft hole punch – I used a 2.75″ punch for the larger ribbons and a 1.75″ punch for the centers, as well as for the smaller ribbons
White cardstock for the hanging ribbons and for printing the award centers on
Student Award Ribbon Center Pieces – grab a few below!

1. Start by punching one circle and using your tape, start on one side with the tape flush. Start pleating the tape (creating the pleats by sticking the tape to itself lightly) gently turning the circle as your continue around the circle. This is something that will come out way crazy at first, but as you continue to practice, it comes along nicely.

As you can see from my example below, it wasn’t quite a circle when I was done – lol.

2. If you use large circles, you will either want to add another large circle with the award on top (see next step) or add another row of tape in the same or in a coordinating color.

3. Add your award circle to the top of the center with a looped piece of tape {shown above}.

4. Next up, place several pieces of tape right onto cardstock. These will be your ribbons hanging down. Cut them apart and with corners as you like.

There are a million ways you can customize your ribbons.

5. Attach to the back with a piece of tape.

That’s it! Create your award centers before adding to the front of your awards or play around with colors and textures some more. For example, with the green one, I added washi tape to the cardstock before using the round hole punch to punch the center.

While I haven’t tried it, you MIGHT even be able to run the washi tape on top of the cardstock through your printer before using the hole punch.

The final products!

The best part? The tape hangs off the circle, so they stick on clothing without needing an extra pin or clip!

You could also use this same idea for Star Student of the Week, weekly winners during the school year as student motivation, or create a class set as part of a birthday treat.