DIY Disney Pin Trading Display Case

My husband and I were introduced to pin trading while working at Walt Disney World on the Disney College Program. I’ve experienced pin trading as a cast member and as a guest…either way it is a lot of fun! As much as I love all things Disney, we don’t bring back many souvenirs. The only must have for my hubby is trading pins. Before each trip I make sure we have plenty of pins to take with us for him to trade.

What I love most about it is that we collect pins based solely on their design…not rarity or value or anything like that. Attraction pins and special event pins tend to be some of our favorites. It is always fun because you never know what pin you’re going to find or what kind of interesting conversation you’ll strike up with a cast member. It’s one of those very special experiences that makes Disney what it is.

Over the years our collection has grown and grown. We’ve been placing the pins on this large cork board and adding the keepers after each trip. I wanted something to showcase them better so I made this display.

It took some searching but I found the perfect display case for this project at Michaels. The adjustable layers were exactly what I needed.

I don’t have pictures of the process, but it was pretty simple. The first layer that goes right up against the glass is the Mickey shaped cut out. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the Mickey shape out of chipboard. If you don’t have a Silhouette an exacto knife will do the trick since it is a fairly simple shape.

Before placing it in the case I used my Silhouette Cameo again to cut the banner and words out of adhesive vinyl and place it on the chipboard. “We will never be too old for Disney” seemed to be a fitting phrase since I actually gifted this to my hubby for his birthday.

I used a few of the inserts that came with the display case to create space between the chipboard and the pins. To make the piece that holds the pins I cut a piece of cork board down to fit in the frame. Then I covered it with black fabric using hot glue to adhere the fabric to the back of the cork piece. To arrange the pins I started by placing them in the center of the cork piece and working my way outward, only placing pins in the Mickey shape so they would stay visible. This is the last layer of the Disney trading pin display case so once that was in place it was ready to be closed.

I completely underestimated how many pins we have so it looks like I’ll need to make at least a couple more. This turned out exactly how I envisioned so it will be wonderful to see all of our pins displayed like this.

Looking at our pin collection brings back so many special memories. I can’t wait for our next trip so we can collect more! Do you trade pins when you visit Disney?