My son played baseball 2 seasons and has gone to maybe 6 baseball games (major league + minor league). So, basically, he enjoys baseball but is not a huge fan. And yet…. he still has 5+ baseballs he wants to display in his bedroom. Two of them are the very important (to him) game balls he was awarded each season by his team. The other baseballs have special memories for different reasons.
With one of the baseballs my son was able to walk out onto the field and have each player sign it at the final game of the season for the Montgomery Biscuits, Yes, that’s correct. They’re called the Biscuits. It’s a great name because when you yell, “Hey, batter, batter!” it takes on a whole new meaning. And you know how during the games they shoot tee-shirts into the stands as free fan giveaways? Well, at Biscuits’ games, the shoot chicken and biscuit sandwiches into the stands. Where else can you have that kind of fun?! I’ve gone to both minor league and major league games in other areas, and I can tell you, that a Montgomery Biscuits game is the most fun.
So, back to reality. When you come home from a fun game with yet another baseball, how is Mom going to display it? At first we just precariously balanced them on the shelf. Of course, if they didn’t immediately roll off while taunting me, the baseball would roll off the shelf within a day. I wasn’t sure at the time if those baseballs were going to stick around. You know how quickly a 5-6 year old boy changes his interests. So, not knowing how long they’d last, I didn’t want to spend anything, not a penny, on display cases. But being a resourceful Mom (aren’t we all?) I figured out a couple of solutions.
The first one was to cut a 1/2 inch ring off of a toilet paper or paper towel roll. It worked just fine, but wasn’t very glamorous.
Next, I noticed a bottle cap that worked great and was a little “classier” than a paper towel roll. (The yucky looking stuff in the bottom of the bottle cap is the glue remnant from the paper insert that was in the cap. The glue barely shows in “real” life.)
Soon after I figured out the bottle cap worked perfectly, I was making those cinnamon rolls that come in a tube. I looked at the container that holds the icing and “bing”- light bulb. Look, the icing container works as a stand, too.
After two years of having his prized baseball collection displayed on miscellaneous bottle caps and an icing container, I finally realized that this display was here to stay. I purchased 2 real display cases from the Container Store and picked the third one up from a local sporting goods store. I much prefer the Container Store cases because they have a stacking feature which keeps the cases together when stacked. And if you have a 5 to 10 year old boy, shelf space is at a premium, so the more you can stack (and not have them fall down) the better for the young collector (and better for Mom!) We continue to display 3 of the baseballs in his collection on bottle caps. These work and look the best out of the 3 free recycled options. The black lid is the least noticeable – you just see the baseball and the lid/display fades into the background. My son will be thrilled the next time I drag him to the Container Store with me, because he much prefers the real display cases and can’t wait to have his whole collection kept in the real cases. When you’re almost 10 years old, that kind of thing is important (oh, to be 10 again.)
I’m a mom of 3, a veteran and military spouse. I’ve moved into 20+ homes all around the world. My passion is helping busy people make the space and time for what’s really important to them.
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