Arts and Crafts!

I had an idea recently, and sometimes (usually) when I have what I think is a good idea, I get a little obsessive about making it happen. Unless we're talking about ordering my new fencing and having it installed, because that idea has been set aside...  In this case though, I pulled it off!
You all remember the name plate belts, yes? When I was a kid we all wanted one. Most of us just had one or two names to put on the belt, but we couldn't wait to fill one up. And they look fab with breeches. Well I decided I wanted a grown up version.
Currently many of the cool kids are wearing these ridiculously expensive Hermes belts. They're a plain leather strap, usually reversible, with a large H buckle. You've seen me donning them on Thursdays Threads. Though mine are definitely designer inspired and not the real thing. They are $$$. Anyway, I thought, wouldn't it be fun to have a name plate belt that was also a super trendy H belt?? The answer my friends is yes. Yes it would be fun.
I had a plain brown H belt hanging around, and got to work ordering some nameplates. By the way, when you're my age, and you've been riding and showing pretty much forever, this part gets really expensive! This is not one of those save you money DIY projects.
I wanted all of my special horses on there, so that meant everything I've leased or owned, and a handful that weren't mine but were important to me. Resulting in 20 nameplates. Ka-CHING! Ouch. Good thing I've put on a few lbs or they wouldn't all fit!

Things to think about when ordering plates: how many do you need? Do you need to fit two rows on the belt? Then you'd better make sure the belt is wide enough! I looked specifically for shorter plates than your typical bridle plate so they would fit better on the belt. But if you have less horses,  you would have more options. You also can decide if you want barn names or show names. I'm terrible at decision making so I wanted both! A few of my horses had only one name, but it didn't mess up the aesthetics in my opinion.
I ordered my plates from Big D's Tack because they have an insanely quick turnaround time. These shipped the very next day after I ordered! All twenty of them! Incredible.
Ok, so once my plates were in hand, I took a trip to the hardware store. I prefer to use screws and nuts rather than rivets. They fall of less often for one thing. But also, I can take plates off as needed and replace with new ones. Or get a black belt and not need to buy all new plates, just move them back and forth! Though that's a pretty serious project and likely will never ever happen.
Because I'm pretty honest about the stupid things I do, I must share this anecdote. I went to the hardware store and they had exactly 20 screws and nuts in the size I needed! Yay! Do you see any problems with that statement? No? Neither did I at the time. I headed back home and got to work measuring out the spacing and marking my holes.

I started punching holes and mounting plates and soon realized I definitely didn't have enough nuts and bolts. See the problem now? Yes, I had twenty nameplates. Which each required TWO SETS of nuts and bolts. That would be 40 each, not 20. Yep, there it is. The problem with that statement. Knowing my local store was all out since I'd bought everything, I set out in search of another hardware store. Thankfully I found what I needed on the first try and was able to finish my masterpiece. I left enough room for one more pair of plates, because we all know I have a shopping problem. Even when it comes to horses...

This thing is tough to get a decent picture of by itself... Here it is on:

Ta da! My new grown-up nameplate belt! It looks a lot better on breeches with larger belt loops, but this is what I was wearing when I made it. I love how it came out!
What do you think?