Mounting military medals

1
About 6 years ago, I mounted my dad's war medals in a shadowbox. The back of the box was the soft, fuzzy part of Velcro, and I attached small pieces of the grabby, prickly part to the back of the medals, and stuck them on.

Flash forward 6 years. The adhesive on the back of the Velcro has worn out and one by one, my dad's medals are dropping into a heap in the bottom of the box. I finally sat down with it this evening to try to restore it, and basically just am not sure of the best way to go about it. I don't want to just redo it with adhesive Velcro again, because I'll be right back here again in 6 years, plus I suspect having the adhesive on the back of the ribbons might discolor them over time. These things have lasted since World War II and I don't want to damage them, even though my dad is no longer around to care.

I tried just using the existing pin on the back of the medal, either to thread it through the covering of the box back, or to force through a piece of the prickly part of the Velcro. Neither way worked. There's no way, when forcing the pin into the fabric cover on the box back, to cause it to come out on the front side again so I can put it into its socket. As for forcing it through a piece of Velcro, it was like forcing it through a rubber eraser, plus the e xp osed part of the pin prevents the Velcro from making good contact with the box back.

So, I googled it. Most hits are sites that will mount your medals or sell you shadowboxes. Some are how-to sites, but they tend to make impractical suggestions, like removing the ribbon from the medal and replacing it with a longer piece of ribbon. Like I've got access to reams of WWII-era medal ribbon of all types! Like I would deface my father's medals by swapping out the ribbon! Sigh.

Has anyone ever done anything like what I'm trying to do, and does anyone have any suggestions?
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."

Re: Mounting military medals

2
I have found the best way to mount generic pins are is by covering styrofoam or cork with felt and then framing it ect. As for a medal where the pin has to come back through to latch onto the medal again I would do in your case would be:
1. cut a piece of flat, thin wood the size of said shadow box.
2. Nail or glue long strips of cork [or other material of your choice] vertically, spaced enough apart to hang the medals. (this will allow a slight raised surface for the pin to go through to the other side)
3. Use multi-functional glue to glue down the felt/fabric and use a credit card or likewise tool to make all edges and corners defined. Now, it will just look like say green fabric covering something that has lining.
4. Fold the fabric over the back and stable into place.
5. Frame or put it in the shadow box
6. Pin medals

Did I e xp lain that well? I can visualize but not always e xp lain... Hope that helps.
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