The first rosette your cat ever wins is pretty special :-). You bring it home . . . hang it on the wall . . . maybe even put it under glass. As you start winning more and more, you may find that the rosettes start to pile up a bit. . . . maybe they even become dust-collectors.
Maybe you even wonder if there is a better use for some of the rosettes you don't treasure . . .
Recycling Rosettes to Other Cat Clubs
There are often clubs who wish to re-use rosettes. When you are at the cat show, ask a club member if they wish to have their rosettes donated back to them for the next show. It is a great way to help support the club. You can also collect all your old rosettes and donate them to another club.
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Donate rosettes to a New Club
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Donate rosettes to a club that is struggling financially
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Collect rosettes for International CFA clubs
How to Recycle a Rosette
Recycling a rosette is relatively easy depending on the style. Most rosettes have printing on the middle streamer - club name, date, award. This streamer will need to be removed and replaced. You just need to order a center steamer. Sometimes the button on the center of the rosette will also need to be replaced. This usually has a CFA or club logo on it.
Donating Rosettes to Other Types of Clubs
You can also donate the rosettes to non-cat clubs:
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Donate to a local school for use as awards
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Donate to 4-H
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Boys Club
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Girls Club
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Seniors Homes
Re-Purposing of Rosettes
Just because a rosette is a rosette, that doesn't mean it has to be used as an award.
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Use as bow on a present
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Create a Christmas ornament out of it
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Use it in a craft project, such as making a pillow out of the ribbons!
During The Show
Now I will tell you about my absolute favorite re-use of rosettes . . . at the show!
When I know I am not going to keep rosettes, I wait until a child stops at my benching cage and admires my cat. Of course the child want to touch the cat — something I don't usually allow for the cat's sake. But if the child actually asks permission (as opposed to just grabbing), I always hand them a teaser to play with the cat in place of touching it. Then when they are finished, I tell them to pick one of the rosettes off my cage as a reward for being so thoughtful to ask and just not reaching out to touch the kitty.
Without fail, the child is thrilled — and so am I. I get at least as much enjoyment from giving the rosette to a child as I do having my cat win it (maybe even more!).
Try it next time your cat is winning.
