Paw Patrol Badge

We have a new obsession here in the Artsy House…Paw Patrol.  None of us had ever heard of it before our recent trip to the beach, but at the hotel, we had something we don’t have at home.  Cable.  Little Crafter happened to be flipping channels one morning when he came across an episode of Paw Patrol on Nickelodeon, and he was instantly hooked.  The show is all about a group of pups who each contribute their own skills to solving all kinds of problems in their city.

Little Crafter’s favorite of the dogs is named Marshall.  He drives a fire truck and anytime a hose or a ladder will fix a problem, Marshall is “fired up” and ready to come to the rescue.  He begged us to buy him a stuffed Marshall for his birthday and since our allergies prevent us from being able to have a real dog, this is the next best thing.  LC absolutely loves his new friend and takes him everywhere.

He also takes Marshall outside for “walks,” and insists on having little food and water bowls for him in case he gets hungry or thirsty.  Like the other dogs in the Paw Patrol, Marshall has his own unique badge; his is a red shield with a flame in the center to signify him as the firefighter.  The police dog has a sheriff’s star on his badge, another dog has the recycling symbol, and so on to represent their own skills.  Little Crafter decided that since he’s Marshall’s owner, he should have a special badge too.  Now, of course you can buy a plastic one at the store, but it’s always more fun {and cheaper} to make your own when you can!  Here’s the DIY Paw Patrol badge I made for him using materials I had in my stash.  It took me about five minutes and cost me literally nothing because I already had everything I needed.

Materials:

– felt {black or grey, red, orange, and yellow
– glue
– pin backing
– scissors

All I did was look at Marshall’s badge and cut corresponding shapes from my felt.  I folded the felt pieces in half when I cut the shield shapes so that they’d be even on both sides.  I just freehanded the flame.  If you want to be more exact or worry about not being artistic enough to freehand it, you can always do an image search, download a photo of the badge, and use it as a pattern to trace and cut.  Then, Little Crafter helped me glue the pieces together and I glued the pin back on the reverse side.

Now LC has an official looking Paw Patrol badge he can wear to match his buddy Marshall as they solve problems together!  Of course, you can easily adapt this for any and all of the pups.  I have a feeling I may be making a Chase the police dog badge in the near future too…

I’m participating in the 2014 Dog Fence DIY Hackathon.  Check it out for all kinds of dog-inspired DIY projects and ideas!