Sheriff's Badge

Ethan has a cowboy birthday coming up at the end of the month. WOW! Another year older!! I searched high and low for a gender neutral project to do at the party. Nothin' Nada. Zippo. There was the usual "Pin the tail on the Donkey", or hire a pony for pony rides. So the only alternative was to come up with something on my own! Here's what we came up with. :)
Age: 3.5 and up

Materials
Felt
Pom-Poms
Puff Paint
Scissors
Pin Back
Aleene's Fabric Fusion (NOT the tacky glue) - this stuff is permanent

Have your little cowpoke put his painting shirt on, in the event he gets some paint on himself.

Step 1. Adult: you will have to cut out a template of the badge, and trace it onto the felt using a sharpie(r), then cut it out.

Step 2. Adult: glue the pin back to the reverse side of the badge using Aleene's Fabric Fusion. Allow the glue to dry overnight. Make sure the glue is under and over the pin back so it stays in place.



Step 3. Have your cowboy decorate the badge. He will only be limited by the colors of paints you have! I did make a border using gold paint so Ethan would stay inside the lines, but this is your call.
3a. While your child is painting to his heart's content, you need to write SHERIFF on another piece of felt to glue on once the paint is dry. I found the easiest thing to do is write SHERIFF, then cut the felt to fit on the badge.

Step 4. Leave some room for pompoms on the end (you can use sequins, or leave it blank if you wish too!). Glue the pompoms with Aleene's Fabric Fusion. Adult: put a dab of glue on the badge, and have Cowpoke put them on.
4a. If the badge is slightly dry, you can glue the word SHERIFF to the badge. If not, you'll have to wait.

Step 5. Wait for the badge to dry. Depending on how much paint was used, this will take some time.