My 8 year-old’s soccer season just ended — a bittersweet time. I was lucky enough to coach the Pink Porcupines this year (blindingly bright pink uniforms this year and a cheer to go with them “Go Pink Porcupines, Point, Prick, Ouch!”) and I could not have had a better group of girls — I absolutely adore them all. But, our last game felt like I was coaching barely moving popsicles, so from a temperature standpoint, basketball is looking pretty good. This year our soccer club changed from giving trophies to juggling balls — a very practical and fun switch, but for my kids anyway, the trophy is an important way to show how many years they have played. So I thought, why not embrace the Pink Porcupine spirit and make my own? We scooped up nine mismatched soccer trophies from Goodwill (99¢ – $1.99 each), unscrewed the figures from their various bases, painted them with plastic-bonding spray paint and another coat of florescent pink paint, reattached them to the bases, and happy day — one-of-a-kind glowing trophies. I also made name plates, printed on photo paper and “laminated” with clear contact paper, attached with Super77.

I rarely do anything crafty early, so the only thing I would have done differently is to test the paint ahead of time. Some of the figures’ paint jobs cracked slightly, letting the plastic-bonding undercoat to show through. We decided that this “aged” look made them look old and valuable. Other than some funny comments from the girls who got “guy” figures (we cannot be picky at Goodwill!) they went over well, and will definitely remind them of a great season.

Go team! Jenna

The trophy figures with a first coat of plastic-bonding spray paint

Second coat of bright pink spray paint