80's throwback- Soft toy in a car window

When I was a kid I loved Garfield.  I liked lasagne, and so does Garfield.  I wasn't any more thrilled with Mondays then than I am now and while I didn't have a coffee habit when I was a kid, I love my coffee now.  For a while in the 80's having a Garfield in the back window was a popular thing- similar to those nodding dog figures that were a thing for a while or fluffy dice handing of the rear vision mirror.  I always wanted a Garfield in the car as a kid so when I got my first car (1979 Toyota Corona) my sister gave me one for my birthday.

Aside from fulfilling that childhood wish, Garfield has also been brilliant to identify my car in a carpark.  Particularly since Garfield is much rarer to see these days!

This was particularly useful as for my first and second cars, my key could open the door of any similar make and aged car (and vice versa!).  This caught me once on the way home from university when I hopped into my car and noticed that my stuff inside wasn't right.  Moments later the lightbulb dinged and I quickly slunk out of the stranger's car that was the same make, model and colour as mine, and walked up the road several meters to get into MY car to get home!

But my Garfield is getting old.  Years in the sun have bleached his orange fur, while the rubber in the suction cups and the thread holding them on both failed.  So Garfield needs a makeover.  Since the method is ridiculously simple and could be used for any soft toy if you were looking for a car identifier, I thought I'd share it.

Equipment

• A small soft toy (too big and the suction cups may not hold the toy up- not to mention issues blocking a view when driving!)
• Suction cups- I found a set of 9 with hooks built in, in a local $2 shop in the hardware related section although I sometimes see them with bathroom related stuff
• Sharpies of assorted colours (optional if your toy is faded)
• Sewing needle
• Strong cotton thread
• Glue or nail polish for knots (optional)

My Garfield fresh from the car after his previous suction cups died.

The first step is only if you have a faded toy you wish to revive for nostalgic reasons.  I wouldn't do this if it is a treasured childhood toy that is still snuggled, but if the toy is going to sit on a shelf or similarly it should be OK.  Basically, it is to give your toy a dye job using Sharpies (or non-brand name permament markers).  Sharpies these days come in all sorts of colours these days so it shouldn't be too hard to come up with the colours you need.  In my case, an orange, yellow and black.  Just run the side over the toy for the large areas or the point if colouring smaller areas.

As you can see, he looks a little blotchy but that's mainly because the camera lighting, plus that will fade a bit over time and even out.

Then sew the suction cups to each limb.  Ensure you use a good amount of thread there as UV light is going to weaken those joins over time.  If you are paranoid about your knots, add a drop of glue or nail polish to each knot.  And that's it!

Not the most exciting tutorial in the world but if you've ever wandered constantly in a carpark looking for a car in a sea of very similar coloured cars it might be worth a go!