DIY Dog Memorial Frame with Pawprint

Well, this week is our Sully dog’s fourth birthday! With his birthday and our recent passing of Shadow, I thought I’d share a DIY dog memorial frame with pawprint project I did for my three dogs that have passed since 2017. I’ll delve more into my boys who have passed, but first, I have to talk about my Sully!

Sullivan Charles Thunder

We call him Sullivan Charles Thunder … that’s his full name. He’s such a good boy … especially now that the destructive puppy part is fully gone! It wasn’t really planned, but I happened upon Syrah Goldens and saw they had a puppy named Sully available.

After I lost my dog Charlie, and I knew my older Golden Titus wasn’t going to be with me much longer, I had planned on naming my next dog Sully. I ignored Syrah Goldens for a bit and his picture kept popping up in my Facebook feed. It’s funny, I really felt we were supposed to get him. I didn’t really want to spend a lot of money on my next golden, and adopting one from Adopt a Golden Atlanta was the route I really wanted to go … but Sully kept calling me. Plus, it’s hard adopting a dog with very small children … once they get a bit older, that is definitely the route I want to go.

Anyway, I gave in and decided Sully would be our next companion. He was a big, fluffy white golden retriever puppy and oh so adorable. That was in August/September of 2017 when he joined our family and we will love him forever!

Happy birthday, Sully!

Sully – you are a ham who knows how to work those puppy dog eyes. You love food and make sure we never forget to feed you breakfast, noon time snack or dinner … and you always try and get us to give you an evening chew, too. You cuddle with your whole body, but also love your space when really trying to sleep. We love all your quirks and look forward to many, many more years with you! Love you, Sully boy!

Losing Titus and Charlie

Sully also got to meet my older golden, Titus, who sadly passed away not long after in February of 2018. He was 13 years old and had a brain tumor, so I said goodbye on Valentine’s Day that year. It was hard, but I’m glad he got to have some time with Sully. Sully was a lot like him and mimicked him a lot. It was pretty cute.

And before we brought Sully home, we had Charlie. Charlie was a Sheltie and he was just shy of 12 years old when he passed in August of 2017. He was a large sheltie and such a good family dog that was our protector.

So, after Titus and Charlie passed (and now Shadow), I had to do some sort of project to remember them. We had a service come to our house to help them transition to Rainbow Bridge. With this service, they took paw prints of the dogs for us and mailed us them back. These pawprints were the basis for my project.

Now, you can easily do pawprints of your own dog with this kit and do the project as well. Just make sure to press pretty hard to get a nice print!

And, you don’t have to wait till your doggy goes to Rainbow Bridge. You can do this project any time. First, you’ll have to gather your supplies to make this DIY dog memorial frame with pawprint project.

Supplies:

Pawprint kit
Box Frame
Stain
Stickers (to spell dog’s name)
Mod Podge
Foam Brush (x2)
4×6 photo print

Getting Started

First, go ahead and get your pawprint from your dog. You’ll need time for it to harden, so a lot for that time. I’d recommend trimming the fur on the bottom of your dog’s paw to get a nice clean print.

Hobby Lobby!

Next, take a shopping trip to Hobby Lobby and grab your remaining supplies. I got this awesome wood piece with a place for a picture from their Woodpile area. You can also grab Mod Podge, a foam brush and letter stickers at the Hobbs … as I like to call it for short! The letter stickers need to fit on the wood piece, so make sure you don’t get something too large.

Order a photo print

Order a 4×6 picture of your pup and you’re ready to go!

Choose your stain and go …

Choose your favorite stain and stain the wood frame to your choosing. I actually used antiquing glaze that I got from Lowe’s. It lasts well, as I’ve used it on several projects and they turned out beautiful! I had to do the same for Shadow’s memory frame box, so it would match Titus and Charlie’s. But you can use whatever stain works for you.

Mod Podge rules

Liberally apply the stain with a foam brush and wipe off. Let it dry. Now rough place on the paw print and the stickers. I like to get the paw print in place first and then I can determine where to put the letter stickers for the name. I added a few clover stickers since March 17^th is our wedding anniversary … it just means something to us specifically. You can do the same with something meaningful to you, too. Then I removed the paw print and apply mod podge across the entire front of the box. This will help the letter stickers stay on forever!

To place the pawprint, you can mod podge the back and place on the frame or you can use some super glue. Whatever you have on hand should be fine.

Glue on the paw print and then place your favorite photo of your pup and the project is done. This is a great way to remember a dog that’s passed or a fun project to do with your pup.