So, after making the Viking helmet pattern, my son decided he wanted to be a Viking for Halloween. And what are the first things an 8-year-old boy needs? Weapons. Sam designed and made a large part of the battle-axe for his costume, and I made him a shield. To be honest, I was pretty impressed with the result. The high-density foam makes a great axe, it has enough weight to feel hefty, but since it's made of foam, it's not going to be doing a lot of damage. We did still however need to implement a new family rule: No battle axes in the kitchen. I guess it's probably a common household rule, we just hadn't had a lot of battle axes around the house. 

The shield was a pretty easy project, with only one pattern piece needed, and I think it looks great as well. I have put the patterns for the shield and axe up on Gumroad here, and they are FREE! Woohoo! 

Here are the two tutorial videos that accompany the patterns. Have fun!