To be clear, we're trying to replicate a sticker illegally to avoid paying for one, right?
Anyway, I would use the pen to to make half of the scallop, then mirror and merge the pieces together with your pathfinder palette, then duplicate and flip vertically, then move down to the bottom scallop. Group these two scallops together, then duplicate and pivot, etc. You can also make the first whole scallop, then go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform, then mess with horizontal/angle/copies to make the circle. Then you can use the smooth tool to refine some of the edges. I would probably only refine 1/4 of the circle, then cut up and mirror again for perfect symmetry.
I would simply trace the horse icon as best I can, then use the smooth tool to refine. As you said, it's really small, so don't sweat the details.
Once I made the first pairing I pivoted the other pairings 36 degrees, which worked perfectly.
Smoothed, spliced, and mirrored.
This post was edited by ericswanson_19 on Sep 4 2015 09:13am