Is there any way to combine a picture's border into the shape in illustrator?

Question

I made an icon with a border, but I don't want the border. If I remove the border, the icon loses it's thickness and doesn't look right. Is there any way to make the border into part of the shape?

Answer 1

Off-hand...

Select all, Object > Expand Appearance (if available)
then Object > Expand,
then Pathfinder > Unite.

Without seeing the icon, this is the best I can offer.