On To The Next Girl Scout Level!

Let me start with explaining to you what a Girl Scout Bridging Ceremony is.  It’s a ceremony that celebrates the transition from one grade-level in Girl Scouting.  Last week, the Monkey’s troop bridged from the Brownie level to the Junior level.  To make it a little simpler for you, the girls will no longer wear their brown vests.  They will now wear their green vests.

The ceremony was short, but very sweet.  It was held in the school's multi-purpose room, and the major piece of eye-candy was this awesome bridge that the Boy Scouts allowed us to borrow.  One of my fellow leaders placed balloons in an arch behind the bridge to give the impression of a rainbow.  Her troop was not the only one bridging that evening.  They shared the stage with a Daisy troop that moved on to the Brownie level.

This bridge was built by the Boy Scouts that attend our school.  

The girls (especially the Daisys) were so excited to actually cross the bridge.  They work so hard throughout the year to fulfill the requirements to move onto the next level.  And let’s admit it…the bridge is cool!

Starting as a Brownie Scout

Leaving as a Junior Scout (we still need the vest!) 

I presented each girl with this little package once they crossed over the bridge.  As you may already know from my previous posts, the girls earn a lot of badges.  A LOT OF BADGES!  I try to give them out in a fun way, and in a way that they won’t get lost before the girls get home, so I tucked them inside the box

Empty Girl Scout cookie box (up cycle!)

Box of Junior Mints (to represent where the girls are heading – to the Junior level)

Package of Brownie Bites (to represent where the girls were – the Brownie Level)

Earned badges

Green nail polish (Green to represent the Junior level)

Please ignore the mess on my counter!

We take a break from scouts during the summer, but the Monkey is heading to Girl Scout camp in a few weeks with one of her friends.  They both aren’t ready to attend a sleep-away camp, so they are going for a camp that will give them the camping experience without having to stay overnight.  It’s for one week, and they are both super excited to go.  Who knows?  This may lead to something!

Until next time…..

And The Award Goes To....

Girl Scouts can earn a variety of badges throughout the year.  Let me say that another way.  The girls can earn A LOT of badges.  Seriously, there is a badge for everything.  Picked up trash at the park?  There’s a badge for that?  Helped at a bake sale?  There’s a badge for that.  Went Christmas caroling at the retirement home?  There’s a badge for that.  These types of badges are called “Fun Badges”, and they are placed on the back of a girls vest.  Some troops opt to not earn these types of badges because of the expense. 

Not our troop!  The girls love getting these types of badges.  They proudly wear them on their vests, and some have earned so many that they ran out of room and put them on their bags.  These badges act as a walking history of the troop.

I had a good amount to hand out at our last meeting, and wanted to do something a little more than just throwing them in a sandwich bag and handing them over.  Search Pinterest (where else!), and you will find a ton of ways to distribute badges.  Some troops go above and beyond what I can even imagine!  I had seen these ribbon awards on several boards, and thought they were cute.  Here’s how I did it:

Gather up the following:

• Cupcake liner (I found that the aluminum foil ones are best)
• 1” wide grosgrain ribbon
• Glue
• Cardstock
• Safety Pin

Flatten the cupcake liner with your hand so it will fan out into a circle.  You can stop there, or you can put the liners between the pages of a thick book, which is what I did.  This will really help you to flatten them.

Using the scientific “Eyeball Method”, determine the length of ribbon needed.  This is based on the amount of badges per girl.  Some girls will have longer ribbons than others.  Each award requires two strips of ribbon.

Put a little bit of hot glue on the back of the badge, and place on the ribbon.  Don’t worry about the badges getting stuck to the ribbon.  You are using such a small amount that it will be easy to pull them off.

Glue the ribbon to the back of the cupcake liner.

Add a little something to the middle of the cupcake liner – the sky is the limit.  You can cut a piece of card stock into a circle, write the scout’s name on it, and then glue to the middle of the liner.  I had these cute little circles in my craft stock, and they worked perfectly.

I put a safety pin on each award, which allowed me to pin the awards to the girls at the meeting. 

This is a great idea for the following reasons:

1. The girls immediately pinned the awards to their shirts at the meeting.  I think they were into it, which is always a good thing.
2. Having the award ribbons pinned to the girls ensured that the badges made their way home.  I always fear that badges get lost.
3. The craft itself cost me $0 to make, as I had all of the supplies on hand. 

Until next time…..

Time To Girly It Up

I pulled out the old sewing machine this weekend because I came across this idea on Pinterest, and fell in love with it. 

This is the Monkey’s R2D2 shirt.  She has had it for several years, but stopped wearing it because it’s not a “shirt for girls’.  Her words, not mine.  I can’t argue with her, because I did buy it in the boys section of Target.  I can never find cute Star War shirts for her (or for me!).  This is how I am going to “girly” things up until someone taps into that market.

Snip off the arms, snip off the neck, make a simply straight stitch on the front and back, weave a strip of leftover t-shirt (or ribbon) through, and tie it up.  Done!  Easy, right?  Check out the instructions over at Crafter Hours for full details.

Until next time.....

Thank You "Berry" Much

It's teacher appreciation week, and just like the rest of the free world, I headed to Pinterest for ideas.  I love the Monkey's teacher. She has been such a positive influence for her.  In fact, if it were not for this teacher "fighting" for her, the Monkey would not have been accepted in to the school's gifted program.

The Monkey wants to give her teacher a gift each day this week, and here is what we did on Monday.  The idea came from, where else, PINTEREST!  I had the strawberry scented soap and strawberry sanitizer on hand, as well as the wrapping supplies.  I wrapped them in tissue paper, placed them in a gift bag, and tied it up with a ribbon.  I simply wrote "Thank You Berry Much" on a piece of construction paper, and tied it with the ribbon. 

Not going to lie -- I had this stuff on hand from a recent great sale at Bath and Body Works!

It doesn't matter if you give a teacher a gift, just make sure you tell them THANK YOU!

Until next time....

Treats For Your Feet(s)

Is it just me, or is planning a birthday party stressful?  It doesn't matter where you have it at -- the stress is still there.  Just trying to come up with the idea or "theme" of the party throws me over the edge.  The Monkey has celebrated her birthday in the past at the local rock climbing gym, the bowling alley, the movie theater, the farm, and at our house.  Let me state right now...never again will it be at our house, at least not until she is older.  Cleaning the house, preparing the food, asking kids not to jump on your couch, cleaning up the spills....ugh.  I am all too happy to show up somewhere, and allow them to take care of that stuff.  It's such a good feeling just to hand over some money, and walk away from the mess.

This past weekend, the Monkey celebrated her birthday a week early at Toot Sweet, a local bakery, and it was great.  She invited nine of her friends to come and decorate cupcakes.  The bakery prepared the cake according to her directions.  She wanted each guest to have two vanilla and two chocolate cupcakes.  She picked up the color frosting they would use, and we chose to upgrade the party to include fondant.  The package also included a 1/4 sheet cake, which she designed.  She may be watching too many reality cooking shows, because she drew her design on a piece of paper.  We met with the baker, and they worked out the details.  The baker said she has never had a kid do that before!

Tables were lined up, and each guest were given a their own apron and hat.  Then the fun began, for the girls and for me.  I didn't have to do anything!  In fact, I sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather with my husband and my sister-in-law.  The bakery handles everything -- she explained what the girls were going to do, gave them directions and decorating ideas, and away they went.  They worked silently, and concentrated hard on their designs.  Once all the cakes were decorated, they were professionally boxed up and the girls got to take them home.

To put our own spin on the cupcake theme, I made sock cupcakes as party favors.  Search this idea on Pinterest, and you'll find a TON of ideas.  That's what I did.  Most tutorials will tell you to use the nice, comfy slipper socks.  I think these type of socks would be appreciated by an older girl, and not by the group of 9 year olds that attended the party.  These were pretty easy to assemble.  Here's what you need to do:

• Pair of socks (I found a 3 pack for $1 at the....dollar store)
• Tube of lip balm (I was able to find Blow Pop and Nerd flavored balm at the dollar store)
• Rubber band, or hair band
• Cupcake liner
• Tissue paper
• Ribbon

Lay the socks out, and then fold in half.  Place the lip balm at the "toe" end of the socks, and start to roll the sock from end to end.  You want the cap portion of the lip balm to show at the top of the socks, because this will act as the "cherry" on top.  Use the rubber band or hair band to secure the socks, and place in a cupcake liner.  I think that if you use the slipper socks, you won't have the gap that I had between the liners and the socks.  To help hide that gap, I used tissue paper.  I placed a small amount of paper around the "cupcake", and tied it with the ribbon.  Then I placed it in the liner.  Presto!  All done.

We also gave out some homemade hair bows, that had cupcakes on them.  I've been in a bow making mood recently, and the Monkey has been watching.  These bows were all her idea, and in fact, she made them (with a little help from me).  The cupcakes are actually buttons we found in the sewing section of the craft store.

One part of the birthday celebration now...another to go.  Her birthday is next week, so now we need to plan on her treats for her classmates.  Her request?  It has to be something we haven't done before.  Time to put on my thinking cap!

Until next time....

Lovey Dolls

A few weeks ago, the Monkey attended a Girl Scout event for World Thinking Day.  One of the troop leaders organized a station to make Lovey Dolls.  I was blown away by this station -- it was such a simple thing to do, and it is a wonderful way to give back to the community.

The purpose of a Lovey Doll is to provide a mother's scent to a baby that is in the NICU.  The baby can't be with his/her mom right way, so this allows them to have a piece of her.  Each package includes two dolls.  The mother wears one doll for two days, and then places it with the baby.  The mother then wears the second doll, and after two more days, the dolls are exchanged.  The original is cleaned, and the process starts all over again.

I liked this idea so much, and I thought it would be something that the entire troop would like to do.  It's fairly inexpensive, and I found cute fabric on clearance at the craft store ($3 and $4 for a yard).  You don't have to be part of a troop to do this.  This could be something you do with your family one evening.  

Here's what you need to do:

Supplies:

• 1 yard of fabric – the softer, the better
• Yarn or string
• Fiber stuffing
• Ziploc bag (quart size)
• Lovey Doll instructions

Cute fabric -- and it doesn't have to be nursery themed

Step 1:  Cut the fabric into 15” x 15” squares.  I was able to get 10 squares from one yard of fabric.

Step 2:  Cut the string or yarn into 12" pieces.  I found that little hands work well with longer pieces of string.  You can adjust the length to your liking.

Step 3:  Take a handful of stuffing, and “ball” it in your fist.  This ball will act at the doll’s head, so you want to try to make it round.

Step 4: With the stuffing still in your fist, please one fabric square on top of your fist, and push the stuffing up to form the head.

Step 5: Take the string, and tie it as tightly as you can towards the bottom of the head.  You should end up with something that looks like a ghost.

Sorry for the side ways picture, but I think you can get the point.

Step 6: Place two of the dolls into a Ziploc bag.  Include a set of the instructions in with the dolls, and close the bag.  These are now ready to donate to your local hospital.

I found that the girls in my troop just love to help people, and they liked doing this activity because they knew they were helping babies.  The Monkey enjoyed putting these together, and the lesson really hit home when I explained to her that this would have helped someone that she knew.  This is my nephew Evan (he's really my cousin, but my family tree has a lot of crazy roots).  He was born two months early, and spent a month in the hospital before he could go home with his parents.  Once she could associate a face to the project, she was all over it.

Evan -- June 2012

This is a picture of Evan -- he will celebrate his first birthday this June.  Handsome, isn't he?  He's such a big (and healthy) boy!

Evan - April 2013

Until next time.....

That's How the Cookie Crumbles

Selling Girl Scout cookies can be a cut throat business.  Really, it can be.  Think about it.  Troops are basically in competition with other troops to sell the most cookies.  You try to get the better booths, and you try to get them at the best times.  Some girls try to get to the school staff before others do.  God forbid you live in a neighborhood saturated with scouts.  I feel bad for my neighbors. Part of the Girl Scout law is to Be A Sister to Every Girl Scout, but sometimes it feels likes it should be Every (Wo)Man for Herself.

I have to push those thoughts to the back of my mind, because the cookie sale is the biggest fundraiser that the girls do.  The money made helps to run the troop, and to help continue to provide great programs for the girls.  The Monkey joined scouts when she started Kindergarten, and over the past four years, she has taken part in many fun and educational activities.

Can I offer you a cookie?

I found myself searching Pinterest each night to find the next great idea for the cookie sale, and I discovered that everyone else had the same idea.  Sell door-to-door, put a sign on the lawn, decorate your wagon and walk around the neighborhood, gift wrap the boxes, include thank you notes….the list is endless.  I pinned every suggestion I found, but was never WOW’ed by anything.  Until I found this picture.  This would be a great way to “advertise” at a booth.  Problem is – it was the picture only, and no instructions.  Not a problem.  I’m a Girl Scout, so I am prepared for anything. 

Our new Miss America, the beautiful Thin Mint

I made the costumes in an afternoon, and posted the photo to Facebook.  Everyone thought it was cute, and I have been asked by several people how I made them.  Hopefully other leaders will be able to follow these instructions and make costumes for their booths.  I’m sorry that I did not take pictures to show how I did things, and I apologize for the graininess of the only picture I did take.

Thin Mint

1 yard brown felt (I had this cut at Jo Ann Fabrics)

2 sheets white felt

2 sheets black felt

½ yard pink felt (this will be used for the Thin Mint & the Caramel DeLite cookie)

White puffy paint

Green satin ribbon (found at Jo Ann Fabrics)

Hot Glue

Foam board or heavy cardboard

Pencil

Box cutter (or heavy duty scissors)

Caramel DeLite (sometimes called Samoas)

1 yard light brown felt

2 sheets white felt

2 sheets black felt

Pink felt (leftover from the Thin Mint)

Brown (leftover from the Thin Mint)

Purple satin ribbon

White puffy pain

Hot Glue

Foam board or heavy cardboard

Pencil

Box cutter (or heavy duty scissors)

These are the instructions to make the Thin Mint. 

·         Using your scout as a guide, “eyeball” how large the actual cookie should be.  I was fortunate to have an extra large serving tray that I used as a guide.  Draw the circle of the board, and using your knive/cutter/scissors, cut the circle.
·         Lay the circle on top of the brown felt, and cut the felt to be one inch larger than the circle (that make sense?).  Basically, your felt should be larger than the cardboard.
·         In small sections, begin to hot glue the felt to the cardboard.  At this point, you are wrapping the felt around the cardboard.  Do this until the board is completely wrapped.  Turn it over so the felt side is facing up.
·         Cut two large eyes from the white felt, and glue towards the top of the felt circle.
·         Cut out two small pupils from the black felt, and glue on top of the white felt.
·         Draw a smile on the pink felt, cut it out, and glue to the cookie shape.  At this point, you should have a happy looking cookie.
·         Take the green ribbon, and cut it a bit longer than the length of the cookie.  You want it to be able to wrap around to the back of the board.  This will be the cookie sash.  Once cut, hot glue to the cookie shape.  You now have what looks like a Miss America cookie.
·         Cut another strip of the green ribbon large enough to comfortably fit over your scout’s head, and hot glue to the back of the board.  It should look like a large handle.
·         Using the white puffy paint, write the words THIN MINT on the green sash. The paint needs about four hours to dry so be sure to leave it alone!

The Caramel DeLite is made exactly as the Thin Mint is, except I used purple ribbon, and I cut “squiggles” out of the extra brown felt.  Those squiggles are supposed to be the chocolate part of the cookie.  As for the sunflowers I put on the costumes – we had an old flower arrangement that we decided to throw away that morning.  I thought it would “pretty” things up, so I glued them to the cookie.  You can do the same thing, or let your imagination run wild.  Do you have a Brownie troop?  How about putting a Brownie Beanie on the cookie?

Really?  How can you resist?

We used these for our booth last week, and received many compliments on them.  The girls wore them without being asked to, which is always a good thing.  My daughter did have one complaint – the ribbon around her neck bothered her.  I plan on putting some felt around that portion of the ribbon, in the hopes that will help.

To my fellow leaders out there that attempt this craft – best of luck!  I hope you find these instructions useful.  Please be sure to share pictures, as I would love to see what you come up with.  And for those currently participating in the sale – Happy Selling!