Cub Scout Patch Sash...can I trademark that?

Yeah, the name. Cub Scout Patch Sash...can I trademark that? Food for thought.

My son the cub scout has outgrown his red patch sweatshirt and decided he doesn't want the red windbreaker jackets the pack purchased for the boys. These jackets are handy for outings, and for the boys to proudly display the patches they receive from various outings, activities, community service projects, etc. I find this very odd, as he's an avid patch-shower-offer and he's clearly outgrown the red patch sweatshirt he keeps wearing over and over again. It's every boy's envy when he wears it to school and quite the conversation starter when we go to the store and he's wearing it.

I suggested maybe a red vest as other boys have sported in the past, but he didn't like the idea. He decided on a sash, very much like the green sash his older Boy Scout brother wears for his Merit Badges. Now, he's decided this a few weeks back and with Blue & Gold around the corner, it's time for this busy momma to get to work. So off to Joann's we went to select the fabric for the sash. Luckily a yard is all I needed, and at $5.99 a yard, and my 50% off coupon, it cost me a whopping $3.00 plus tax.

I simply cut two strips of fabric to the desired width, and sewed them together. Then I hemmed the edges, and cut the length to fit my son's body (this part is pretty forgiving since it hangs from the shoulder, across his body to the opposite side.

I then pressed it.

And after trying it on his body, sewed the seam at the bottom end in an angle as seen below.

Then it was time to sew on all the patches, making sure to leave plenty of space for his Sports and Academics pins towards the top of the sash.

Side note: Notice this Warstone patch. He earned this at a weekend campout where Duncan had the Guinness World Book of Records there in an attempt to break a record. My son participated in this event. They wanted to break the record for the most people participating in a marble tournament...and they broke it!! So now my son's name will be on this record and it was just recently recorded in the books. FYI, he's quite ambitions and the overachiever...he had told me about 8 months prior to this event that he wants to break a world record one day. I reminded him after this event, and told him he can check that off his bucket list!

And we're ready! He'll be so excited to see this in the morning.

Here it is all finished up and  posing next to its big brother the Boy Scout sash. Buuuuut, it's almost all filled up with patches. Back too! So I guess we'll make more and overlap them over one another. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. At least he has something to wear to Blue & Gold now to display his patches.

The Wall Painted Headboard

I had that hunch today. Yup, creativity trying to tell me something.  Yes, that one. Early this morning. So at lunch time, after a quick session with my chiropractor whose office happens to be just down the street from my apartment, I made a quick trip to my place.

There my perfectly taped future headboard awaited on the wall, as seen here. I kicked off my heels, removed the sweater I purchased in Italy, and rolled up my white jeans....ha, ha, ha... Removed the bed from the wall, taped paper to the baseboard to protect the carpet and got started.

Rolling my little round brush up and down, back and forth, to and fro. Mmmmm...the smell of fresh paint. I couldn't believe I was doing this, during my lunch time...and I'd be done in minutes!!

Here it is with the first coat completed. I painted right over the blue tape, but not passed it. And right over the green tape, as that would create my white inset border.

I didn't even want to take off the electrical outlet cover, as it's covered by the bed, but I did cover it with blue tape cause I don't want to replace it when I leave.

Here it is. You can tell it needs a second coat. And I left back to the office, leaving my bloody mess as is.

And upon returning home, and quickly feeding the kids, I got right back to my project with a second coat of paint, as seen below.

And I just couldn't wait to see what it would really look like. So I quickly removed the blue tape, and then the green tape and I was soooo excited. But the room looks so much better in daylight, and it's dark out now, and I really want to see it with the pillows up against the wall, but it's still wet...so I improvise. Breath in, breath out.

I cleaned up and pushed the bed back up against the wall as close as possible without actually touching it, and semi setup the pillows. Voila!!

Wow! It's really coming together.

But I still can't wait to see what it looks like tomorrow morning. I'll post a picture as soon as I can.

Nighty night!

OK! Here's the picture in the morning!! Woot woot! I feel like quite the interior decorating diva powerhouse.

This bedroom is definitely not "done", but this project has inspired me to her 'er done sooner.

Headboard Painted on Wall Project

I'm starting a new project...wall painted headboard. I don't have a headboard and don't want to buy one. Been wondering what can I do creatively, very low, low cost and cool. Been pondering several ideas that involved spending a little bit of money, but finally decided why spend any money at all. I have left over paint from the good ol' craft armoire makeover seen herehere, so now that will be put to good use. I'm painting a square above my bed with a white inset border. Can't wait to see the result. Will share as soon as I get a step forward.

As of now, I've taped the area that will be painted gray. That would be inside the blue tape...all of it. The green tape will keep the wall un-painted for the white inset border.

Doing this will also help tone down the white walls. And this wall is so large, that I decided to go tall on the headboard. There's plenty of space for it.

Until next time! Wish me luck.

Origami Hats...celebrating Boy's Day Japanese style with Shuko

Another afternoon learning origami with Shuko. During lunch today she mentioned that in Japan, boys have a day of celebration in February. They make origami hats and wear them . So with napkin in hand, she taught me how to make them. Once we arrived at the office, she broke out with the origami paper and I practiced some more.

Directions:

Fold origami square in half to form a triangle.

Fold each side corner up to meet the top corner. Make sure you fold both sides up.

Fold one lose end over to opposite end, like this picture above. Do the same to both sides.

Fold the top corner down, on the top layer back to look like this picture. Do the same to both sides.

It will look like this when you make those folds.

Fold up the bottom half, the one that doesn't have the little wings sticking out. Only fold up the top layer, so you see the inside of the paper, as in the picture above. Fold it so the top corner is just over the folds of the little wings.

This is what it will look like when you make that fold.

Fold that bottom edge up so it aligns with the crease.

Open it up, as in the picture above.

Tuck the bottom triangle up into the opening in the center.

It will look like this. It's a mini hat. Make it out of a larger piece of paper, or better yet, newspaper as they do in Japan and wear it.

Boys love to wear these, that's why they make these to celebrate boys' day in Japan!

Thank you Shuko for another fun day of origami lessons! Check out this post for origami butterflies, with Shuko.

The Shabby Chic Frames are up...in the dining room

Finally decided the permanent location of the Shabby Chic Black Frames...the dining room. And here they are.

It was a bit of a challenging task figuring out exactly how to do this as I couldn't tell which side of the decal was a transfer paper and which side was a paper backing.

This was my initial positioning, simply taped to the wall. It was up for about a week, after being up above my bed as a headboard another week. I finally decided heck, it was only $4.00 and change for crying out loud. If I don't like it, it can come down and I only lost a few bucks. Done!

Started the first step by placing the adhesive side of the tape and decal (or so I thought) on the wall in the desired location...he, he, he...But when I tried to peel back the transfer tape from the wall, like it instructed me to, the decal didn't stay on the wall. Oh, oh...I removed it, read the bloody instructions over and over and over again until I determined I was doing it correctly and maybe, just maybe this wasn't going to work for me. But carry on I did.

I scraped every bubble flat on my not-so-smooth wall, with the provided tool.

Then it was time to peel the transfer tape from the wall and the decal is supposed to remain stuck on the wall. But it wasn't quite. I just kind of forced it off the transfer tape and pressed up against the wall. The rest was pretty easy pulling off, but the decal seemed to be wanting to pull. It was a little rubbery so it didn't ever break. I also kept using the plastic tool to rub it against the wall. I'm pretty sure at this point I'm not supposed to be using it on this type of wall. You know, the kind that has some texture vs. the super smooth walls. Oh,well. There is no way to salvage this decal and place it somewhere else. I'll just keep going and finish it off.

So the first half of the large frame is done.

But the top half was a challenge as it was difficult to align the sides and have it still be leveled at the top. Well, it's not. I came to the conclusion that the frame decal was not perfectly squared, or leveled. So I just made it work as best I could.

And here they all are together. Now, please keep in mind tha it's 3 days after Valentine's and my place is still Valentiney. Hence, the Valentine tree, the red table cloth, roses on the table, etc.

And then I decided to add some 3D origami butterflies I made last week. I posted a step by step for these cool origami butterflies here. 

It' funky, it's whimsy, it's fun...it's me.

Birdfeeder for my cub scouts

The finished birdfeeder



The old birdfeeder made at summer camp



There are many things I enjoy about being a den leader. It didn't start off this way. When I volunteered, there was no Tiger den leader for my son, the only Tiger. So I stepped up to the plate so he could be involved and move up through the ranks. We quickly had two boys join us (who are still with us, yipee!) and through the years we've seen many come and go. Hey, it's not for everyone. But I am happy to report we have a den of 5 committed Bear scouts that show up on a regular basis, in complete uniform and a good attitude. So back to what I enjoy the most, the satisfaction of seeing the smile on the faces of those little boys when they receive their awards, patches and rank badges. When they learn their knots and you see the light bulb above their head shine a light in the whole entire cafeteria (our meeting location).  When they give me a big thank, but when they give me that BIG BEAR hug....ugh...I just melt.

But one of the next best things I enjoy is the crafts. Yes, I enjoy the crafts, but the boys do too. And on a rainy and cold day like today in sunny Southern California, crafts are just the thing.

My Bear son and I attended resident camp last summer and they made an easy, simple, and quick bird feeder which he just loved. This went towards one of his achievements that ultimately will go towards him earning his Wildlife Conservation Award. He definitely used it, hung it on a tree in our little apartment's balcony. OK, yes the tree is fake, hee, hee. But with the wind and the elements the bird feeder now looks like the above picture. So, we shall make bird feeders as a den, so all the boys can get their Wildlife Conservation Award. And, cause I'm done with Blue & Gold decorations {woo hoo} and can think of nothing else to do. And to practice leadership skills my son willl this activity.

We made one at home last  night to remember the details and to pre-pack the components into zip lock bags for each scout.

What you'll need per birdfeeder:

19 wood craft sticks (like the popscicle ones). We paid $3.99 for a bag of 150 at Michael's

4 pieces of cotton twine, approximately 25" long each. Paid $2.00 at Big Lots for 50 yards.

Glue, I use Aileen's Tacky Glue. $1.99 at Michael's, but have several laying around.

Directions:

You place two sticks parallel to each other and place dots of glue at each edge of sticks. Place two more sticks on top, as shown above.

Place two more sticks perpendicular to the last ones, and yet two more on top, see above picture. You should now have two sticks stacked on top of each other at each edge of the square. Make sure you place glue dots at each end every time you add sticks!




Then add sticks going across the entire top to create a platform. Again, place glue on the edge of the sticks that the platform sticks will lay on.

Add one more stick on each end of the sticks to keep them together, as shown above. Glue, please! Let dry for a few minutes so the glue bonds.

Thread a cotton twine string at each corner of the square platform. Pull all four strings together at top and tie them together. And you've got yourself a nice, easy, simple birdfeeder!

Now add a bit of peanut butter to the platform and sprinkle bird seed on it. The seeds will stick to the peanut butter and not slide off the platform with the first breeze that comes by. Hang it in a patio or by a window and enjoy the birds that stop by for a snack. I mean, don't enjoy the birds for a snack, enjoy watching the birds have a snack. Just want to make sure we're all clear on this one.

And here it is hanging in our balcony,
sans the bird feed cause I gotta take it to the scout meeting as a sample

A trip to the center of the craft armoire

Several of you have asked so here it is. A quick trip to the center of the craft armoire. Yes, a view inside the oh so long awaited craft armoire. You will notice, not much has happened in here as of yet, but  it will get there. The plan is to add a peg board to the left side door and possibly magnetic board on the right side. It'll happen as needed.

It has proven to be quite easy to use and organized for the projects I have engaged in, like making Valentine's cards and ornaments. A place for everything and everything in it's place. Well, not everything has a place yet cause I still have some boxes to unpack in the garage. They bare such labels as scrapbooking and crafts and yet another is labeled stamps. Scrapbooking, crafts and stamps, oh my! Scrapbooks, and crafts and stamps, oh my! Get it?...Wizard of Oz? Get it? Anyhwo, I can't remember what was stored in these boxes, and I certainly don't miss whatever is in them. I'm afraid to open the unknown. Maybe if I never open them, I'll never know...and I'll never miss whatever is in there. What to do? What to do? But that's a project for another day.

Note: For those of you who attempted to read the original post...I'm sorry....so sorry :( It's been revised. Really, it has. I'm just silly like that, naturally. AND I've had seven (7) hours of sleep. Yes, you read that right ladies and gentlemen, SEVEN! And, I've had my cup of joe. So top fo the morning to ya. Make it a great one!