BROWNIE GIRLS

... ART TO WEAR Try-it! What a fun day working on three different projects for "ART TO WEAR".

A wonderful group of Brownie Girl Scouts!

*BROWNIE Beaded Bracelets
(say that fast three times!)

*Art Paint Tattoos


*Bottle Cap Necklaces

A cute Girl Scout graphic (or click HERE) decoupaged inside the cap
a jump ring and chain completes this "Art to Wear"!

Thank you Lisa, Kristi, Novia and Pilar for all your work with these projects and making this Try-It fun for the girls.

SWAPS

Keepsakes for Girl Scouts

Swaps, the tradition of Girl Scouts exchanging keepsakes, started long ago when Girl Scouts and Girl Guides first gathered for fun, song, and making new friends.

Swaps were widely exchanged at national Girl Scout Senior Roundups in the 1950's and 1960's.

In more recent years, some Girl Scouts describe the types of objects now preferred as swaps by calling them:
Special Whatchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere.

Swaps are still the perfect way for Girl Scouts to meet each other and promote friendship. Each one is a memory of a special event or Girl Scout Sister.

Swaps Basics
Swaps should:
Tell something about the givers or their group. (Girls may include their address or email information so others can write to them.)
Represent the givers' country, community, or local Girl Scout council.

Tips for Swaps Givers
Girls should:

• Think about the kind of swap they would like to receive from someone else.
• Try not to spend a lot of money. Consider making something from donated or recycled material.
• Be creative, and take time to make hand-crafted swaps. (Include directions for making the swap if it is a craft project that can be replicated.)
• Try to have one swap for each event participant and staff member.
• Plan ahead so there's time to make the swaps.
• Make swaps that can be worn, used, or displayed.
• Ask their group or service unit for help, if needed, in putting swaps together.
• Make swaps portable. Remember: Swaps must be carried or shipped ahead to the event, where other girls will be carrying them away.

What to Do With Swaps
Girls can:

• Include swaps with thank-you letters to sponsors and those who helped them go to a travel or destinations event.
• Make a display or scrapbook for travel night or troop visits.
• Keep swaps in a memory box or shadow box.
• Make a quilt, using swaps.
• Put pins and patches on a hat or jacket.
• Start a council best-of-swaps collection.

Swap Safety and Etiquette
Girls should:

• Never refuse to swap with another person.
• Swap face-to-face, especially if exchanging addresses or email information.
• Avoid using glass and sharp objects in swaps.
• Follow all Safety-Wise guidelines.
• Avoid using food products, unless they are individually wrapped.

Blessing Boxes

After we discussed what extreme poverty is and looks like, we talked about how we can make a difference and do something to help. We created "blessing boxes" the girls decorated with hearts and flowers; these boxes will serve as a place to collect "loose CHANGE" to help make a "CHANGE" in the lives of children who live in extreme poverty.

We are asking our Troop 9691 Girl Scout families give up “a treat” of some sort each day and save $1.00 a day for two weeks in your “blessing box” OR to collect “loose CHANGE” over the next two weeks in your Girl Scout’s “blessing box” to help make a positive “CHANGE”.

We ask each Girl Scout bring the contents of their “blessing box” to the next troop meeting. If you are not comfortable having your Girl Scout bring cash to school, you (parent) may leave your contribution with Mary at the front desk and I (Teri) will collect it prior to the troop meeting. From the proceeds collected, we will make a donation to UNICEF (Children’s Emergency Fund in Haiti) and bless them with what we collect.

FYI: Haiti is among the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere before the earthquake and even more devastated now after the earth quake.

"Jingle Bell Wreath" Ornament

As easy as this project seemed, this project table was the one that had the most challenges. The girls had trouble getting the bells to easily slide down the pipe cleaner; perhaps we should have used bigger jingle bells. After they got the hang of it and had their patience tested, each girl scout created a new ornament!

Instructions~

• 1 green pipe cleaner


• silver and gold jingle bells (we used 11 of each color)


• red plastic pony beads (we used 9 per project)


• green ribbon


• red ribbon

Thread the jingle bells and beads on the pipe cleaner in a pattern of 1 gold, 1 silver, 1 red bead, then repeat. Once you have covered your pipe cleaner, form a circle and secure. Complete your wreath by tying a green ribbon where you just secured the pipe cleaner, then finish by tying a decorative red bow at the base of the green ribbon.

"Jack-O' Lantern"

Thank you parents for your contributions of $3.00 to help defray the cost of this week's craft project. Also a thank you to Novia, Irma, Holly, Lisa, and Stephanie for helping set up and supervise the painting.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU to mom's Nancy and Lisa for donating the snack and drinks for this meeting!
The girls enjoyed them.

This week's troop meeting~ PART ONE... Have you ever thought about a tradition you do and have no idea how it all came about, you just do it year after year, because, after all, it's what you do. Carving pumpkins on Halloween is one of those traditions. In this weeks troop meeting, we talked (in general terms) about the myth behind the popular "Jack-O' Lantern" and the tradition of carving pumpkins. (For the detailed myth CLICK HERE)


The general myth of the "Jack-O' Lantern" shared at our troop meeting:
The legend of Jack O' Lantern goes back to hundreds of years in the Irish history. The original Jack O' Lantern was not a pumpkin, but a miserable, old drunkard man nicknamed Stingy Jack who played tricks on people and lied to anyone he came in contact with, including family, friends, his mother and even the Devil himself. Myth has it that when Stingy Jack died, he wasn't allowed to enter heaven or the other place, so he roamed around on the earth without any place to rest. He roamed around as a ghost with his lit lantern... this is when he was then called Jack of the Lantern (shortened to Jack-O' Lantern). The Irish people kept the fable of Stingy Jack alive by hollowing out turnips, rutabagas, gourds, potatoes and beets on All Hallow's Eve (Halloween) and making their own version of a Jack-O' Lantern with scary faces on them. They set a candle in their Jack-O' Lanterns and placed them on their front porch to ward off the evil spirits and keep the ghost of Stingy Jack away. These were the original Jack-O' Lanterns. Irish immigrants brought the Jack-O' Lantern carving tradition with them when they came to the United States, and soon switched over to pumpkin-carving when they discovered that pumpkins were growing in abundance and much easier to carve than turnips etc.

Instead of carving pumpkins at our troop meeting (for safety purposes), we decorated them with washable poster paint to look like Jack-O' Lanterns. The girls had a good time showing their creativity in giving their pumpkins color and personality.

Below are some pumpkin carving ideas

for crafting your own pumkins at home...

IT WOULD BE A GREAT FAMILY FUN NIGHT!

Click Here for stencils

Click Here for stencils and other "how to" ideas

Click Here for carving tips

Girl Scout Law Bracelets

Our meeting this week proved to be fun and interesting. We opened our meeting with snack then recited The Girl Scout Promise together. For our activity to help everyone learn the Girl Scout Law, we made beaded bracelets where each colored bead represents a part of the Girl Scout Law.

"I will do my best to be
honest and fair, (Blue bead)
friendly and helpful, (Yellow bead)
considerate and caring, (Spring Green bead)
courageous and strong, and (Red bead)
responsible for what I say and do, (Orange bead)
and to
respect myself and others, (Purple bead)
respect authority, (Magenta bead)
use resources wisely, (Green bead)
make the world a better place, and (Rose bead)
be a sister to every Girl Scout. " (Violet bead)

Hopefully the girls will enjoy their new bracelets as they learn and memorize each character quality of the Girl Scout Law.