I love to read. Let me say that again. I LOVE to read.

And though I love to buy and read ebooks, there is nothing like the smell of a new paperback. So that led me to research bookmarks, so I can make some more.

I found macrame ones.

A crochet heart one.

Crochet and bead one.

A book thong.

And another one.

One made with wire and beads.

Scrap paper from Scrapbooking.

Even Family Fun has a bookmark.

Fun for the children and a keepsake too!

That is enough to keep me busy for a while. I’m off to look through my crochet thread and bead collections.

Happy Crafting!!

Kell

While searching for a no sew denim skirt, I found this great site with a few idea on crafts for kids.  How Stuff Works has no sew pillows. I really like the book pillow idea!

My mother knew how to do this, as did my grandmother. Both have been dead for many years and so if I want to learn macrame, I’ll have to figure it out myself. I saw owl macrame swaps yesterday and it made me decide to compose a post for the blog.

From wikipedia:

Macramé or macrame is a form of textile-making using knotting rather than weaving or knitting. Its primary knots are the square knot and forms of hitching (full hitch and double half hitches). It has been used by sailors, especially in elaborate or ornamental knotting forms to decorate anything from knife handles to bottles to parts of ships.

Common materials used in macrame include cotton twine, hemp, leather or yarn. An essential feature of the threads used is a level of “give”. Jewelry is often made in combination of both the knots and various beads (glass, wooden, etc.), pendants or shells.

My oldest daughter would be the first to say “Mom! Don’t go to wikipedia!!!! They have trained her at school not to listen to the site. While I don’t know if sailors did macrame, I do know that it involves knotting and sometimes beads

Wikihow has a post showing the basics of macrame.

Here is an interesting site that offers some how to’s on the site.

more patterns

free patterns

FOR KIDS!!

Bracelet from Family Fun

I can see this project will be a lot of fun :

Kell

When we want to do a candy making class for any of my troops we have found a delightful woman who loves to come out and teach the girls to make different things. Her prices are very reasonable, and she takes all the work off of you.

Kathy’s Just Desserts

I’m devoting an entire blog post to her because she is so wonderful wtih the kids. You can even pick from a list of recipes which ones -yes, more than one – recipe you’d like the girls to learn. She will also give them each candies to take home and copies of the recipes they’ve learned.

Kell

Making Friends has a very nice page of the history of SWAPS.

“Girl Scout S.W.A.P.S.
Special Whatchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere or Share With A Pal”

They give an explanation of how this came from Native American Indians. This story they posted is not something I am familiar with, so I thought I’d post the link to Making Friends and you can visit them for their history.

Links to ideas for SWAPS:

http://www.gsswaps.net/

about.com

Heartland

and a yahoo group for SWAP discussion

Kell

This is a cute project that I found on the Lion Brand Website. They offer this in their Free Crochet Patterns. It is part of their By Kids for Kids program. How cute to have them make one for mom or grandmom or even for themselves! Now to teach them all how to crochet. I am thinking that this would be better suited for my Juniors and Cadettes, although we could try it with the Brownies. They would just need more assistance.

I should add that their membership is free and you can subscribe for a free newsletter with patterns and advice.

Kell

I was browsing the internet, not even looking for Pom Poms, and guess what I found? Creature Comforts has a link on using plastic bags instead of yarn to make pom poms. Now I’m wondering what else we can make pom poms out of. I think I will ask the girls at our meeting tonight to see how many different materials can make pom poms

Kell

My girls are so excited about this project. They’ve been discussing it for over a month now while we wait for all the girls to pick out and purchase socks and buttons so we can begin.

A friend gave me this link to a great tutorial to make sock monkeys. We’re going to work on them at our next meeting.

There are other tutorials on the web for Sock Monkeys as well:

Super Sock Monkey

Oddly enough, this link is to the same tutorial I listed first but has all the photos and instructions on one page.

I never actually had a sock monkey as a child, but now I will have one I was like a little girl looking at the socks I purchased (Clearance at Target). Once we finish our project, I’ll post pictures of our sock monkey army!

Kell

While browsing You Tube for vidoes on Turkish Corchet (Oya), I cam across this gorgeous instructional video for making a dragonfly using knots, two beads, a small piece of nylon cording, scissors, and a lighter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVCdC9bonrg&feature=related

I went to the Chinese Knotting .org website to find out more information on this technique. I learned that

“Chinese knots are, for the most part, two cord lanyard type arrangements where 2 cords enter from the top of the knot and 2 cords leave from the bottom. The knots are usually double-layered and symmetrical.”

And they offer this cool blog called Knotty Notions where they have instructional photos and links.

There is another great blog as well, IWOM, where they show you how to do Chinese Knotting.

And for those who love jewelry making as much as I do, Satin Cord has simple tutorials for knotting with jewelry.

I’m not suggestiong you allow the Girl Scouts to use the lighter when making the dragonflies or other knot creations, but I think you know the ability level of your scouts better than anyone else and can determine which parts of the activity are appropriate for them. I am going to suggest the dragonfly craft to my Cadets and Juniors to see which troops are interested, but I am not offering it to my Brownies. I believe they would quickly grow tired of the knots, and it is not fair to those who are not as dexterous as the others to do an activity such as this.

*edited

Intrigued by Chinese Knotting, I started to browse for other good sites and found this one: Knotting Artist. This site includes the history of Knotting and some beautiful work.

Kell

I hear that Daisies will now be selling cookies! Do you all think that 5 and 6 year olds should be selling cookies? I think it’s great that they will be able to earn money to use toward trips and expenses, but I’m not quite sure many 5 year olds are ready to sell cookies. You could use the excuse that the parents and leaders sell the cookies, but in my troops, when we do cookie booths, they are always manned by the scouts. I am eager to find out the other changes that will be coming about even though I will no longer be a Daisy leader.

From GS CENTRAL:

Daisy Girl Scouts meet in groups of five to 10 with two or more adult leaders in a nurturing, inclusive environment. They go on trips, learn about nature and science, and explore the arts and their communities. Daisy Girl Scouts can also earn Learning Petals and receive participation patches.

Sample Activities for Daisy Girl Scouts

• Arts and crafts projects like finger-painting murals and making colorful barrettes and paper-bag puppets
• Trips to pick pumpkins and apples
• Camping and hiking with their family
• Planning a picnic and making snacks
• Planting a community garden
• Earning patches for activities like reading fun books or helping their community

This brings us to the Daisy Petals. Girls have always earned them in one year. I wonder how they are changing that to last over two years of scouting. Fortunately I know someone who is taking over Daisies. I’m going to have a sneak a peek at her books

Opinions? Comments? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the Daisy changes and if you know more than me, can you share your info with me?

Kell