Shift Mama

Holiday Craft: Tea Tree

Well, it's that time again, time for all the Girl Guide seasonal crafts to begin.  So, to kick it off, here's a quick and easy gift, or centre piece,  for Guides to make. 

I've seen a few versions of this on Pinterest, I've tried to simplify this one as much as possible - keeping the cost and skill level required low. 

Here's what you"ll need:

• styrofoam cone base
• tea bags in paper wrappers.  I think the Stash ones work best as they are fully sealed (you have to tear the paper to get the tea out)
• straight pins
• small christmas decoration for the topper

Next it's time to start layering the tea bags on.  I started by alternating red and brown around the bottom of the cone, sticking them to the cone with two pins.  You could also use hot glue to attach the tea bags, but I think with pins this decoration can be reused, plus hot glue can melt the cone and make a mess, and lets not forget that hot glue and kids is a bit of a bad idea. 

Once the first layer is done, repeat the process overlapping the each layer slightly on top of the layer below.  You might also discover you have to add a few extra bags in to fill in any gaps after you are finished.  Complete the tree with a small decoration on top.  I had a few small christmas balls left over from a wreath I made last year so I stuck one of those on top to finish the tree.  

Viola!  You are finished and ready to give the Tea Tree to someone to brighten their holidays! 

Related articles

Cycling the Myra Canyon Trestles

My Camping Wish List

Mabel Lake Provincial Park - Camping Review

Girl Guide Hat Craft: GG Beaded Safety Pin

Now that I am back being a full time Guide Leader I've bene spending some time revisiting old favourite crafts and researching new ones. 

Safety Pin and Seed Pins crafts have been a favourite craft for Guides since I was a Guide.  There are tonnes of flag patterns to be found using a quick google search and I even came across a Girl Scout one using the G & S as a focal point for the craft. I decided to adapt that one and make a GG one.  

Here's what you need:  

1, 1.5", safety pin

11, 1" safety pins

blue and yellow seed beads. 

It's a pretty simple process, just thread the beads onto the safety pin following the pattern and then hang them all off the larger pin!  Great for decorating your camp hat or using as a trader/swap

Pin 1: 9 blue beads

Pin 2: 1 blue, 7 yellow, 1 blue

Pin 3: 1 blue, 1 yellow, 5 blue, 1 yellow, 1 blue

Pin 4: 1 Blue, 1 yellow, 1 blue, 1 yellow, 3 blue, 1 yellow, 1 blue

Pin 5: 1 blue, 3 yellow, 2 blue, 2 yellow, 1 blue

Pin 6: 9 blue beads

Pin 7: 1 blue, 7 yellow, 1 blue

Pin 8: 1 blue, 1 yellow, 5 blue, 1 yellow, 1 blue

Pin 9: 1 Blue, 1 yellow, 1 blue, 1 yellow, 3 blue, 1 yellow, 1 blue

Pin 10: 1 blue, 3 yellow, 2 blue, 2 yellow, 1 blue

Pin 11: 9 blue beads

Do you have a favourite seed bead and safety pin craft?  I'm looking for a good trefoil one, or a world flag!  Share if you have one!  

 

Related articles

Cycling the Myra Canyon Trestles

My Camping Wish List

Mabel Lake Provincial Park - Camping Review

An Ode to the Humble Blue Mat

If you went to camp as a kid in Canada you probably remember the blue mat.  A thin, lightweight, yet difficult to destroy, layer between you and the tent floor.  It was always smaller than your sleeping bag, not that it really mattered - no sleeping bag could stay put on the blue mat and by morning you were lucky if any part of you was actually on the mat.  Good times, good memories. 

As I got older I graduated from the humble blue mat and bought a self inflating therm-a-rest.  I'm not sure that the Therm-a-Rest was actually that much better than the blue mat - but I gave up taking the blue mat to camp.  Poor overlooked blue mat.  

As I grow even older still I realize a few things about my friend the blue camping mat.  It is really damn useful.  Sure, it's obvious that in a camping situation it is one of the best items to have with you: sleeping mat, picnic bench cover, door mat to the tent, beach mat (useful on the beach and in the water as a not very float-y water toy).  But the blue mat also saved the day in our skiing world and in the kayaking world. 

Scenario 1: The Ski Hill.

 You know when you drive up to the ski hill, park, and then need to decide to either put your boots on at the car, or carry everything to the lodge and hope that there is a locker or safe place to stash all your shoes?  And then you decide to just put your boots on at the car, and all is going well until you lose your balance and put one already chilled, but dry, socked foot down on the snowy (or worse muddy) ground.  We've all been there and the only thing worse than having that happen to you, is having it happen to your kid.  Because kids are whiney and no one wants a whiney kid when you're paying upwards of $85 a ticket per day to enjoy some family time.   

Solution:  The Blue Mat. 

 The blue mat comes with us to ski hill every time.  Sure, it gets muddy and someone has to get muddy when we pick it up and place it in the car, but it's a small sacrifice to make for dry socks and non whiney kids.  Sure, we still have a few things to work out - like teaching The Kid to not step all over the  the mat with her ski boots or shoes on, but we're working on that. 

Scenario 2: Kayak on Small Car

My poor car.  It goes through a lot.  Most recently it has started to go through a lot of this: 

Getting those Kayaks on the roof racks  *sometimes* causes scratches on the roof and the edge of the trunk.  Solution?  You know it - the BLUE MAT!

 Once again the humble blue mat saves the day.  

Thank You Blue Mat.  Fyi - I hear it comes in other colours now.  

Related articles

Camping BC: Fintry Provincial Park & Waffle S'mores

Is Your Kid Wineing? Camelot Vineyards

Camping BC: Fintry Provincial Park & Waffle S'mores

I'm almost ashamed to admit it's been over three years since we've gone family camping.  The Kid and I have been to a lot of Girl Guide Camps over those years, but there's something about camping just as a family that I was really missing.  It's hard to pin down exactly what it is about packing up and hitting the road to pitch a tent and do, well, not very much, that is so appealing.  Or maybe that sentence there just explained it all.  

Early Morning Camp Coffee.  Everything tastes better at camp. 

The Kid and I (and the dog) ventured out recently for a one night camp out in Fintry Provincial Park.   I lucked out using the online reservation system and found the only 1 night stay available and amazingly it was a lakeside site.  

The view from our tent - where else but a campground do you get a view like that for $35 a night? 

Although packing for the three of us for a single night was a lot of work it was definitely worth it. We'll call this camping trip our shake out trip.  It was a reminder for me of how Provincial sites work (check the reservation board to double check your site, remember to bring wood or you'll need to buy it), and also a good check of all our equipment.  We had pretty much everything we needed - including an extra tent because it occurred to me as we were leaving it's been over 5 years since the large tent got used last.  We discovered we did forget a few key things: oven mitts, hatchet, extra clothes for The Kid (no worries though her Maplelea doll had tonnes of clothing), smalls spoons, and a bike or other mode of transportation for The Kid so she can keep up with the other kids at the campsite. 

Fintry Provincial Park is on Lake Okanagan so there's plenty of beach space to enjoy, including a pet beach which was a fantastic place to let the dog swim and burn off her energy.   Fintry is also home a historic manor house (tours available), an octagon shaped barn, and trail/stairway to a scenic waterfall. 

I'm going to admit that our menu was not the best, I let The Kid pick what we should eat and she asked for some Guide Camp favourites:  walking tacos (aka taco salad in a bag), worms and dirt, and eggs and sausage for breakfast.  We also tried a new campfire desert - Waffle S'mores. 

Here's what you need for Waffle S'mores:

• Frozen waffles (2 per s'more). 
• Chocolate Chips
• Marshmallows - mini ones will probably work best

Here's what you do: 

• Place a waffle on some tinfoil. 
• Place chocolate chips in some of the waffle holes
• Top with marshmallows
• Place second waffle on top and wrap the foil around the whole waffle s'more sandwich.  
• Place on the fire - we put ours on the grill on top of the fire pit.  I think you could also cook them on a Coleman stove in the event of a fire ban
• Flip the foil package over after a few minutes to let the other side heat up.  Timing will depend on the heat of the fire and distance between the fire and your grill.  I'd estimate about 5 minutes. 

Remove from fire, unwrap and eat! 

Waffles, Chocolate Chips and Marshmallows ready for the second waffle and the fire.

Melted Waffle S'more Goodness 

The perfect amount of chocolate and melted marshmallow! 

 

Related articles

Is Your Kid Wineing? Camelot Vineyards

Martha's Zucchini-Parmesan Loaf

from the Birks Box: Harvest Moon

The Girl Guide Badge Project: An Update

Well, if you've been waiting for me to complete another badge you might just have to wait a little bit longer.  

I really tired to finish the Art Production badge.  I really did.   I promise.  But I just really didn't want to.  I guess that's why they are called "interest" badges right? I will be learning to make my own rubber stamps and completing a project next weekend so I will be one challenge closer to completing that badge! 

So what's next on the Girl Guide Badge Project list?   I'm still working on the Reading badge, and will be investigating visiting Washington State in the summer or early fall - so if you have suggestions on where to go and what to see feel free to pass that information on! 

I've started to commute to work, and The Kid is cycling to school, I figure the cycling badge is a natural fit for the next badge to complete.  We're also in the middle of a backyard renovation which will include building a new garden so a Gardening badge is coming, and as the summer approaches there will be camping and hiking to be done and badges to earn. 

So, hang in there my Girl Guide Badge Project friends, more adventures and badges are on the way! 

 

Making a Mason Bee House

Over the past few years I've been aware of the decline of the bee populations and what that can mean for food production, and in turn life on this planet. 

I toyed with the idea of trying to keep bees, my former neighbour had a couple of acres out in the country and I considered and even half jokingly discussed putting a hive there, but when I started to research everything involved in properly keeping a hive I didn't take my plans much further. 

I did still want to do something to help support bees though, and recently started learning about mason bees.  I've found the most useful information is from the BC Ministry of Agriculture.   Here are some points directly from this Ministries Fact Sheet on Blue Orchard Mason Bees (the ones found in my area) 

• The common Blue Orchard Mason Bee, Osmia lignaria is found in the B.C.’s southern Interior and coastal areas. It goes under various names including Blue Orchard Bee, Orchard Mason Bee, Orchard Bee, and Osmia Bee.
• Orchard Mason Bees are shy and fly away when disturbed. Even at their nests, female bees will not display defensive behavior even though, they are capable of stinging
• The Osmia Bee has proven to be a very effective pollinator of tree fruit orchards. 
• Suitable nests can also be created with cardboard and paper straws. Cardboard straws can be bundled together and wrapped in weather resistant tarpaper or inserted into a large plastic tube
• In October, place blocks or tubular nests in garden shed or garage where there are no temperature extremes and predators. In mid-March, nest blocks should be placed to receive morning sun. Bee activity continues until June and blocks should be removed and placed in the shed by mid July.

A local store sells mason bee house supplies and I picked up some tubes for a mason bee house but I realized that they were too long for the house I had in mind.  I'll hold onto them and will either work on creating another house, or maybe just pick up the ready made house from the same company. 

I wanted to create a house from all recycled material, or at least as much recycled as possible.  I did a bit of looking around online and found some blogs using newspaper for the rolls  and a tin can as the housing so I decided to work from that idea and create my own. 

Collect the Supplies

• Cleaned out tin can
• Newspaper
• Pencil
• Tape (to hold tubes together)
• Scissors
• String (to hang the bee house outside)

Cut and roll the paper

We used a pencil as the roller for the tubes.  We used a small bit of wash tape to hold the tubes together. 

Stuff the Can - I squished the ends of the rolls to replicate the store bought ones.  

Placing the can: all the information I have read about the bees suggests placing them on the east side of the yard.  

I attached the bee home the side of the fence using string, tying it to a lattice structure already there. I think the clematis vine will grow around the can and provide a bit of shade and cover from predators as well. 

 

We may be too late this spring for a bee to take up residency, but who knows!  We'll definitely have this bee house earlier next spring.  

Now to think of what to build next?  Maybe a Bat house? 

 

Related articles

A Sure Sign it is Spring: Geocaching!

Save The Bees: How To Build An Orchard Mason Bee House - It's Fun And Easy!

Save the World with Bee Keeping

Mason Bee House | Reformation Acres

Shrunken Chip Bags: Fail

We'll just file this under F for fail. 

As a Guide or Scout you may have seen these cute shrunken chip bags.  

Seems simple, collect bags, melt them, add them to the craziness that is the Girl Guide Camp hat.   The Kid decided she wanted to do this, so my parents saved some chip bags and brought them to us. 

Since it was a rainy day and I've been posting great camp hat craft ideas I thought today would be a good day to do it.  I googled instructions and found a pictorial site showing what to do.  They actually had two options. The oven option (5 minutes at 350C) or microwave for 5 seconds on high.

Yeah, if that microwave idea sounds bad, you're onto something.   Just don't do it. 

That's what 3seconds of microwaving a chip bag creates. 

Equally as bad - the oven option. 

What started as this: 

Ended like this at less than 4 minutes in the oven. 

So, yeah, a total fail. 

Girl Guide Hat Craft - Sparkle!

Here's a quick hat craft/trader/swap for a Guide or Scout heading to camp.  

Here's what you need: 

• Shrinkydink paper
• Scissors
• Pencil Crayons
• Hole punch
• fishing line (or bead string)
• Beads (the sparkly-er the better)
• Safety Pins

Print out the saying - A Girl Guide Leaves a Little Sparkle Wherever She Goes - on to the shrinkydink paper.  I've created a really basic template and you can Download Guide Swap, Sparkle here, or just create your own.   I realized we printed on the wrong side (the rough side) so if possible print out the sayings on the shiny side of the paper. 

Once you have printed the saying add your sparkle using pencil crayons.  The kid opted for a rainbow/scribble/artistic feel for hers.  It works, but if she makes more I'll be sure to get her to cover ever bit of the surface to avoid white spaces.  Cut out and punch a hole in each one before placing on a parchment paper lined tray. 

Bake according to the instructions on the package.  Make sure to keep an eye on them while they are baking! 

Once cooled, add the beads and the safety pin and you have your own Sparkle Swap! 

The Girl Guide Badge Project: Art Production

This one takes a while, although The Kid's Unit did it all in one night, if an individual choses to do the badge on her own it takes some extra time.   Since this badge is taking quite a while, I'll update this post as I make my way through the badge, with a final evaluation of the badge when I finally finish it. 

As with most badges, the badge criteria in the book lists 8 challenges to choose from and the Guide must do 6.  

Here are the 6 that I chose: 

1. Create a work of art based on a dream you have.  Create a picture or collage using any materials or combination that relates to the dream. 

2. Create an object from a material such as clay, soap, wax, plaster etc. 

For this part I decided to make a clay charm.  On a recent trip to Micheal's we picked up a Klutz Make Clay Charms book.  It came with 9 colours of clay, the fasteners for attaching the charms to a bracelet, a bracelet, shaping tool, and really great book with great step by step pictorial instructions.  I decided to make a Trefoil so needed to create my own steps, while The Kid made a mini hamburger. 

 

The Klutz Book - This kit cost me $23.99, it contains enough clay for an average sized Unit (approx 20 girls)  to make a number of charms.  I would suggest if you are looking at making charms or small figures with a Unit that you compare buying this book with buying all the supplies separately.  I would not be surprised if this turns out to be the best bet cost wise. 

Making the Trefoil Charm

 

Make four small balls, each one is about the size of a pencil eraser. 

Form three of the balls into a cone or triangle shape. The fourth one gets rolled into a cylinder for the stem of the trefoil. 

Stick the pieces together to form the shape of the trefoil. 

Using the shaping tool that came with the kit, lightly indent the three trefoil leaves.  A round toothpick would also work.  Insert the charm loop into the top of the trefoil. 

After this is done, follow the baking instructions that came with the clay.  Ours went on a tin foil lined cookie sheet at 250F for 20 minutes.  

After the charm cooled I used the glaze that came with the kit to seal it and it's ready to wear. 

3. Experiment with colour by learning about primary and secondary colours. Mix colours and develop your own colour.  Make a picture with the colours created. 

4. Create a print, using a wood block, linoleum block, potato etc. 

7. Create a art gallery or art show to display your work. 

8. Choose a famous artist and create a work of art inspired by this artist. 

 

References: 

Klutz Books 

The Girl Guide Badge Project: The Reading Badge

There are a number of badges that as a mom, and an adult, I don't really need to do much (if anything) to achieve.  But in the spirit of the project I'll challenge myself to do the badge anyway.  I might take some liberties on the content, like the reading badge and complete it in the spirit of the badge. 

Completing badges and program work in the spirit of the badge is something I hear a lot of talk about on the various social media Girl Guides groups I belong to.  It's important for all Guiders, new and old, to realize that the badge criteria is a guideline and that girls should be given some leeway to alter the badge as they need to.   My favourite example of this is actually from my time as a Pathfinder Guider.  

The Pathfinder program has a lot of talking.  Talk about, research, discuss.  blah blah blah.  The Winter Wonderland badge pretty much killed me - it's possible to get the badge without actually going outside in the winter.  So when my Unit did it, my Guider and I took them outside, in Northern Alberta, in the winter.  I'm not sure if we did any of the requirements as written, instead opting for snowshoeing, skating, making tin can lanterns, dressing for the weather, and some kind of home made curling game.  That is completing the badge in the spirit of the badge.  Make sure the badges you are doing as a Unit, or as an individual, interest and challenge the girls! 

For the reading badge I will do the Random House Canada Reading Bingo.  My aim is to get a black out on the card.  

2015 Reading Bingo 

2014 Reading Bingo for young readers

Girls have very little trouble earning this badge. It's an excellent one for girls to do as one of their first badges and most can achieve it just through reading at school.  They should be able to tell you what books they have read (encourage them to make a list).    As a leader I'd keep a stack of these on hand. 

Girl Guides has a new National Service Project based on literacy this year, so it would be a great tie in to the badge as well.    Fin out more about this project here. 

ShiftMama Badge Evaluation: 

1. Did I Learn Anything 

    No, but I will after completing the Bingo! 

2. Would I Do This Badge With A Group 

      No, this badge is really not designed for a group setting.  I would consider taking a Unit to a library, reading centre, publisher, or newspaper to get a tour and learn about career options.  I would also consider creating a bingo for the girls, or using the 2014 YA reading bingo. 

3. Any Other Notes: 

    Have fun reading!!  

Related articles

The Girl Guide Badge Project: Aeronautics Badge

Thinking Day Meeting Idea

40 and The Girl Guide Badge Project