#DuffleShuffle

While driving around town this morning, I heard a story on the radio about the #DuffleShuffle and felt inspired to share the movement with readers. 

The number of children in out-of-home care in Northern Kentucky and Hamilton County (Ohio) due to child abuse and neglect is staggering and still on the rise. But this is not just a significant issue in the Cincinnati tri-state area - it's an alarming trend across our nation and the globe. As these children are shuffled from one home to another, they often shove their belongings in garbage bags. They deserve better. When you think about the statistics, it's safe to say our children and teens know someone who is living in transition.

The Children's Home of Northern Kentucky is collecting NEW duffle bags for kids and teens in out-of-home care (e.g., foster care, kinship care, residential treatment) around the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati area. Please note:  There are countless organizations around the world who help abused and neglected children. Donations to those organizations are a blessing to the children they serve.

Around this time of year, troops are counting their profits from the Cookie Sale. While we all want to (and should) do something fun with the money, the Scouts are also encouraged to use a portion of their earnings to serve others. 

How can your troop help?
1.  Buy a NEW duffle.  If you'd like to stuff the duffle, check out this link for a list of useful items. They also accept monetary donations.
2.  Shuffle and Share.* Record your best shuffling dance moves and share on social media, using #DuffleShuffle  
3.  Duffle Drop.  Drop off the duffles at an official Duffle Drop location between now and June 30, 2017.

*By participating in this movement, Scouts can complete various petals badge steps. Think along the lines of being considerate and caring or friendly and helpful. Are your girls earning a badge with dance requirements? Or do they have to make a video or learn about online safety and use of social media? Some may be learning about budgets. Maybe they could write or draw about the experience to satisfy an additional badge step. There are many creative ways they could with such a project.

"The combination of your donations, dancing, and duffle bags will both encourage awareness for the kids and their struggles in our area and provide them with a renewed sense of connection and community. We know our efforts are not a solution to ending child abuse and neglect, but our hope is that the Duffle Shuffle moves people to open their hearts and homes to kids in out-of-home care." - Children's Home of Northern Kentucky

As always, thank you for reading.

Cupcake Club: January Meeting and Bake Sale

In a previous post, I explained how my daughter started a Cupcake Club at her middle school this year, how I got involved, and how to incorporate the ideas (including service projects, badge steps, and troop celebrations) during your next Scout meeting.  In my experience as a troop leader, there were times when we needed to supplement Cookie Sale profits in order to meet troop goals.  In our Girl Scout Council, if you have a fundraiser outside of Fall Product and Cookie Sales, the girls must provide a service.  Since the Cupcake Club plans to donate cupcakes throughout the community after each month's meeting, I thought I'd share what worked and didn't work for us in case your troop is interested in a similar event.

About 20 students returned permission slips to the club's faculty advisor, but we had no idea how many kids would join us in December.  I spent about $15 on box cake mixes, frosting, and candy for that meeting.  If all 20 kids showed up, they could each decorate two cupcakes.  As it turned out, we had about a dozen kids, so they each decorated four cupcakes.  

Knowing we have five more meetings on the calendar (and being new to the middle school scene as a parent), I spoke with the faculty advisor, school principal, and PTO President about funding.  It was suggested we host a bake sale.  Our January meeting fell on a Tuesday, and the girls' basketball teams were scheduled to play the next day.  With last-minute approval, we developed a plan and kept our fingers crossed. 

I baked 90 cupcakes for the kids to decorate and spent about $35 on ingredients and a handful of supplies.  To save money, I raided our kitchen cabinets to see what the students could use.  In staying true to my daughter's vision for the club and wanting variety for the bake sale, I decided to have four stations at the meeting:

1. Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting and multicolored sprinkles.  At this same station, there were marble cupcakes with chocolate frosting and multicolored sprinkles.  Plastic knives were provided to spread the frosting and spoons for the sprinkles.

2. Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla icing, which I dyed orange and purple (school colors for our team and their opponents).  Using a knife, I filled piping bags with both colors. The closed and open star tips (Wilton piping tips 2D and 1M) gave the swirled frosting a fancy twist.

3.  Chocolate cupcakes were cored at this station and filled with marshmallow cream.  Prior to the meeting, I mixed some Marshmallow Fluff with a scoop of vanilla frosting.  I snipped the ends of two piping bags and filled them with the marshmallow (no piping tips necessary).  At this station, there was a plastic knife, a baby spoon, a cupcake corer, and a melon baller for the kids to use to remove the core of the cupcake.

4.  The chocolate cupcakes were topped with chocolate frosting (Wilton piping tip 2A). The kids then piped vanilla snowflakes on the cupcakes (Wilton piping tip 3 or plastic baggies with a tiny hole snipped off one corner).

They also decorated a large sheet of poster board with Sharpies, advertising the club's name and the price of the cupcakes ($1).

Since we only have an hour together, I prepared everything in advance.  Supplies were loaded in plastic shopping bags labeled with the station number, which made set-up super quick.  Our meetings are in a classroom, so I made sure to have wax paper or paper towels for their work stations.  This made clean up easy.  About half a dozen kids agreed to work the bake sale the following afternoon.

For the Bake Sale:
cupcakes
poster (and tape)
vinyl tablecloth
container for donations
change (fives and singles) and envelope
napkins
paper towels
foil pan and foil (for donation of leftover cupcakes)

NOTE:  Attendance at girls' middle school basketball games is low.  Don't choose convenience like I did. 

The kids only sold a third of the cupcakes they decorated, but I was so proud of their problem-solving skills.  They asked the athletic director for permission to take their sign on the court at halftime and between games to advertise their sale.  They discussed which cupcakes were selling more or less than others.  Then they asked if they could host another bake sale at the boys' games the next week.  It was suggested the cupcakes be frozen, and we were given approval for another bake sale.

NOTE:  The purple and orange frosting was replaced with vanilla and chocolate swirl, which proved to be a best seller.

Bake Sale:  Round 2
A much more successful endeavor!  At the end of the sale, the kids had about a dozen cupcakes left.  We delivered them to the staff at a transitional care center down the street from the school.  Knowing we only have enough funds for one more meeting after we reimburse for previous purchases, efforts are being made to contact the families of club members to figure out the best way to proceed.

Though it proved to be a great deal of work for me on the front end, I turned it over to club members at the games. It was good for them to face disappointment as they did in Round 1.  Similar to the Girl Scout cookie sale experience, they worked together and learned valuable skills while having fun.  Wishing you success during this Cookie Sale season!  Thank you for reading. 

Service Project: Angel Tree

Cookie sales are right around the corner.  As your troop decides how to spend profits this year, I invite your girls to consider making a financial contribution to a program like Prison Fellowship. According to their website, 2.2 million men and women are incarcerated. 95% of prisoners are released, meaning 600,000 will return to their communities this year.  Two out of three will be rearrested, leaving 2.7 million children with a parent in prison.

One of the many ways this organization helps prisoners is through Angel Tree. 
Several churches team up with this national organization to provide unique gifts to children with an incarcerated parent.  I described the process in detail in this blog post.  Many caregivers request socks and underwear, coats, and pajamas as the clothing gift.  Often, families will suggest two clothing gifts, providing sizes and favorite colors or characters.  Our family has been involved with this program at our church for years.  Our daughters enjoy choosing tags for kids around their ages who have requested coats or pajamas.  Both girls sit at my laptop with a calculator, and we shop on Kohls.com.  Through this service project, our kids have practiced the valuable life skill of working within a budget as well as learning to save money through the use of coupons.  

By participating in Angel Tree, Girl Scouts can satisfy steps for the following badges (please note this is not an all-inclusive list):
Daisy--Making Choices and Talk It Up
Brownies--Money Manager, Give Back, and Philanthropist
Cadette--Budgeting and Comparison Shopping

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, I heard a Angel Tree radio announcement: there were still 29,000 children who would love to receive a gift from their incarcerated parents.  Though Christmas is behind us, you can still make an impact.  In addition to providing Christmas gifts to children with an incarcerated parent, Angel Tree offers additional ways to get involved throughout the year.  For example, prisoners' children have an opportunity to go to Angel Tree Summer Camp.  When you donate today, “a matching grant will help reach TWICE as many children.”  The matching grant expires at midnight on December 31, 2016.  Wishing you all a fun and safe New Year!

Exploring Beneath the Surface: Hidden River Cave and Mammoth Cave Tours

A friend of mine was heading to Kentucky over Spring Break on a research trip, and she invited my mom, my girls, and me to join her.  Knowing my husband would be working those days, we jumped at the chance to explore with her.

We headed toward Horse Cave, Kentucky, on Good Friday morning.  We were hoping to visit Detweiler's Country Store, but they were closed for the holiday.  We altered our plans and visited R&S Salvage Groceries.  We ordered our sandwiches and purchased our favorite Amish baked goods.  Later in the day we arrived at Hidden River Cave in time to take a tour.  

We chose the Public Guided Cave Tour.  Reservations are not necessary.  Upon our arrival, we paid admission ($15 Adults, $10 Children ages 6-14, Free for kids under age 5).  The admission fee includes access to the American Cave Museum.  We did not check it out the exhibits because we only had to wait about 10 minutes for the next tour to begin.  Our party joined another family and we were escorted to an elevator that took us to a short walkway that led to the mouth of the cave.  Another tour group was zip lining across and rappelling into this sinkhole.

We began our hour-long tour by descending the 230 stairs into what was once the most polluted cave in the country.  Great efforts have been made to restore the cave, and the American Cave Conservation Association continues to improve the experience for guests.  At the bottom of the steps, we were led along a bridge that crossed a river.  Just over the dam, we entered a cavernous room where we saw a variety of formations and were introduced to an albino cave crayfish.  This tour was really cool!

The next morning we headed over to Mammoth Cave for the Frozen Niagra Tour.  We planned to join the 10am (CST) tour.  Thankfully we purchased our tickets in advance!  Upon our arrival around 9:30am, ALL tours for the day were SOLD OUT with the exception of the self-guided tour for which $5 tickets were being sold.  As we waited at the Visitor Center to load the bus to take us to the entrance of the cave, we picked up the Junior Ranger guide books for my girls.  At ages 9 and 10, they completed the activities in the books to earn the 12 points required for a Junior Ranger badge.  A couple years ago, the girls earned their Junior Ranger badges at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore along with a badge and a patch that we sewed on the back of their Girl Scout vests.  When they turned in their books at the Mammoth Cave Visitor Center , they received the Junior Ranger pin and a certificate.  Unfortunately, the park did not provide the patch for free, but we were able to purchase one from the gift shop for $5.95.  There were several patches from which to choose.  While the patches were a little more expensive than I was hoping to spend, I wanted the girls to have something to remember our time together.  These are the two patches my girls selected:

 

The Frozen Niagra tour was breathtaking.  I'm 5'7" tall.  Even though there were a couple areas when I had to duck or swivel sideways for a step or two, I never felt claustrophobic.  The cave is well-lit.  At one point, our amazing guide turned off the light so that we could experience being in complete darkness.  Though it was pitch black for only a minute, this could be frightening for someone who is afraid of the dark.  For perspective, there were several families in our group who had toddlers and preschoolers, and these children were fine during the blackout.  What a fun road trip for families, friends, and Scout groups!  This could be a great way to spend some of the money earned through the Girl Scout Cookie Sale.  I hope to return to Mammoth Cave as a family in the near future so we can go on the Domes and Dripstones tour.  

The girls in our troop recently finished their last service project for the year before attending a Bridging event.  I will share all the fun details in my next post.  As always, thank you for reading.

Cheers to Art

For our birthdays last year, my parents gave Cheers to Art gift certificates to my 9-year-old daughter and me. We finally took the opportunity to paint together over Christmas Break.  Typically, the two Cincinnati studios offer evening and weekend sessions, but I noticed there were Open Studio sessions on their December calendar.  

I made our reservations online, and I learned the seats must be reserved individually when using gift certificates online.  I went ahead and registered for all three seats at once and paid for the three seats with my credit card.  Upon our arrival at the studio, I produced the gift certificates.  The employee kindly asked me to repay for the seats, using the gift certificates and my credit card to cover the small remaining balance.  This was not a big deal to me as I was assured the owner would refund the original amount to my credit card.  With one quick email to Nancy Luensman, the owner of Cheers to Art, the refund posted to my account almost immediately.  This was the only hiccup we encountered throughout the entire experience. 

While I have not yet attended a typical studio session, I was told that generally everyone paints the same painting while instructors guide participants through the process.  The painting schedule can be viewed on the studio website.  Since we were not attending a typical session, we were permitted to paint anything during the Open Studio hours.  A few weeks prior to the day we planned to paint, we visited the Cheers to Art website and perused their Gallery (linked to their Facebook page).  With ideas in mind, we arrived just after Open Studio hours began.  We couldn't wait to get started!

After checking in, we were given aprons to wear to protect our clothes.  As we were shown to our seats, the instructor invited us to look at the art hanging on the walls around the studio.  She asked what we wanted to paint and said we could paint something original if we desired.  The canvas, brushes, water, and paper towels were set up at each seat.  There were also stencils available to use.  We retrieved our paint from one of two stations in the large room.  As I mentioned, during a regular session, the instructors walk around the room providing step-by-step instructions.  Since this was Open Studio, the instructors were unable to give detailed instructions, but they visited each table and did their best to help every artist achieve the desired look on his or her canvas. 

TIPS:

• Paint the background first.
• Add a little water to the paint on your palette.  The water thins the paint which improves coverage (important when you're painting the entire canvas one color!) 
• You can not make a mistake when you're painting.  An unintentional stroke or a color that is not quite the shade you imagined only adds to the beauty of your unique piece.

We had a blast at Cheers to Art!  As we were leaving, my girls asked when they could come back again.  I bet I know how they'll be using some of the money they received for Christmas! 

I encourage you to grab someone special or gather a group of friends and schedule a session at Cheers to Art.  This would also be a great way for Girl Scout troops to use some of the money they earn during the Cookie Sale.  You won't be disappointed!

Cookie Sale Paper Plate Game

Our Brownies have been working on their Family Story badges at home over the holidays, and the plan was to have the girls share what they learned during our next meeting.  I recently learned that half of the girls in the troop are not going to be there.  Knowing there would only be a couple of Family Story presentations, I decided to plan some other fun activities to keep the girls entertained for the remainder of the meeting.  In my last post, I provided some alternatives to the popular Pinterest Paper Plate Game.  As I was running errands this morning, I came up with a paper plate game related to the Girl Scout Cookie Sale.  Hope you enjoy! 

Cookie Sale Paper Plate Game
1.  Draw a table.
2.  Draw boxes of Girl Scout cookies on the table.
3.  Draw a Girl Scout next to the table.
4.  The Girl Scout is wearing a vest.  Add badges to the vest.
5.  The Girl Scout is holding a sign with the cost of one box of cookies.

POINTS:
2 points if your cookies are on the table.
1 point for each box of cookies.
1 point if your Girl Scout is next to but not touching the table.  
1 point if the vest is on the Girl Scout.
1 point for each badge that is touching the vest.
1 point if the Girl Scout is touching the sign.
1 point if the cost of a box of cookies is correct.
2 points if the cost of the cookies is on the sign.

Girl Scouts at all levels can enjoy this fun game, and I think it can be played at any time of the year.  Cookie Sales in our area started yesterday.  I invite you to check out the other posts I've published describing how our girls have geared up and prepared for Cookie Sales in the past.  (Look for the Cookies! label in the left margin as you scroll down the page).  During this cookie season, bundle up, stay safe, and have fun!  
   

Junior Girl Scouts badge: Animal Habitats

Last year, the girls in our troop wanted to spend the night at the Cincinnati Zoo.  They used a portion of the money they earned during the cookie sale to cover the cost of the outing.  We camped out in tents behind the Giraffe Ridge exhibit.  My husband and I had purchased this Coleman 6-Person Tent for family campouts.  The tent gets great reviews on Amazon, and our family highly recommends it!  We have used it several times, and it has been relatively easy to assemble.  To give readers an idea, I set the tent up to take some pictures for this post, and I accomplished this task within fifteen minutes.  (Please note there is a rainfly included with this tent.  If I remember correctly, this protective cover is a little more involved to set up and may require an additional set of hands).  In our experience, we have been able to fit the following arrangement in this tent:

• four adults
• six young children 
• two adults and three smaller kids 
• three adults and two children

Remember to account for the space required for all the gear as well.  Here are a few photos to provide some perspective:

 












Our overnight at the Cincinnati Zoo last spring was such a hit that the girls voted to use this year's cookie sale profits for another overnight at the Zoo.  Thankfully the Cincinnati Zoo offers many overnight opportunities for groups and families, so the girls got to experience something new.  This year, we spent the night with the manatees.  

Knowing we were returning for another zoo program, I took a look at the requirements for the Juniors Animal Habitats badge.  I realized the girls would most likely complete three of the steps during our overnight at the zoo.  We completed the other two steps during one of our meetings. Additionally, the girls were asked to work on an endangered animal crossword puzzle and word search for fun when they finished sewing their pillowcases during our Pillowcase Event earlier this spring.  An online search for an "endangered species crossword puzzle" provides many puzzles that can be printed for the girls in your troop.

Step 1:  Find out about wild animals.  The badge booklet states, "Wild animals may seem very different from your pets at home, but at one time, all animals were wild!"  Since we were sleeping with the manatees, the girls had plenty of time to observe the animals.  As a group, the overnight participants discussed the manatees' behavior and talked about how their behavior differs from other animals we have observed.

Step 2: Investigate an animal habitat.   While at the zoo, we toured the Bird House, Jungle Trails, and had an opportunity to go behind the scenes in both the Bird House and Manatee Springs.  The questions listed in the badge booklet were answered easily. 

Step 3: Create an animal house.  During one of our meetings, we made a Jello Nest as described in the badge booklet.  Unfortunately the experiment did not work as planned, but we talked it through with the girls.  They left the meeting understanding how and why an animal insulates its nest.  As I already mentioned, part of the overnight included a visit to the Bird House, so the girls learned a little more about nests.

Step 4: Explore endangered habitats.  Since manatees are endangered animals found living in the Gulf of Mexico, the questions posed for this step were answered during our zoo overnight.

Step 5. Help protect animal habitats.  We completed this step during one of our meetings.

 
The Juniors used the endangered animal word search I mentioned previously, and they each wrote down the top five endangered animals they wanted to know more about.  From this list, we narrowed their choices down to three endangered animals.  The girls voted, and the groups were assigned accordingly.  One group researched the Asian elephant, and the other group discovered more about the Monarch butterfly. 

Using laptops under supervision of troop leaders, the girls worked together to answer the following questions about their endangered animal:

• Where does the animal live?

• Why is the animal's home endangered?

• How can others help?

• Is there an organization that protects the animal's habitat?  

• If so, what is the name of the organization?  What is its mission?

Our three Brownies work together, and they chose to research the okapi.  All three groups decorated posters and presented their reports to the other two groups. 

Following the presentations, we recreated an oil spill as described in the badge booklet.  We filled a bowl with water and then poured some cooking oil into the water.  We tried to clean up the spill with some string, a tissue, a paper towel, a cotton ball, and a spoon.  When asked what else we should try, the girls exclaimed, "Dawn!"  Guess they're all familiar with the advertisements.  

Another fun badge completed.  Though this blog post describes the steps required to earn a Girl Scout badge, there are some great activities that school-aged children could complete on a rainy day or during summer vacation.  Thank you for reading!

After Girl Scout Cookie Sales: My Observations as a Troop Leader and a Parent

My older daughter joined Girl Scouts when she was in kindergarten.  She is currently finishing her first year as a Junior Girl Scout.  Her troop has always participated in the annual Cookie Sale, so she now has five years of experience selling Girl Scout cookies.  When talking with other Girl Scout troop leaders, the opinions about the Girl Scout Cookie Sale can be quite varied.  On the positive side, when selling cookies, the girls have an opportunity to learn and practice five essential life skills including goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics.  Depending on the girls' ages and program level, there are numerous badges to earn while selling cookies.  Examples of these badges include the following:  Money Manager, Philanthropist, Meet My Customers, Business Owner, Financing My Future, and Good Credit...just to name a few.  The internet provides a wealth of resources for troop leaders to share their positive and negative cookie-selling experiences and to engage in conversations with other leaders about the Cookie Sale.  In this post, I will share a story about my daughter.  I believe this story would have been much different if she had not been involved in Girl Scouts (specifically the Girl Scout Cookie Sale). 

This spring, my daughter is playing softball on a newly organized team.  The coaches of the team arranged a fundraiser at our local Chipotle.  The girls were encouraged to promote the fundraiser to family, friends, and neighbors.  They were asked to come to the restaurant wearing their softball uniforms, and most of them sat together in a booth near the line of hungry customers.  They were instructed to ask the customers to support the fundraiser when paying for their order, and Chipotle would give a portion of the proceeds back to the team.  

At first, my daughter behaved as any typical nine-year-old would behave when asked to approach strangers.  She was shy and didn't respond to my encouraging nudges.  Most of her teammates were eating dinner with their families, so she realized she would initially be doing this on her own.  Sensing her hesitation, I started talking with some of the customers about the fundraiser.  After overhearing my conversations with several customers, my daughter looked at me and asked if she could talk to the next customer about supporting their team.  I gladly stepped aside.  I watched her approach a woman and her teenage son, excusing herself as she interrupted their conversation.  I heard her explain how the fundraiser works and how their team could benefit when they placed their orders.  After that initial interaction, I could see an increase in her confidence.  She then talked with a man who appeared to be grabbing dinner on his way home from work.  I wasn't the only one to notice.  One of her teammate's tapped my daughter on the shoulder and asked if she could help talk to the next customer.  Several moments later, another teammate asked if she could join them.  Not long thereafter, there were five girls taking turns asking customers to support the team.

On our way home from Chipotle, my daughter and I talked about the evening.  I asked her what she liked and didn't like about the event.  She told me she liked when her teammates joined her when talking with the customers.  We discussed how her experience selling Girl Scout cookies helped her help the team.  I made sure to point out that the lessons she is learning as a Girl Scout will be valuable to her throughout her life.  

Selling cookies is demanding from the perspective of the troop's Cookie Parent, the Troop Leaders, and the adults helping the girls at home.  That all aside, I couldn't ignore my observations that night at Chipotle.  It was clear that all of the work has been worth it, and I wanted to share the story on this blog.  It's exciting to watch blossoming leaders step into action--whether it's a girl in your troop, a girl on the softball team, or your own daughter.  The girls in our troop have come a long way over the past five years.  I invite you to scroll through the links under the "Cookies!" tab in the left margin and read about our experiences with the Cookie Sale through the years.  As always, thank you for reading!

Service Project: Tips for Hosting a Successful Pillowcase Event

Back in January, I published a post describing a sewing class my daughter took at our local Joann Fabric and Craft Store.  In this class, the students cut, ironed, and pinned the fabric they had selected and brought with them to the class.  My daughter absolutely loved this class, especially because she had an opportunity to use a sewing machine. There is a great deal of useful information in the January post mentioned above, including a link to the incredibly helpful Missouri Star Quilt Company Tube Method Tutorial.  I also added photos with the instructions I followed when making one of these pillowcases.  I invite you to check it out!  The purpose of this post is to describe our Pillowcase Event and hopefully provide tips for readers who wish to host their own successful Pillowcase Event.

BEFORE THE EVENT:

• As I learned more about making pillowcases, I discovered the American Patchwork and Quilting (APQ) 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge.  Their website provides free patterns, a charity list, and teaching tools I found to be invaluable as I prepared for this event.
• Knowing I wanted to divide our girls into groups for this project, I invited family members to join us for this meeting.  Six adults were available to help, and it is important to note they are all currently registered Girl Scouts.
• I divided our nine girls into three groups and assigned two adults to each group.  Wanting the girls to work with different people, I made sure they were not in a group being supervised by their mom or grandma.  I also separated all the sisters across the different groups.
• This event was held at my house.  There were three stations: one in the family room, one in the kitchen, and one in the dining room.  Each station was equipped with the following:  iron, ironing board, flat surface large enough to allow girls to pin the fabric (table or kitchen island), another table and sewing machine, scissors, seam ripper, pearl head straight pins, pincushion, thread, bobbin, and fabric. We were able to borrow these necessary supplies from the families in our troop (with the exception of the fabric).  *If possible, it is a good idea to have an additional sewing machine in case you encounter technical difficulties during the event.  (We needed three sewing machines, and we arranged for someone to bring a fourth.  We actually ended up needing that extra one). 
• Earlier in the school year, the girls agreed to spend some of the money they earned during the cookie sale to purchase fabric for this service project.  I shopped during sales and used coupons when I could to purchase enough fabric for each girl to make one pillowcase.  We decided to donate the pillowcases to Cincinnati Children's Hospital.  We spent about $45 on fabric which ends up being $5/pillowcase.  Since the stitches are not seen when using the tube method, we did not worry about matching the thread to the fabric.  I happened to have spools of thread from past family projects, so our troop did not have to buy thread. 
• To make this particular pillowcase, you need a 27" piece of fabric, a 9" piece of fabric, and a 2" piece of fabric.  The ladies at Joann's allowed me to use the table in the fabric department and their super sharp scissors to trim the selvages and straighten the edges of the fabric.  I highly recommend taking the time to prepare the fabric prior to the meeting.  It is well worth your time and effort! 
• Based on recommendations made by APQ, the machines were threaded and bobbins were full and loaded before the girls arrived at the meeting. 
• To eliminate any disagreements over the fabric and to avoid wasting time during the meeting, the fabric was numbered and randomly assigned to the girls.

• As I previously mentioned, sisters were assigned to different groups, so my two daughters were not going to be working together.  I asked one of the girls in the third group to come over about fifteen minutes early.  She joined my two daughters, and they ironed their fabric before the rest of the troop arrived.  Please continue reading and I will explain why this worked well for our troop.

 DURING THE EVENT:

• When the girls arrived, they drew numbers to randomly assign the fabric.
• After saying the Girl Scout Promise, we watched the Missouri Star Quilt Company Tube Method Tutorial.  I had planned to have one of the more experienced sewers in our group of volunteers to give a brief overview of sewing machine basics, but in all the excitement of the day, I completely forgot!  Some of the girls had never used a sewing machine before, so this presentation would have been beneficial. 
• After watching the tutorial, my daughters and the girl who came to the meeting early started pinning their fabric.  At the same time, a second girl in each group ironed her fabric, and the third girl either helped one of the other two or waited patiently for her turn.  Once the first girl started sewing, the second girl started pinning, and the third girl began ironing her fabric.  This system worked well for our troop.  If we were to do this again, I would set it up the same way. 
• When the girls finished, they were asked to work on an endangered animal crossword puzzle and word search.  This helped us gear up for the Junior Animal Habitat badge they will earn at our next meeting and during our Zoo Overnight in May. 

AFTER THE EVENT:

• Although we ran into some technical difficulties with one of the machines, and two of our nine girls had to rip out side seams and begin again, this project went very smoothly.  Everyone had completed their pillowcase before the meeting was scheduled to end.  We even had time to snap a couple pictures.
• Not only is this is great service project, it could satisfy a number of badge steps (For example, you could make it work for the Brownie Philanthropist badge or for Step 2 of the Junior Independence badge). 
• We ordered sewing machine fun patches from Council so the girls would remember this event.

At Cincinnati Children's Hospital

This project could not have happened without the help of our willing and knowledgeable volunteers.  HUGE thanks to Amy, Mandy, Lynne, Sam, and Vicki for sharing your time and talents with our troop!  Many of the girls and their parents expressed interest in making more of these pillowcases at home to give as gifts and to donate to other organizations.  While it did take a lot of time to prepare for this event, it was worth every minute!  Thank you for reading.