 |
| Daisy Troop Banner (2011) - Detail |
My older girls joined a Daisy Troop (the precursor to Brownies and Girl Scouts) last year in Kindergarten. The troop needed a banner - to carry in parades, and at their ceremonies - and I knew that I could help out it doing that. And while this project isn't something I would normally blog about, when I began searching for ideas for this project I couldn't find ANYTHING in the main blogosphere to get me started; get me inspired.
In the end this banner actually took a lot of planning - I started with a list of 'elements' that I knew I needed to include, but I had little else to go on. The elements list, in no particular order:
: Include Troop number
: Lightweight - it is for 6 yo's to carry after all
: Represent each girl AND the troop as a whole
: Incorporate daisy theme
: Inexpensive
: Quick to make
: Maximize child participation in creative process
: Maintain
: Easy and enjoyable b/c they will need a new one next year for Brownies
Process notes: I sewed the main background (sun, field, troop number and blue sky) and then brought that with me to a meeting with the girls. I prepared daisy 'kits' for each girl and walked them through the tracing and cutting of each flower, it's petals and stem. Then we assembled (I have a new found LOVE for the hot glue gun!) each daisy and each girl got to 'plant' hers in the field. I went through and affixed each one in place and took the top home to assemble the back and sew it all together. I approached this part like a quilt, without the batting. I sewed right sides together, turned it, and top stitched all around.
Materials notes: The blue background was fashioned from an upcycled twin bed sheet. And the extra bonus is the top portion of the sheet doubles as the sleeve for the dowel to carry the banner! I purchased the green felt for the 'field' and used cheap felt sheets for each of the flowers and the sun. I found a stylized daisy to trace on the internet. The field and sun are self-designed. The backing is the bottom half of the same bed sheet. I also added a back panel with each of the girls' names. I had them sign a spare piece of background fabric using colorful sharpie pens. I don't like that they bled so much, but hey, the names are still legible.
 |
| Name panel |
So here I present to you, the Daisy Banner for Troop 2980 from Madison, WI. It's a bit slouchy given I don't have the dowel purchased yet. It turned out wider than it was in my mind and we don't happen to have a 6.5 foot dowel laying around the house.
 |
| Daisy Troop Banner (2011) |
As I said before, this isn't the kind of project that I would normally blog about, but I hope that in doing so I can provide inspiration for other crafty parents that unwittingly find themselves in front of 12 Daisy troops jumping (literally) to be part of the creative process.
Growing up I wasn't a girl scout (both my Mom and her Mom were girl scouts, however)...so this is all new territory for me. I have to admit I love the cookies!
3 comments:
Cute banner! I was just internet searching for banner ideas. I am a new Daisy troop leader and I want to make something like this. Although, I was thinking something more generic that they can carry when they are Brownies and then Juniors, etc. Thanks for the inspiration!
I know this is an old post, but THANK YOU. I was not the leader last year, and found out TODAY that the leader from last year has misplaced the banner they made last year. The parade is Monday, so it's pretty much all me, and this is doable. My daughter and a couple of her Daisy buddies can work on it tomorrow and I'll have all the marchers sign it just before the parade. Thanks for a huge load off my mind--I was going a little crazy!
I absolutely love this!! I am a new daisy troop leader and we need a banner for thw upcoming veterans day parade I think this is something we can do as a troop!! Thanks for the extremely cute idea!!
Post a Comment