Special (or Silly) Whatchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere. Each girl creates a homemade token that represents her troop or the activity the group is participating in. And then you make enough to hand out to every Girl Scout sister. My daughter and I recently made 24 SWAPS for our first camping trip.
Comments about the SWAPS:
"It looks just like me!" (Yes, the hair was specially designed to match the girl, and my daughter chose the sleeping bag color and pillow fabric to match the personality of each friend.)
"Kindergarten girl, did you sew these?" (Yes, my daughter did play around with the sewing machine, and she turned out and stuffed each pillow. SWAPS are supposed to be girl-designed and created. Moms can help, especially when the girls are younger.)
"How long did these take to make?" (Honestly, we took a month and did a few here and there. The trick to SWAPS is not to wait until the last minute because you and your Girl Scout will be frustrated.)
"How did you make these?" (They are very simple to make).
Steps for making sleeping bag/ camping SWAPS:
1. Measure and cut out sleeping bags. We cut our fabric to measure 6 inches across by 5 inches high.
2. Fold over and sew. Start sewing your outer edge about an inch down from the top. If you are not a seamstress (note: we are not seamstresses), don't forget to back stitch so your thread doesn't unravel. We used a fancy, zigzag stitch that was supposed to look like a zipper. You will not turn these inside out to hide the stitching. The open end is the top of your sleeping bag.
3. Measure a cute fabric for your pillow. We cut our pillow fabric to measure 4 inches across by 3 inches high. We used jelly roll fabric since it's already a width of 4 inches.
4. Fold over with the back of the fabric showing (you will turn this inside out so the pretty side is showing and the stitching is hidden). Sew the open edges (and remember to back stitch when you start and end your sewing).
5. Turn the pillowcase inside out, cut the open end with pinking sheers so the fabric doesn't unravel, and stuff with polyfill.
6. Now gather your materials for the Girl Scout. We used 2.5 inch craft clothespins with rounded tops, red ink, a small letter O stamp, white fabric paint, and embroidery floss. You'll also need a black marker and a hot glue gun.
7. Place 2 dots of paint for the eyes and use the red ink and letter O to stamp an open mouth on the "face." When the paint dries, you'll use your marker to make eyeballs.
8. Choose a hair color and make a very small skein of embroidery thread.
9. Glue the "hair" to the girl's head. We used a dot of hot glue on the top of the head and one on each side where ears would be.
10. Now trim the hair and braid, put it in a pony tail, make a bun, etc.
11. Glue the pillow into the sleeping bag, and then glue the back of the girl's head to the pillow. Fold back the edge of the sleeping bag and glue that down as well. Create a cute saying or tag line and cut it out to look like a speech bubble. Ours says: "What was that noise? Our 1st Campout" with the date (and you could put the location as well).
12. Stick a pin in it and watch the joy on each girl's face as she sees your thoughtful SWAPS.
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