We did it! We camped for our first time in our “new to us” (stinky repo) trailer! So many fun times were had… like getting the kiddos to sleep alone in their bunks, remembering not to open the rank-ass stinky freezer, and Shawnikins falling through the dinette bench, and overall such great memories were made.

I was thinking about how much we, and the kiddos love camping, and wouldn’t it be fun for the them to join Scouts or Brownies! So that they could grow outdoor skills and have amazing adventures… Then I snapped out it and reminded myself that we already have way to many kid activities in our lives… Ivy is currently in Swimming Lessons, Dance, and Gymnastics (shes 3), and Corbin is in Swimming Lessons, Tae Kwon Do, and Baseball (hes 4)… and I can only imagine that there will be more activities coming down the pipe soon… Soccer… Music Lessons… Hockey (nnooooooo)… So Scouts and Brownies are not in the cards.

Then I had a brilliant idea!!! Why don’t I look up the official Cub Scout Merit Badges, and then do my own super awesome version of these skills while we are on our own family camping adventures. The kiddos can earn merit badges that I make for them myself!! I know… I’m pretty much a cub scout leader in my head right now! No big deal!

So, I researched it, and here is the official list of the Boy Scouts of America Merit Badges, to get some awesome ideas for your own version of a merit badge collection.

And the first “Merit Badge” in our family goes to… Ivy!! For catching her first fish!!… her skills in patience, holding onto the rod, and reeling in the fish were all paramount in her first catch… just kidding… she slept through the whole thing… She’s so good at fishing that she caught a 3 1/2 pound trout while she was sleeping with her rod in the water. That is what I call mad fishing skills girrrrl!

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So after the fish was caught, bonked to death, and brought to shore, Ivy woke up and was horrified that she had caught a BIG fish… She was hoping for a little fish… She cried… then we (I mean Shawikins) gutted it (Ivy wanted no part of that)… then we cooked it up, and daddy ate it! She was not impressed. I think she may be a catch and release, animal lover, kind of fisher girl. High five to that girlfriend!

So to celebrate her amazing sleep fishing accomplishment, she deserves the First Fish Patch! And here is how I made it come to life!

HOW TO MAKE DIY EMBROIDERY PATCHES

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• Embroidery Thread
• Embroidery Needles
• Felt (or whatever sturdy-ish type of fabric you want to make a patch on)
• Embroidery Hoop
• Scissors
• Water Soluble Pen (I use this Disappearing Ink Pen)

METHOD:

Step 1: Decide what you want to celebrate on your patch, and search the internet for realistic, simple, not to much detail pictures of that idea for inspiration. Or just search “Embriodered……………. (fill in the blank)”. These are the pictures that I found for inspiration for the Fish (trout), and the Fishing rod.

Step 2: Once you have your inspiration photos, choose your embroidery thread colors. These are the colors I had in mind to use, but didn’t end up using them all… and added others… Just skip this step I guess…

Step 3: Mount your felt inside an embroidery hoop. Don’t break the embroidery hoop…

Step 4: Sketch your embroidery patch with a water soluble pen, onto your felt. If you don’t like your first sketch attempt you can use a damp cloth to wipe the pen away and try again! Like a magical wet cloth wand, or eraser…

Step 5: Use your embroidery thread to create your images.

P.S. This is my first embroidery patch attempt (so no criticizing my stitches bitches!! wink)… I mean, so you can definitely do this too! I just looked up some different embroidery stitches that any embroidery enthusiast should know, and the ones I used the most to create this patch were the “back stitch” (for outlining and the fishing line), and the “satin stitch” (for filling in shapes). I went rogue with the fish. I do CRAZY things sometimes!

Step 6: Remove your embroidery patch from your embroidery hoop, and cut it out.

Step 7: Then just stitch around the edges of your embroidered patch to finish off the edges. And now it is pretty much professional looking!! BAM!!

Step 8: Enjoy your patch!!

We haven’t quite decided what we will be putting our merit badges (embroidery patches) on yet.

I have some ideas, but we have to build up our awesome embroidery patches collection first. Here are some links to some fun ways to show off your patches!

• Patch Pillows
• Patches on a Backpack
• Patches on a Jacket
• Patches on a Quilt

I hope this tutorial on fun embroidery “merit badge” patches, inspires you to create some for your own kiddos to remember all the important skills they have learned… like catching a fish while sleeping!!

Until next time, enjoy new experiences in the great outdoors with your kiddos, and enjoy creating beautiful things everyday!

XO JCL