Cub Scout patch organization

I don't know how many of you have a bunch of these floating around your house ...

Cub Scout badges. Unlike when I was in Girl Scouts as an elementary schooler, boys don't have sashes on which to sew their proudly earned badges. And only a certain few can be sewn on their uniform shirts.

And it's not just badges ... oh no. There are pins.

And a belt buckle for each rank.

Beads earned for completing or attending activities.

And ribbons for recognition at events.

It's a lot of stuff. Stuff that adds up and seems to multiply as it floats around your house. So we knew we needed to corral it, and the craft or jewelry organizers you can buy at craft stores seemed like a good solution.

I'm not sure how much of this is going to mean something to the boys later in life, but I want them to be able to store it and keep it until they're ready to decide what to do with it.

I decided that I wanted to personalize them a little bit, so I user my scrapbooking materials to jazz them up. I went with more earth-tones for Nathaniel's ...

And blue-and-gold Cub Scout colors for Nick's.






I'm happy to say that they are both thrilled with the end result! (Sorry for the terrible pics; I took them with my phone. Professional blogger and all that.)

The Derby is approaching

Nathaniel gets so excited about all of his Cub Scout projects, and his current one is no exception. The Annual Pinewood Derby takes place the day after we return from Disney World, so he had to build his derby car last weekend. Any guesses how involved it is to build a tiny little derby car? There's a full page of Rules. It contains lots of bolds, underlines and CAPS. (THESE ARE MY PEOPLE.)



So it's not just a little derby car box.



Look. I'm about to go all Pioneer Woman on you. Here are all the ingredients you need to make a derby car:



Once they broke open the safety goggles, everyone donned a pair.



Then they got to work a'sawin'. (I HAVE NEVER SAID THAT BEFORE IN MY LIFE.)



Nick can't be left out, so he helped out every step of the way.



After they'd shaved off some of the wood to give them the basic shape of the derbymobile extraordinaire, they came back inside and weighed it with the remaining parts to make sure it was under 5 ounces, per The Rules.



Just made it!



They shaved off a little bit more, because the weight of the paint wasn't accounted for on the scale and they didn't want to risk going over. Next on the agenda was drilling holes.



Again with the helping. He can't WAIT to be in Scouts, too.



Next came the spray paint.



Then it was finally time for the accent painting! This is heady stuff.



I hope I'll get to be at the Derby to take pictures, but if not, I'll send Grayson with the camera. GO, DEN 6!