The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,929 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,474 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Stitching and Crafting/Embroidery Expert Level Merit Badge, I took advantage of some down time (that’s what I call it’s-too-hot-to-go-outside-and-it’s-too-hot-to-turn-the-stove-on) and got out my collection of embroidery floss. What’s floss without needles naturally? so I got those out as well.

And of course, what are you going to do with a bunch of thread and needles and nothing to stitch them to, right? so I crawled into my linen cabinet.

Yes, literally.

It’s a really deep cabinet, girls.

And somewhat unorganized, I confess.

Ahem. Is there a badge for closet organization?

I admit to being something of a pillowcase hoarder, but today is the day where my irrational love of rectangular shaped cotton covers was finally going to pay off. By golly, I had a place to put these puppies now and it wasn’t the back of the closet with last year’s Halloween decorations, 12 rolls of wrapping paper, a set of curlers (for my hair … not the sport you see at the Olympics), and a case of toilet paper bought from one of those warehouse club places that will last me until approximately April of 2064.

Anyway, I seem to have gone off on a bunny trail there. My point was this: I had recently rearranged my living room to include a lovely window seat. (Talk about needing a badge for that one, am I right, girls? I’ll be covered in badges in no time.) Well, really, it’s an upcycled set of cabinets, turned on their side and placed strategically beneath my large picture window. But if you didn’t know better (pretend like you don’t know better), you’d say the architect was a genius.

Why, thanks. *blushes*

And as we all know, window seats are made for pillows. Or pillows are made for window seats. Or something. All I know is, I had an awesome place to sit and nibble cookies and people watch, and I needed some cushions to do so in comfort. My pillowcase collection was about to be put to good use!

Of course, it wasn’t as simple as all that. Just pulling a stack of fabric niceties out of your closet isn’t going to earn you a badge – sorry to disillusion you. No, this badge was all about embroidery, remember? (Why you keep getting me off track with all this talk about toilet paper and Olympic sports and architecture is beyond me. Try to focus!)

My plain, slightly boring pillowcases needed a makeover, and I had just the floss, needles, hoop, and nimble fingers to do it. Since I knew this windowseat would be excellent for reading novels, I used some of my favorite quotes to decorate my pillows. You can print out fonts and iron them on, or use stencils, or just free write them with a pencil.

Here are a few things my friendly pillows have to say as I snuggle in with them. Can you match the quotes with the novels?

I am so glad to live in a world where there are Octobers.

To live would be an awfully big adventure.

I wish I’d done everything on earth with you.

You have bewitched me, body and soul.

Let’s begin by taking a smallish nap or two.

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.

Answers: Anne of Green Gables, Peter Pan, The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice, Winnie the Pooh, Harry Potter.

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Courtney Robbins!!!

Courtney Robbins (#4840) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner & Intermediate Level Crochet Merit Badge!

“To earn my Beginner level badge for crochet, I thought I would try my hand at some MaryJane slippers! This pattern was a little complex for what I was used to, and the first time I tried to make them, I was camping, without help from my go-to crochet expert (Mum) and without electricity. I crocheted in the company of my soon-to-be sister-in-law while we were at camp, and as she knitted away, I crocheted away. After 10 hours of crocheting the soles and body for these slippers, I realized they were way too big! Huge, actually! I left camp feeling a little frustrated that I had spent all that time on these slippers that could fit my boyfriend!

I was determined to figure out this pattern, so every night after school for a few hours, I restarted them. Eventually, I figured out what I was doing wrong and managed to finish two even slippers! It took me another 10 hours to complete the darn things and a little extra time to pick out the perfect wooden buttons.

My MaryJane slippers are awesome! They are a perfect fit and really comfy and cozy on my feet. I used gray and yellow yarn, so they have a really beautiful contrast. The wooden buttons are a nice final touch and I am proud that I didn’t just give up on completing them! I truly learned a lot through my struggle. For this pattern, I had to learn how to follow an intermediate pattern, practice my ch, dc, and I had to learn how to dc2tog. I also had to learn and practice my patience!!

Here is a link to the website where I found the free pattern (for personal use only).

To earn my Intermediate Knitting Badge, I wanted to try something a little more challenging than a cowl on my circular needles! My boyfriend’s sister shared a really awesome knitting pattern with me that was for a cowl/shawl that was inspired by Katniss Everdeen from the new Hunger Games movie. I fell in love with the pattern and thought it would be a great challenge!

The pattern worked up in 3 sections. The first section was created like a sash/sling and I had to learn how to do a new stitch called the herringbone. This was challenging and I took it out and restarted several times!! After a few days of restarting, I finally figured it out and then had to switch the project over to circular needles for the second section. I had to practice my knitting in the round, and took on the new challenge of also picking up stitches, which I had also never done before. For the final section, I had to switch the project to smaller circular needles and finish it in the herringbone pattern.

For this project, I knitted in the company of my boyfriend, who was probably getting just as frustrated as I was listening to me grumble!

All of my frustration was worth it, though, and I stuck through it! My Katniss cowl came out awesome! It is so beautiful! I even spent extra time in my studio at school creating the perfect handmade ceramic buttons to give it its final touch. The cowl is super-neat and unique, and I have received so many compliments on it. This project made me so much more confident in my knitting, and I feel ready to take on a project like a sweater now … I just need to save up and buy some gorgeous yarn for it! I also am planning on making another one this fall to give to a close friend for Christmas.”

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,892 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,416 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Farm Kitchen/Self-Sufficiency Expert Level Merit Badge, I was really, really enjoying my food dehydrator. I mean, I was in love with the little miracle maker. My tummy full of yesterday’s beef jerky, I moved on to some vegetarian options. Pineapple, “sun”-dried tomatoes, apples, banana chips, peas, and plums. Mm! And don’t forget mangoes, papayas, peaches, and kiwis. Dry your own teas, make your own soup mix, gosh! The possibilities are keeping me up at night with hunger pangs (or they would be, if I hadn’t stashed some dried nectarines in my nightstand).

P.S. Don’t have a food dehydrator? You can try setting your oven to a low temperature. But some ovens don’t go low enough.

Here are some of my favorite recipes:

Homemade Dried Onion Soup Mix (although I usually use it for other things besides soup: casseroles, sprinkled atop steamed veggies, in meatloaf or burgers, or as a base for other soups)

• 8 t dried onion flakes (why, dry your own, of course!)
• 1 1/2 t dried parsley (again … do I even need to say it?
• 1 t onion powder, and turmeric
• 1/2 t each celery seed, sugar, salt, and pepper

Store in a Mason jar or Ziploc bag.

Citrus Mint and Licorice Tea

• Zest of 2 lemons and 2 oranges (remove with veggie peeler, then chop)
• one 3-inch piece of ginger, finely chopped
  • 1/2 small fennel bulb (can substitute whole star anise, but if you do, add the anise in at the last step)
  • 1 cup tightly packed mint leaves
  • 1 cup dried cranberries or apricots

Dry your zests, ginger, and fennel until dried. Dry the mint as well (you can put them in together, but the mint will be ready the quickest). Crumble the mint when cool enough to handle and steep with hot water (about 2 T per 1 cup water).

Photo by GuillaumeG via Wikimedia Commons

Homemade Wasabi Peas

• one package frozen (defrosted) or fresh peas, dried nearly completely (let them be a little chewy still—we aren’t done drying them yet
• 2 T white rice vinegar
• 4-5 T wasabi powder
• 1 t mustard powder

Toss the nearly done peas with the mixture above. Return to dryer and finish drying. Eat alone as a spicy, yummy snack or add to your own Gorp mix, trail mix, or popcorn.

Chocolate-covered Dried Fruit

• assorted dried fruits that go well with chocolate (Is this an oxymoron, Jane, my girl? Doesn’t EVERYTHING go well with chocolate?)
• dipping chocolate (dark, milk, white—whatever floats your boat)

Dip cooled fruits in warm chocolate. Let dry (if you can you have more willpower than I) on wax paper. These are most excellent for gifts. Like, a gift to me from me. Happy Tuesday, Jane … you know, those kind of gifts. The best kinds.

Hey Winnie,

Here’s my skirt you asked about …

with matching book cover …

matching tatted necklace …

and matching apron. So farmgirl!

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,929 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,474 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Outpost/Glamping Expert Level Merit Badge, my farmgirl friends and I joined forces and went glamping.

Oh yeah.

And in style … to boot.

(Boots? I brought boots of course. They look fetching with a sundress if I do say so myself).

Glamping—as we all know by now, unless you’ve been living under the perverbial rock—is a form of camping, but with more flair (glamour + camping). I’d worked my way up to this Expert Level badge, and I was itchin’ to really put my skills to use. I use the expression itchin’ in the figurative sense, of course, though I did bring some homemade anti-itch cream with me, just in case.

Homemade Anti-Itch (calamine) Lotion

• 1 t non-nano zinc oxide powder
• 1 t fine sea salt
• 1 t baking soda
• 2 t bentonite clay
• 1 T witch hazel
• 10 drops peppermint essential oil

Mix the zinc oxide, sea salt, baking soda, and bentonite clay. Slowly add the witch hazel and stir continuously until it’s nice and creamy, then add peppermint oil. (It’s a good idea to keep all of the dry ingredients on hand in a jar. Then all you have to do is mix in the wet ingredients. This recipe may not last super long, but if you’re prone to bug bites and falling into sneaky patches of poison oak like I am, that won’t be a problem.)

I’ve been saving up my spending money to buy a little teardrop camper,

but in the meantime, I still have my trusty childhood pup tent.

I patched up any holes, shook out the remains of 20 years of dead bugs, and aired her out in my backyard before we were ready to go. Then I got a little crazy and crafty and used some rickrack and lace trim I had lying around, and edged the tent. Once we got to the campsite, I hung some pretty crystal beads near the doorway and put a sweet little rug down at the entrance. She was looking gorgeous. I decided she needed a name. Cars get names, boats get names, campers get names, why not my adorable little home-away-from-home?

I stepped back and studied her with a critical eye as I sipped my Lady Grey tea out of my china tea cup (hey, I said this was glamping!).

I straightened her up (she tends to list to one side, but I think of it as cute little way of cocking her head) and placed my favorite lawn chair nearby. The effect was enchanting. She really was a looker. I named her Vivian Leigh.

Then I took in my friend’s campsites; we were sitting pretty. Midge had brought her Airstream with the awning that cranks out by hand in the most delightful way, and our girlfriend, Skipper, had brought her original 1978 Volkswagon bus with the gingham curtains. (Did you know you can buy tents that look like VW buses? I know, right?!)

photo by Saschaporsche via Wikimedia Commons

Our campsites made in the shade (literally and figuratively) we grilled up our dinner, sang songs around the campfire, brushed our teeth, and hit the hay. It was a night to be remembered: Midge, Skipper, Vivian Leigh, and me.

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Sherrilyn Askew!!!

Sherrilyn Askew (sherri, #1350) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner Level Grow Where You’re Planted Merit Badge!

“In Western Washington we have a number of non-invasive native ground covers, 5 of which are kinnickinnick, salal, wood strawberry, bunch berry, and coastal strawberry. I have planted both the strawberries in my strawberry patch and when they put off runners, transplant them around the trees and bushes in the yard. The bunch berries I have also planted around the shrubs and trees. The mosses in the grass are left unharmed, and the salal and kinnickinnick grow in the native part of my yard. I transplant any babies so that I can spread them further.

I’ll admit it, I’m a berry addict. An opportunity to plant edible berries native to the area is not to be missed. I plant some for the wild critters and some for me. I also hate to mow the lawn. I would rather be spending that time gardening, or sipping mint tea and dreaming while I enjoy the scents of my herb garden. Grow moss grow!!!! And the best part about a native garden is that is does not have to be watered or weeded once it gets started. I am cleaning out a corner of my place that is full of weed trees and have started establishing the undergrowth for the wild cherry tree and ocean spray bush already there, and will be planting more native plants so that I will have a nice little sanctuary to hang out in.”

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,892 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,416 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Farm Kitchen/Forage for Food Expert Level Merit Badge, I begged, cajoled, pleaded, beseeched, and otherwise nagged my good friend at the Department of Fish and Game to accompany me on my first annual Wild ‘Shroom Hunt. Dear, sweet Helen is pretty much my bestie. Okay, okay, we only met that one time last summer when I bought my fishing license, but I know we hit it off. I could feel the connection. I’m fairly certain she felt the same way, because she was way friendly and told me to have a nice day. So, yeah. Besties.

Anyway, Helen was leery at first—amazingly, she’s not much of a mushroom eater—s face it, girls, I cannot be trusted in the wild alone. I mean, there are lots of dramatic ways I want to go out when I meet my maker, so to speak, but poisoning myself with a mushroom omelet is not high on my list. Know what I mean, string bean?

So Helen finally agreed to spend the afternoon with me, as long as I brought along some of my famous homemade granola snacks and some organic lemonade. So off we went, we two intrepid foragers, into the forests of the Pacific Northwest. I accidently left the granola in the car, so to keep Helen’s plummeting spirits up, I made sure to sing lots of camp songs as we hiked. Two hours and a few mushrooms later, Helen told me that not only was my singing attracting Sasquatches, but it was also scaring away all the fungi. Who knew? So, hard as it was, I concentrated less on my crooning and more on the ground in front of me. At the end of our hike, we had some delicious finds:

• Apricot Jelly Mushrooms (How cute is that name? So in love right now.)

Photo by H. Krisp via Wikimedia Commons

• Bear’s Head Mushroom (Less cute name, but gorgeous ‘shroom.)

Photo by Martin Hlauka (Pescan) via Wikimedia Commons

• Blue Chanterelles (I kinda thought they were purple pansies at first, I admit.)

Photo by Noah Siegel via Wikimedia Commons

• Chicken of the Woods (No chickens were harmed in the making of this mushroom—haha!)

Photo by Jean-Pol Grandmont via Wikimedia Commons

• Western Giant Puffball (Was this one named by a toddler?)

Photo by Jerry Friedman via Wikimedia Commons

• Scaly Hedgehog (Really does look a bit like a hedgehog!)

Photo by H. Krisp via Wikimedia Commons

• Slimy Spike Cap (Seriously slimy. In the interest of full disclosure, I may or may not actually eat this one.)

Photo by Bernd Haynold via Wikimedia Commons

• Fairy Ring or Scotch Bonnet (So adorable! Like parasols for fairies.)

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons

• Ink Caps (Helen says these cause an allergic reaction when consumed with alcohol, so I won’t be doing any wine pairing with these! So glad I have my bestie.)

Photo by James Lindsey via Wikimedia Commons

• Oyster Mushroom (Only when found on trees. If you think you see some on a dead log, stay away! It’s the poisonous Angel Wing Mushroom masquerading as an Oyster Mushroom. Imposter!)

Photo by Jean-Pol Grandmont via Wikimedia Commons

• Horn of Plenty (A pretty lilac and grey colored ‘shroom.)

Photo by Jean-Pol Grandmont via Wikimedia Commons

I also think I found some Sasquatch tracks. But that’s a risk you have to take when foraging, I guess. ‘Shrooms and ‘Squatches. Sounds like a tasty restaurant.

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Sarah Baker!!!

Sarah Baker (#5926) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner Level Horse Dreams Merit Badge!

“I was helping my daughter earn her Young Cultivator badge in Horsin’ Around, so we drove around town looking at our neighbors’ horses. I love the sorrel-colored American Quarter Horses, but my daughter is partial to paints. I arranged for us to meet our neighbor’s horses and feed them carrots and grain.

The horses were so greedy! LOL We loved getting to meet them up close. My daughter is determined to get a horse of her own and I would love to as well.”