{"id":64026,"date":"2017-07-13T00:09:33","date_gmt":"2017-07-13T07:09:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=64026"},"modified":"2017-07-13T00:09:33","modified_gmt":"2017-07-13T07:09:33","slug":"young-cultivator-merit-badge-all-tied-up-beginner-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/64026","title":{"rendered":"Young Cultivator Merit Badge: All Tied Up, Beginner Level"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<span style=\"color: #800080;\">The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.farmgirlsisterhood.org\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Sisterhood Merit Badge program<\/span><\/span><\/a>,<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> now with\u00a07,428 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far\u201410,782 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! ~MaryJane\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #339966;\">Wondering who I am? I\u2019m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/10477\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">former life<\/span><\/span><\/a> \u2026<b>\u00a0<\/b><b>\u00a0<\/b><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>For this week\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.farmgirlsisterhood.org\/badges-ycsc-all_tied_up.asp\"><u>Stitching and Crafting\/All Tied Up Beginner Level Young Cultivator Merit Badge<\/u><\/a>, I had Piper and Nora over for the afternoon. The last time I kid-sat for these two little whippersnappers, we had had an arts and crafts day, and well, let\u2019s just say my living room will never be the same. Not to mention Piper and Nora\u2019s laundry.<\/p>\n<p>Artists are messy. I\u2019m sure Van Gogh\u2019s mother was beside herself on laundry day. Right?<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_64031\" style=\"width: 371px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-64031\" class=\"wp-image-64031\" src=\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/6738352163_b5604b1d0e_z.jpg\" width=\"361\" height=\"240\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-64031\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">photo by LearningLark via Flickr.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Anyway, I couldn\u2019t just ban arts and crafts altogether\u2014I mean, that would be cruel and unusual punishment for two little farmgirls who love to create. So, we came up with a fabulous idea: earn a new Merit Badge, <strong>and <\/strong>design our own artist\u2019s smocks to cut down on the mess of future art projects.<\/p>\n<p>Note to self: making a mess while creating your answer to making a mess is \u2026 a messy paradox. Maybe I should\u2019ve bought smocks for them to make their homemade smocks in. Ah well, live and learn, Janie my girl.<\/p>\n<p>You can use a premade smock and do your decorating from that stage, or if you\u2019re feeling super crafty and DIY-esque, you can make your smock from all sorts of things you likely have lying around the house:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pillowcases are the perfect size for most artistic munchkins. Cut a hole in the top for the head, and two smaller ones at the sides for their arms. Hem the holes, or use bias tape, to avoid fraying.<\/li>\n<li>An adult-size T-shirt also makes a great smock for littles. Cut off the sleeves if desired.<\/li>\n<li>A terrycloth towel (size depends on size of child; usually a large-ish hand towel is best). Attach a loop of ribbon for placing around head, and tie two more ribbons at the side for tying around waist.<\/li>\n<li>If you\u2019re wanting a smock just for a day and don\u2019t mind tossing it in the trash when your epic art afternoon is through, use a paper bag. Follow directions for the pillowcase smock above. These are nice for an entire classroom for a one-day art project.<\/li>\n<li>A man\u2019s or woman\u2019s button-down shirt put on backwards makes a great smock.<\/li>\n<li>Recycled denim overalls make great smocks. Keep the straps and the front part, and cut off the legs. These are extra nice because they\u2019re sturdy, and they have pockets.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_64032\" style=\"width: 370px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-64032\" class=\"wp-image-64032\" src=\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/3324241858_7178e667f9_z.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"270\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-64032\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">photo by Elaine via Flickr.com<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Once you\u2019ve decided what kind of smock you are using, have your wee farmkid decorate. Piper chose puffy paints, and Nora chose her button collection because she had recently learned how to sew on buttons. Other ideas for decorating your new smock:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Handprints. We don\u2019t recommend using red paint, though. Kinda looked like a crime scene \u2026 ahem.<\/li>\n<li>Tie-dye.<\/li>\n<li>Fabric markers or paint.<\/li>\n<li>Iron-on patches.<\/li>\n<li>Simple applique with shapes and embroidery floss.<\/li>\n<li>Ruffles and lace for hems.<\/li>\n<li>Pockets.<\/li>\n<li>Rick-rack.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By the time an hour or two had gone by, we had puffy paint in our ears and buttons between our toes, but we had two gorgeous and one-of-a-kind smocks for our <strong>next <\/strong>art project.<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with\u00a07,428 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far\u201410,782 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! ~MaryJane\u00a0 Wondering who &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/64026\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/64026\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gladsome_sisters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64026\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}