Margaret Tarrant Girl Guide artwork

Merry Christmas to all of my Sisters in Guiding across Canada and all over the world!  I hope you have an enjoyable Holiday Season!

I came across these beautiful prints by artist Margaret Tarrant (1888- 1959).  I have these pinned on my Pinterest board, Girl Guides, along with some other amazing Margaret Tarrant Girl Guide prints. These are so beautiful!  What a talented artist! {FYI all of these images were found on ebay and google images}.

"Christmas Visitor" by Margaret Tarrant

"A Welcome Visitor" by Margaret Tarrant

"Christmas Eve" by Margaret Tarrant

"Snow Brownies" by Margaret Tarrant

"Christmas Party" by Margaret Tarrant

"Brownies Christmas Card" by Margaret Tarrant

"Brownies Christmas Mail" by Margaret Tarrant

Merry Christmas

Joyeux Noël

Sheng Dan Kuai Le (圣诞快乐)

Frohe Weihnachten

Mele Kalikimaka

Nollaig Shona Dhuit

С Рождеством

Maligayang Pasko

Wesołych Świąt

Feliz Natal

Feliz Navidad

God Jul

Meri Kurisumasu 
 Buon Natale
मैरी क्रिसमस
 З Різдвом

{Translations from Google Translate}

Please do not be offended if I did not post your language

Guiding Law Comic Strip Activity

Hello Guiders! Yes, it has been way too long since my last post. It seems like that is becoming my usual opening line with this blog.  I've been busy sending files to several Guiders so I know that you are still out there! Thank you all so much for continuing to visit Owl & Toadstool !

My other website, "Lee Ann's Girl Guide Notebook", is down for a while.  The hosting server is undergoing maintenance so I do not know when my site will return.  I am looking into merging all or parts of that site with this blog. 

My last post said that I may have a few more Promise & Law activities to share so I better get at least one idea posted !  This idea came from a Guider training session many many moons ago...possibly my very first training session in Saskatoon 1996.   

{If you know who made this please email me}.

PDF is available upon request

Warning: The rest of this post is a bit of a Christmas theme so if you do not celebrate Christmas or do not want to hear about Christmas then stop reading here. LOL

I can't believe that it is December already! Some homes are already decked out in Christmas lights! Before you think I'm nuts...no this is not my house...it is the neighbours!  LOL  Just thought I would share some Christmas spirit!

When I was a kid it was at least the week before Christmas when my mother would allow us to drag the decorations out from the basement...I grew up in a family of five kids and no matter how much we begged she would not give in! LOL  It was always so much fun digging through the old boxes and thinking that the ornaments were "so old" when in fact they may have been under ten years old.  That is eons for a child!   The tree would not go up until a few days before Christmas....maybe because we always had a real tree...and we would all help to decorate it.  Such fond memories.

For the past 15 years, Hubby and I chop our tree down ourselves from our friend's tree farm. It is so nice to get out in the snow covered woods this time of year.  The tree usually stays fresh for about a month or so if watered daily.  I like to leave it up until Old Christmas Day which is January 6th. 

I would like to get the outdoor decorations and tree up earlier this year.  I'm aiming for next Sunday, 07 Dec.  I usually like to do the decorating while watching Christmas Daddies on TV , which is usually on a Sunday...but this year the website says it will be televised on Saturday 06 December.    I've been watching this program since I was a child. For those of you who do not know about Christmas Daddies, it is a live televised fundraiser for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.  It raises money to help buy gifts and food for families in need.

Go to Christmas Daddies for more information

Here are some other posts related to 

Christmas on Owl & Toadstool...

Christmas Crafts and Cards for Seniors

Owl and toadstool Christmas ornaments

Community Service Fun

More Christmas Crafts

Pine Cone Skier Craft

Christmas Crafts

Thanks again for visiting this blog!

I may or may not get another post in before the New Year...but you never know!!

Guiding Law Poster activity

Hello Guiders and Owls!   
Welcome new Members!

I hope you've all had a great Summer!
 

{Thank you all for continuing to tune in to Owl & Toadstool even though I have not been posting on a regular basis!}. 

 

It's that time of year when Guiders, old and new, are buzzing around like busy little bees collecting activities to keep those eager Girl Guides busy every week.  

Today I have a fun Guiding Law activity for Guides.  This activity could be adapted to suit any branch of Guiding, in any country, or could be used by Trainers to teach the Guiding Law to new Guiders.

This poster was given to me back in 1999 {when I was a Guider in Sydney Mines, NS} by the nicest person ever, Heather Gillis, whom has since passed away. I believe this poster was used at a training session. Does it look familiar to any of the Cape Breton Guiders? If so, let me know. It is hands on, colourful and a fun visual to help the Guides and Guiders remember the Guiding Laws.  Whoever made this did an excellent job!  Such a great idea!

A picture was drawn in each circle to represent one of the seven Guiding Laws: {thank goodness that the laws have not been changed over the past 20 years or so!}

1. Be honest and trustworthy

2. Use my resources wisely

  

3. Respect myself and others

 

4. Recognize and use my talents and abilities

5. Protect our common environment

6. Live with courage and strength

 

7.  Share in the sisterhood of Guiding

It appears that the pictures were first drawn with a black marker by a Guider and then coloured by the Guides. 

An idea would be to introduce the Laws by having the Guides create a poster for the Unit or their patrol.  Follow up by having a group discussion about one Law per week.  I have found that throwing all seven laws out in one shot can be overwhelming. Don't expect the girls and Guiders to learn the laws on the first night.  Every week display the poster at your meeting and allow a brief time for the Guides to offer examples of how they encountered certain Guiding Laws at home or at school etc.  You may not have all the girls participate but this will create thoughts about the Guiding Law outside of your weekly meeting.

Here are some other Promise & Law activities that I had posted on Owl & Toadstool in the past...
 

• GGC Guide Promise and Law Circuit board

• Promise and Law mini books for:

GGC  Sparks Promise , Brownie Promise, 

Brownie Law,  Guide Promise, Guide Law

 

Australia Guide Promise

UK Promise books for Rainbows , Brownie Guides , Guides

•  Guiding Law Song mp3 and lyrics

I may have a few other Promise & Law activities coming up soon!  

Have a great day!

Guider Lee Ann

DLTK's Crafts for Kids

Hello Guiders!  I would like to share with you a fantastic site called DLTK's Crafts for Kids.   

You may already know about this site but I'll post about it just in case some of you have not heard about it.  This is a family run website which offers a variety of activities for all ages as well as activities for...

 

Guiding and Scouting  !

 

"DLTK's Crafts for Kids features a variety of printable children's crafts, coloring pages and activities including projects for holidays, educational themes and some of our children's favorite cartoon characters".  source

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I have browsed this site many times over the past several years and I am amazed at the amount of activities! It just keeps growing!  I think the first time I found this site was maybe circa 2005, during my Brown Owl years.  My Brownies enjoyed making the t paper roll Brownie doll craft.  

source

My latest delightful discovery on DLTK's Crafts for Kids was the Sparks' and Brownies' sections...specifically the paper dolls' updated uniforms and the Sparks Keeper and Brownie Interest Badge activities.  I am no longer a Sparks Guider nor a Brownie Owl but I am sure many of you will find these activities quite useful.

 

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The section for Sparks' Keeper badges is great.  Each Keeper links to sections of the site that provides resources related to the Keeper badge. I particularly like the "I'm So Smart" poetry project which relates to the Keeper "Being Me". So cute!

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The Brownies Interest Badge section is excellent.  It lists all the Brownie badges with various links to resources on the DLTK site.  Not all badges have links but there are quite a few.   

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I just love the little "Around the World" mini book! {I am such a sucker for mini books lol }  Inside has four pages showing the names of Spark age units around the world...such as Rainbows in England, Pippins in New Zealand, Lady Birds in Ireland, and Daisies in the USA.  Below shows the inside pages...how adorable!

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DLTK was created in 1998 by Leanne Guenther {along with input from her family}.  Can you imagine that this site is a hobby of hers!  What a fun hobby!! There are so many topics available.  DLTK has several sister and daughter sites as well so be sure to sit down and check it out for yourself!  

Thank You Leanne {what a great name} for the years of pouring out your creativity, time and passion for your hobby!

Guider Lee Ann

Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day !  Celebrating 147 years.

Guiding and Scouting Printables

Hello friends! 

Thought I would share with you a very useful and fun site called 

Activity Village

This site provides parents, teachers, and group leaders with free activities for kids.  They have printables, colouring, puzzles, crafts, holidays, topics, games, and a new shop.  Under the tab "topics", they have a Scouting and Guiding section.  Many of you may have seen some of their  activities on Pinterest, such as this one, "Learn How to Draw Robert Baden-Powell".  

A while ago, I had pinned this drawing sheet to my Pinterest board "Crafty Girl Guides" for future reference.  I did not venture onto the original site until today after reading an email from UK Guider Owl Gayle {Hi Gayle!}.  Gayle had used the BP drawing sheets as part of her Baden-Powell meeting with her Brownies and had sent me the link.  So today I checked out the original site. Here are some of the pages that I had found! {I combined the files for display purpose on this blog...they are available for individual PDF download on Activity Village}.

 

There are other Baden-Powell worksheets available for download there too.  

These activities would be fun to include in Lapbooks. 

The site also has information on Robert, Agnes,  and Olave Baden-Powell, and has Thinking Day activities so please check out Activity Village for yourself.  You may never know what you will find useful for Guiding!

Hope you are all enjoying your Summer so far.  The weather has been a bit on the cool side here in Atlantic Canada but this week it is warming up !  Have a nice day!

New GGC Clipart

Hello there! Surprise Surprise! another post so soon...I know, shocker! lol  I came across some new Girl Guides of Canada clipart recently and thought I would share my findings.  This clipart has the updated GGC uniforms.

I think the new clipart is really nice and colourful! I like it! 

Thanks GGC, the Guiders appreciate it!

Clipart can be used in many ways: in newsletters, notes to parents, scrapbooking, smashbooking, websites, blogs, general crafting, or to promote GGC.  Use your imagination!  

I wonder who the artist is? Does anyone know?

These images were downloaded from GGC Brand Centre.

Have a nice day and Happy Guiding!

Canadian Guider Craft Articles

Woooo Hoooo ! 

Owl & Toadstool has been featured again in 

Canadian Guider  

magazine! Spring 2014

To view this issue online go here

Back in the fall 2013, Canadian Guider magazine {Communications Coordinator Mary Vincent and Editor Sharon Jackson} contacted me to see if I would do an article for their spring issue.  They wanted to publish an article on how Guiders might adapt old ideas and find new ones when they are not very crafty or are just tired of crafts, and also how to get out of a crafting rut.  So I said I would love to!  I had never done anything like this before except for the first time I did a blogger interview with Canadian Guider magazine here.  I didn't realize that my words and photos would end up being two full page spreads Wow! 

Get Crafty! Tips to Get Out of a Crafting Rut. Canadian Guider Spring 2014 vol.84 no 2 pages 34-35

I had sent a bunch of photos of my craft ideas from over the years and they selected quite a few for the article Get Crafty!. Some of the photos were already posted on Owl & Toadstool over the past couple of years so you may recognize a few.

 

This paper Brownie doll in the old orange uniform sporting the former two finger sign could easily be adapted to suit the new uniform and hand sign. On the bottom left you can see my Guider Smashbook.

Wow! They did an awesome job on the layout! {as they do throughout the magazine!}  This reminds me of a smashbook page and scrapbook papers! It is really neat to see my creations published like this.  Thanks so much Canadian Guider magazine!

Some useful Girl Guide Crafts Pinterest links!

Then, back in February 2014, Canadian Guider's Editor, Sharon Jackson, contacted me again because she loved the post on Owl & Toadstool featuring my dancing caterpillar pompom craft.  So that led to another double page spread in their Spring 2014 Ideas to Go section Spring Fun! {Please note that the tic tac toe craft was not my original idea...I had found that idea in a craft magazine}.

Spring Fun! Ideas to Go. Canadian Guider Spring 2014 volume 84 no 2 pages 36-37

I came up with this pompom craft idea for my Brownies ages ago when I was Brown Owl...well maybe not ages ago...about 8 years ago...ok maybe that was ages ago ! LOL

I created this Patrol Emblem Memory game idea more than 10 years ago. The emblems are still the same, thank goodness, but the trefoil logo has since changed.  GGC logo now has a border around the trefoil.

This felt tic tac toe game was fun to make.  Not my original idea but I can not remember which magazine it was from...possibly Pac-O-Fun.  It closes up into a drawstring bag that holds the pieces inside.

And the last of my craft ideas in Canadian Guider Spring 2014 Ideas to Go section... Clothespin pompom Caterpillars.  I've used this craft as a memo/note holder but the article says A Happy Hat Craft.  It works both ways i'm sure.  It has a magnetic backing.  The article left out the magnetic strip in the materials needed but that is ok.  I used double sided foam tape to adhere the magnet to the clothespin. This craft was another "made ages ago" craft when I was Tawny Owl. {I have been Night Owl, Tawny Owl, Brown Owl, Guider Lee Ann, Guider Brown Owl...so many names! but I answer to all of them LOL}

Here is another craft in the magazine's Ideas to Go section.  Not my idea, I did not submit this craft but I would love to make one.  At one of my previous jobs, I had to provide supplies for making a kite from paper for an unknown number of kids of all ages at the Farmers Market ... I had an assembly line of directions so that it required little guidance ...and so that my head would not appear to be on a swivel! I don't know how many kids went home with kites that day but they were a hit...paper kites really do fly!

I tried to find the Trefoil Kite Instructions at memberzone but was unable to find it.  If anyone has the exact link please leave a comment.

This Girl Guide cookie box wallet was another craft in the Ideas to Go section submitted by Linda Calverly... based on a Girl Scout youtube video.  This is a cute idea for all of those empty cookie boxes...which many of us may have after this spring's cookie campaign!

Well, that's all for today!  Back to my regular scheduled program !  

I am busy getting things ready for a yardsale at my mother's house this coming Saturday.  She is raising money for a trip to Florida with the Cape Breastoner's Dragon Boat team.  The Cape Breton, Nova Scotia team will be heading to Sarasota Florida in the fall for the international Dragon Boat Festival! 

Hubby and I are also busy working on my new craft studio/garden shed!  It is a labour of love that is for sure! Here is a sneak peak photo...

This was taken in November 2013...the weather got way too cold and snowy so work came to a hault. You can see all the soon to be evicted crap materials still inside.  So now that it is spring 2014 we are working on it again...but it has been really cold here!  I say we but mostly he is doing all the work LOL.  I am finished with my craft room makeover...it has been way too long for that project too..a post that I had promised to all of you last year! just gotta find my round 'tuit before I do that post!

 A special thank you to Canadian Guider magazine and it's Editorial Committee! I look forward to reading your fantastic magazine from cover to cover each season!  Have a nice day !