"Four Useful Items"

Justice has been working on Webelos requirements ALL SUMMER LONG because once football starts, nothing else will fit into his schedule other than homework.  

Some of the requirements were simple and weren't overly time consuming, but others took weeks.  The most time consuming and difficult thing he worked on was his Craftsman Activity Badge.  It took the entire summer to work on this badge, and it was hard work.  He learned a lot of different skills though, and he made me promise I'd write a post about it to show the work he put into earning this badge.

Part of the requirements were to make two items out of wood using a saw and other woodworking tools, and finish the items with stain or paint.  His wonderful Webelos Leader taught the boys to make these great footstools, and then all they had to do was bring them home to finish them.  Justice had his stool legs made longer so Jack could use the stool in the bathroom to brush his teeth.  He painted the stool all by himself with Jack's favorite colors, and stenciled his name on the top.  The only thing he did not do himself was make the actual stencil.  One of the household commandments is "Thou shalt NEVER touch Mom's Cricut".

He went a little crazy when he was painting the stencil and got green paint all over the blue paint, so he had to go back and touch up the blue.  

He put a lot of hours and work into this stool.  I was really proud of his paint job, too.  And Jack is really really happy with it.

The other wooden item he crafted was a hiking stick.  He made this with his Dad, and it turned out great.  It's a pretty useful tool for someone who is afraid of snakes.  He thinks he's snake proof as long as he is carrying it.

The hook on the top is allegedly for picking fruit, but Justice found it useful for picking up trash when I took him and the other Webelos on a hike/conservation project earlier this week.  He speared this styrofoam cup right out of a big patch of poison ivy.

Once the two wooden items were completed, it was time to move on.  In addition to those two things, he also had to make either a picture frame or wooden display case, and he was also required to make "four useful items" out of something other than wood.  The picture frame was super easy, we had some old decorative wooden trim in the garage that he cut to size on the miter saw.  I was impressed with his saw-skills, since he had made the stool with his Webelos Leader and the hiking stick with his Dad, he already knew how to use the saw.  He even remembered to put the safety glasses on without having to be reminded.   He also knew how to set the saw to miter the edges at the right angle, so I really just had to stand there and make sure he didn't cut off his finger.  This was by far the easiest of the projects I was in charge of helping him finish.

Painted and all finished.

Moving on to the "four useful items"... This is where things got tricky.  I gave him a few options, but as usual, he had his own grand ideas.  The first idea was for me to teach him to sew.  I was absolutely dreading it.  We decided to make a drawstring style backpack, and set out to finish it.  I have had an opportunity to teach several people basic sewing techniques, and it's been a challenge.  I was absolutely not looking forward to teaching a ten year old boy with unmedicated ADHD to sew a straight line.  No sir, no way.  

Boy was I in for a surprise.  I had the best afternoon teaching this boy to sew.  He was an absolute natural with the sewing machine and he did an absolutely amazing job.  His seams were completely straight and his bag turned out amazing.  He really enjoyed sewing and we already have plans to make a pouch for his bunkbed to store the TV remote, his Nook and his iPod. 

And here is the finished product.  Fully lined, complete with grommets to put the ends of the drawstring through.  

The second medium he chose for his "four useful items" was leather.  He went to the Scout Shop in Memphis and they had all these cool leather kits and he chose to make a leather neckerchief slide in the shape of an arrowhead.  I figured this would be a piece of cake after sewing, but he really struggled with this one.  It took him nearly three hours to make this slide.  I can't say he will be eager to do any leather work in the near future.

Next, he chose to make a survival bracelet out of parachute cord.  His Webelos Leader taught him how to make them at a day activity, and he'd been bugging me to get the supplies and make himself a few more since then.  He made three the first day.  

He also made one for Jack, in his favorite color green, of course!  Ignore the chocolate pudding on Jack's face, please.

I have some great friends.  I posted on Facebook that Justice was obsessed with making these bracelets and immediately got orders for 7 of them.  He was so happy to make them and share them!  He also made a little cash in the process and was feeling pretty cool about that.  Unfortunately for him I am going to shut down his business until after football is over!  

The last item he chose to make is a basket.  He saved this project for last because he was absolutely dreading it.  He knew it would be tough from the very beginning and wasn't looking forward to it in the slightest.   And he was right, and we scrapped it.  This is what his basket was looking like, and rather than snatch it and try and "help" him so much that I did it for him, we decided to do something else.

He wanted to do something with paper mache for his last project, but I talked him out of it.  Paper mache is the grossest thing ever.  And no matter what you make with it, it never looks like anything other than a spit wad of newspaper.  So I talked him into making ME something using Mod Podge, craft paper, and a glass plate.  

The first thing we had to do was cut out what felt like a thousand cut out shapes on the Cricut.  I say "we", refer to the household commandment of "Thou Shalt NEVER Touch Mom's Cricut".

Then he just applied the Mod Podge to the plate and the shapes and randomly glued them onto the BACK of the plate.  

Since the pieces of paper are on the BACK of the plate, it's more durable than if he would have put the paper on the front.  I put it in the middle of the craft room table to hold odds and ends.  

When summer break started, Justice set a goal to complete one activity badge per week until football and school started.  We needed to get him ahead of the game a little bit because football is five days per week, two hours per day and we knew that once football started he would have time for little else other than his homework.  He exceeded his goal by completing 13 activity badges over the summer, and he worked very very hard on every one of them.  This particular one was by far the most difficult and time consuming one to complete, and he just barely finished it in time. 

He has learned so many different skills this summer, and most importantly he learned about setting goals and managing his time properly to accomplish his goals by his deadline.  He worked nearly every day on scout work for three to four hours, and in the afternoon we went to the pool.  Because of his schedule, he rarely watched television and didn't turn into a sponge-head over summer break.  

I would be remiss not to mention how happy I am to be able to be home with my boys every day, and I'm thankful I got to work with him on these requirements.  I love being a stay at home Mom, and I love spending so much time with my boys.  After raising three other kids that always turned into sponge-heads over the summer because I was working, I am truly so happy we made the necessary sacrifices to make this work for our family.