Brownie Guide Pool
First post!
This is a little daunting being the first ever post but here goes...
As a Brownie Guide Leader in the UK, having been a Brownie and then a Guide and then a Young Leader with Brownies before finally moving on to being a Brownie Guide Leader after University, I have seen a lot of different traditions when it comes to the Promise Ceremony. When new Brownies finally make their Promise and become fully fledged Brownies, complete with uniforms and badges and a Six.
My favourite of which dates back from when I was a new Brownie (back in 1994).
We had the most lovely Brownie Pool. It was covered in green fabric, with fabric leaves of different colours around the edges and you would be twisted around 3 times by Brown Owl while saying the rhyme;
"Twist me and turn me, and show me the elf, I looked in the water and there saw..."
And you would bend over the mirror and then look back up at Brown Owl as mum/dad's camera was flashing and say;
"Myself."
So, when I became a Brownie Guide Leader with a unit that didn't have these traditions I brought it up with Brown Owl and she thought it would a great idea to make the pool and the toadstool with 2 brand new Brownies so that they could have their own tradition of it, and I could sign off part of my Leadership Qualification by working with them.
I left that particular Brownie pool with that unit when I moved, but my new unit also didn't have a Brownie pool, so I set about making it again. And having, literally, just finished in the last half hour, I thought it would be a good first post.
BROWNIE POOL:
I used a 50cm by 60cm piece of plywood that was 1.5cm thick as the base. But if I was to make another I think I'd definitely use MDF rather than plywood. It was just that I had this particular cut-off available after making something else.
The mirror was a 40cm diameter circular mirror from B&Q with the correct fixing set (screws, ends, etc).
The felt was purchased from Hobbycraft, as were the wooden stencils for the leaves.
Step 1: Place the mirror on top of the base and draw pencil marks where the holes of the mirror will be on the base.
Step 2: Drill through the base where you have marked it.
Step 3: (Optional) With a bigger diameter drill you can form an indentation in the back of the base where the nut is going to fit onto the screw so that your pool sits flat on the floor and doesn't wobble. I didn't do this with the first one, but did with the second and will be doing so for any further pools I make.
Step 4: Cut the backing felt so that it fits the base, with spare around the edges. If you wanted to you could cut it so that it fit completely, front and back, and covered up all of the wood but I didn't have enough felt left over for this.
Step 5: Cut holes in the felt where you are going to fix the mirror in place. Because they will be screwed in place you don't want the fabric near them in case it catches.
Step 6: Staple and/or use a hot glue gun to fix the backing felt in place.
Step 7: Fix the mirror to the base.
Step 8: Cut out the leaves, make sure that there are different colours for all of the patterns of leaves. I have 60 leaves on the Brownie pool shown, but more on the first one I made. It depends how much of the backing felt you want to cover. I remember the one I made my Promise in was completely covered with leaves, you couldn't even see the backing felt looking down into the 'pool'.
Step 9: Use a hot glue gun to glue the leaves across the edges of the mirror. Make sure you go all the way around the edge with your leaves. This will ensure that as you use the Brownie pool the edges of the mirror are protected and won't get chipped, potentially leaving sharp areas for little fingers to cut themselves on.
BROWNIE POOL WRITING:
The writing I have only done on this version and is more of a reaction to the girls saying 'mirror' instead of 'water' when they say the rhyme, because they have been looking into a plain mirror before now.
I used black glass paint from Hobbycraft and a 3/0 aquafine paintbrush. As well as a fine tipped permanent marker and ruler to draw the guide lines, a calligraphy alphabet picture from Google Images, 30cm ruler and face wipes, nail varnish remover and cotton buds to remove the permanent marker and my mistakes.
I was a bit hesitant over where the girls would be able to read the calligraphy very well, as some are a young 7 when they make their Promise and aren't the best readers, but I figured they should know it anyway, having read the story and talked to their Leader/Young Leader/Sixer about what would happen when they made their Promise. So I used more of a calligraphy font, because I liked how it looked.
This was my first ever time glass painting calligraphy, so I am in no way an expert, but it turned it pretty good as far as I'm concerned and I would definitely like to try it some more and get better. In future I would do my outline and guide lines in whiteboard ink, though, so that it easily rubbed off, rather than permanent ink.
Step 1: Draw on the guide lines. You will need 3 per line of text. A bottom line for all text, a top-top line for capital letters, t's, h's etc, and a middle-top line for lower case letters such as a's, c', etc. I simply drew either side of the ruler for the top-top and bottom lines, and the about 1cm below the top-top line I draw the middle-top line.
Step 2: Draw the outline in permanent marker. Being a first timer, this was essential for me, I think next time I would draw it using wipe off ink, like a whiteboard marker. I think it would make it a lot easier to remove at the end.
Step 3: Paint in and over the outlines with glass paint. This was hard. I did this too late at night so my contact lenses were playing up and the double writing from seeing the outline reflected in the mirror as I was painting was making my eyes go weird. But it got finished.
Step 4: Remove the guidelines, and outlines where necessary, using a cotton bud and face wipe on the glass. Initially I only wanted a face wipe to wipe away the nail varnish as I was going along but I found it actually removed light permanent marker really well without removing the paint too much.
Step 5: Touch ups. Looking over it once I had finished, I had gaps inside letters, needed thicker paint in places and had rubbed off parts of letters by accident with the cotton bud.
But all-in-all, I enjoyed making it. And hopefully our new intake of Brownies in September will really appreciate having their own special traditions when it comes to making their Promise (and they'll start saying the correct words!). Possibly they'll even remember it long after they have left Brownies, just like I do.
Plus, we are going to make them some trees, for when they weave in and out of the wood, because at the moment the Brownies themselves are the trees and it's more like pushing through the undergrowth than strolling through a wood when a Sixer is trying to get her new Brownie to the Brownie pool.
So trees will be made, with leaves made from green card/paper (haven't decided yet) with Good Turns written on the fingers so that they can start thinking of the Law a little more. I will post pictures when they are finished and let you know how it all turns out!
Frankie
(aka Barn Owl/Barney Owl/Barney)
This is a little daunting being the first ever post but here goes...
As a Brownie Guide Leader in the UK, having been a Brownie and then a Guide and then a Young Leader with Brownies before finally moving on to being a Brownie Guide Leader after University, I have seen a lot of different traditions when it comes to the Promise Ceremony. When new Brownies finally make their Promise and become fully fledged Brownies, complete with uniforms and badges and a Six.
My favourite of which dates back from when I was a new Brownie (back in 1994).
We had the most lovely Brownie Pool. It was covered in green fabric, with fabric leaves of different colours around the edges and you would be twisted around 3 times by Brown Owl while saying the rhyme;
"Twist me and turn me, and show me the elf, I looked in the water and there saw..."
And you would bend over the mirror and then look back up at Brown Owl as mum/dad's camera was flashing and say;
"Myself."
So, when I became a Brownie Guide Leader with a unit that didn't have these traditions I brought it up with Brown Owl and she thought it would a great idea to make the pool and the toadstool with 2 brand new Brownies so that they could have their own tradition of it, and I could sign off part of my Leadership Qualification by working with them.
I left that particular Brownie pool with that unit when I moved, but my new unit also didn't have a Brownie pool, so I set about making it again. And having, literally, just finished in the last half hour, I thought it would be a good first post.
 |
| Brownie Pool for Brownie Promise Ceremonies |
BROWNIE POOL:
I used a 50cm by 60cm piece of plywood that was 1.5cm thick as the base. But if I was to make another I think I'd definitely use MDF rather than plywood. It was just that I had this particular cut-off available after making something else.
The mirror was a 40cm diameter circular mirror from B&Q with the correct fixing set (screws, ends, etc).
The felt was purchased from Hobbycraft, as were the wooden stencils for the leaves.
Step 1: Place the mirror on top of the base and draw pencil marks where the holes of the mirror will be on the base.
Step 2: Drill through the base where you have marked it.
Step 3: (Optional) With a bigger diameter drill you can form an indentation in the back of the base where the nut is going to fit onto the screw so that your pool sits flat on the floor and doesn't wobble. I didn't do this with the first one, but did with the second and will be doing so for any further pools I make.
Step 4: Cut the backing felt so that it fits the base, with spare around the edges. If you wanted to you could cut it so that it fit completely, front and back, and covered up all of the wood but I didn't have enough felt left over for this.
Step 5: Cut holes in the felt where you are going to fix the mirror in place. Because they will be screwed in place you don't want the fabric near them in case it catches.
Step 6: Staple and/or use a hot glue gun to fix the backing felt in place.
Step 7: Fix the mirror to the base.
Step 8: Cut out the leaves, make sure that there are different colours for all of the patterns of leaves. I have 60 leaves on the Brownie pool shown, but more on the first one I made. It depends how much of the backing felt you want to cover. I remember the one I made my Promise in was completely covered with leaves, you couldn't even see the backing felt looking down into the 'pool'.
Step 9: Use a hot glue gun to glue the leaves across the edges of the mirror. Make sure you go all the way around the edge with your leaves. This will ensure that as you use the Brownie pool the edges of the mirror are protected and won't get chipped, potentially leaving sharp areas for little fingers to cut themselves on.
BROWNIE POOL WRITING:
The writing I have only done on this version and is more of a reaction to the girls saying 'mirror' instead of 'water' when they say the rhyme, because they have been looking into a plain mirror before now.
I used black glass paint from Hobbycraft and a 3/0 aquafine paintbrush. As well as a fine tipped permanent marker and ruler to draw the guide lines, a calligraphy alphabet picture from Google Images, 30cm ruler and face wipes, nail varnish remover and cotton buds to remove the permanent marker and my mistakes.
I was a bit hesitant over where the girls would be able to read the calligraphy very well, as some are a young 7 when they make their Promise and aren't the best readers, but I figured they should know it anyway, having read the story and talked to their Leader/Young Leader/Sixer about what would happen when they made their Promise. So I used more of a calligraphy font, because I liked how it looked.
This was my first ever time glass painting calligraphy, so I am in no way an expert, but it turned it pretty good as far as I'm concerned and I would definitely like to try it some more and get better. In future I would do my outline and guide lines in whiteboard ink, though, so that it easily rubbed off, rather than permanent ink.
Step 1: Draw on the guide lines. You will need 3 per line of text. A bottom line for all text, a top-top line for capital letters, t's, h's etc, and a middle-top line for lower case letters such as a's, c', etc. I simply drew either side of the ruler for the top-top and bottom lines, and the about 1cm below the top-top line I draw the middle-top line.
Step 2: Draw the outline in permanent marker. Being a first timer, this was essential for me, I think next time I would draw it using wipe off ink, like a whiteboard marker. I think it would make it a lot easier to remove at the end.
Step 3: Paint in and over the outlines with glass paint. This was hard. I did this too late at night so my contact lenses were playing up and the double writing from seeing the outline reflected in the mirror as I was painting was making my eyes go weird. But it got finished.
Step 4: Remove the guidelines, and outlines where necessary, using a cotton bud and face wipe on the glass. Initially I only wanted a face wipe to wipe away the nail varnish as I was going along but I found it actually removed light permanent marker really well without removing the paint too much.
Step 5: Touch ups. Looking over it once I had finished, I had gaps inside letters, needed thicker paint in places and had rubbed off parts of letters by accident with the cotton bud.
But all-in-all, I enjoyed making it. And hopefully our new intake of Brownies in September will really appreciate having their own special traditions when it comes to making their Promise (and they'll start saying the correct words!). Possibly they'll even remember it long after they have left Brownies, just like I do.
Plus, we are going to make them some trees, for when they weave in and out of the wood, because at the moment the Brownies themselves are the trees and it's more like pushing through the undergrowth than strolling through a wood when a Sixer is trying to get her new Brownie to the Brownie pool.
So trees will be made, with leaves made from green card/paper (haven't decided yet) with Good Turns written on the fingers so that they can start thinking of the Law a little more. I will post pictures when they are finished and let you know how it all turns out!
Frankie
(aka Barn Owl/Barney Owl/Barney)
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