For moms of Junior Girl Scouts....

[minniebeth]

I have a question that no one I know seems to be able to answer...
If your Junior GS has a sash for badges, etc., and it gets filled up, what do you do? (looking for a solution that is cost effective....one mom suggested to me to get a vest and resew all the badges.....yikes!)
My DD has this year and one more year to go in Junior GS....
Any suggestions?
Thanks so much!!!

 

[LizinSTL]

I have a question that no one I know seems to be able to answer...
If your Junior GS has a sash for badges, etc., and it gets filled up, what do you do? (looking for a solution that is cost effective....one mom suggested to me to get a vest and resew all the badges.....yikes!)
My DD has this year and one more year to go in Junior GS....
Any suggestions?
Thanks so much!!!

Wow! That's a busy troop! I'd get her a scrapbook and have her "scrap" her extra badges.

 

[Bren's Mom]

I'd glue or tack them onto a piece of green felt cut to fit an 8x10 or 11x13 frame. You can easily keep adding to it. Or make another one if the first fills up too. She can display them in her room. Frames can be purchased at Odd Lots or Christmas Tree Shop type places very cheaply and so can the felt. ]

Congrats on her earning all those badges...I LOVED GS when I was younger!!

 

[bjkj]

We've used a canvas tote bag (like you can get at Hobby Lobby). She can carry all of her girl scout stuff in it and decorate it however she wants. It's a great keepsake too!

 

[grlpwrd]

I am a leader to Juniors and Cadettes. I also work on the Council level and I am mom to 3 Girl Scouts.

Well, did you fill the back, too? Officially, if you run out of room, you can put badges on the back of the vest or sash in rows starting at the bottom. On the sash, you have to place badges three in a row, to achieve the appearance of a straight line.

I have some moms who don't sew the extra one's on. They just safety pin it in neat rows. I also have some girls who keep their extra badges and patches in a zipped up pouch.

According to National, the official uniform is the membership pins (World Trefoil Pin and the GS Membership Pin) on the felt tab. The vest or sash are technically not required.

I think you do what you have to do. I know some girls have 2 sashes, but they only wear one for official events. Oh, and I know some do get a vest and re sew, but that it way too much work.

Hope this helps...

 

[minniebeth]

Thanks for all your replies so far! The front is filled with the official badges, and the back is half way filled with the fun patches. I think I will stop sewing the fun patches on the back and do something along the lines of what was suggested and save the remaining room for the real badges. Yes, her troop is busy, but she has gone to several GS camps, which is where she gets several badges and lots of fun patches too! I think they will slow down now a bit since most of the girls in her troop now are involved in a lot of other sports and activities too.
Thank you!
Beth

 

[WeLuvDiznee]

I used to be a leader of a troop and we put all of our badges that didn't fit on the vest/sash into a pocket photo album with a picture or a piece of menu/ticket stub,etc. with the event that we got it from

 

[andychris14]

I am also a junior leader. I know exactly what you mean. When my dd was a brownie( I was not the leader then) she had a sash that filled quickly. I had to buy her the vest and resew everything. Now that she is a junior, I advised the girls to get the vest. It is filling up quickly also but more room than the sash. Someone suggested getting another sash and wear it criss cross? I do not know if this is correct, only a suggestion that was given to me.
I like the idea of a canvas bag, she can put all of her supplies it there also.

 

[PaulaSue]

Great ideas, I have a brownie who has the back of her sash filled and the front is almost. I was smart and bought my younger brownie the largersize but hers will be filled before she is out also.

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

When I was a Junior Scout, um, a while ago, we bought a second sash if we filled our first and wore the 2 sashes in a criss-cross. My mom was exec. director of the counsel at the time, and that was what she advised the leaders and scouts to do.

 

[dameodie]

I was in scouts for WAY too many years (through high school!!) and I once took all my patches and sewed them onto a pair of jeans...! but remember, I was nuts Scouting was my other "big thing" in life, along with Disney movies. Yeah.

What about a hooded sweatshirt? I know I saw a lot of older girls and leaders with jackets/sweatshirts with their myriad of patches on them.

 

[scouthawkk]

I had a patch jacket. Just a simple windbreaker. I would sew all the fun/event patches on it. Saved my sash for the badges. Filled up the front, then started at the bottom of the back and filled that up too. Today I have all of my badges and patches, as well as all of my mom's patches. I have been slowly, but surely sewing the patches onto fabric squares to make into a memorial quilt in my mom's honor. She was big into scouting, and when she died 7 years ago, i knew exactly what to do with them all. Lots of work, but will be worth it in the end.

 

[Inkspired]

Awww - Scouthawk that is really special! I'm sure it will be a lovely memento.
(totally OT - I grew up in Crofton,MD)

I will be getting my DD a Vest, and re-sewing all of the Try-its from her sash. Ugh. I am SO not a seamstress!

 

[LisaNJ25]

Thats why I also say go for the vest and go bigger. I am a 3rd year brownie leader and we had all our girls get vests. My dd has enough room for one more row of fun patches. Products sales will fill that up. Especially with the 5 part patch for the fall sales.

We are going to go with vests next year as juniors also.

 

[Jenn]

That's why we did the vests, too. But, to answer your question, I saw a troop that had hipster style cloth purses (in green), that they put their fun badges on (then, as a bonus they could use the purses to hold swaps at large girl scout events).

I would probably remove the fun badges (when you officially run out of space), and do something else with those and save the sash for the earned badges.

 

[minniebeth]

I had a patch jacket. Just a simple windbreaker. I would sew all the fun/event patches on it. Saved my sash for the badges. Filled up the front, then started at the bottom of the back and filled that up too. Today I have all of my badges and patches, as well as all of my mom's patches. I have been slowly, but surely sewing the patches onto fabric squares to make into a memorial quilt in my mom's honor. She was big into scouting, and when she died 7 years ago, i knew exactly what to do with them all. Lots of work, but will be worth it in the end.

scouthawkk, that is a beautiful tribute to your mom!

I would definately recommend the vests for any of the girls in the future because of the space issue...my DD originally wanted a vest for Juniors for that reason...the vote went to the girls though, and they voted for the sashes because some of the girls thought it was 'cooler'. Mostly all of those girls have since dropped out....leaving the girls who wanted the vests with the sashes now...

Thanks for all the great ideas everyone!

...and to all you leader moms, thanks so much for all you do for the Girl Scouts!!

 

[LizinSTL]

scouthawkk, that is a beautiful tribute to your mom!

I would definately recommend the vests for any of the girls in the future because of the space issue...my DD originally wanted a vest for Juniors for that reason...the vote went to the girls though, and they voted for the sashes because some of the girls thought it was 'cooler'. Mostly all of those girls have since dropped out....leaving the girls who wanted the vests with the sashes now...

Thanks for all the great ideas everyone!

...and to all you leader moms, thanks so much for all you do for the Girl Scouts!!

We let the kiddos vote last year too. They chose troop t-shirts rather than vests or sashes. They each have a green scrapbook and we take a meeting every 2 or 3 months to "scrap" their patches and batches earned. They write what they did to earn the badge along with pictures/photos/drawings/memories of the experience. It's really great and then the girls wear their very own troop designed t-shirts to all outings. Since the only "official" uniform required is the pin, it works for us. We have 18 girls in our troop this year so we are pretty active still.

My younger dd is a brownie and they all wear vests. I can't imagine how you could have 1 sash for the entire brownie or junior experience.

 

[grlpwrd]

Thats why I also say go for the vest and go bigger. I am a 3rd year brownie leader and we had all our girls get vests. My dd has enough room for one more row of fun patches. Products sales will fill that up. Especially with the 5 part patch for the fall sales.

We are going to go with vests next year as juniors also.

Sorry, off topic, but I have to say.... I've known you for years from another board (right? ) and this is the first time I got to see a picture of you (in your signature).

You are cute and you have a beautiful family!

 

[MrsPete]

I don't know why GSUSA continues to make sashes -- the concept is flawed. They don't stay on (unless they're pinned at the shoulder). They hold only about 50% of the badges/patches that the vest holds; even a moderately involved scout can fill a sash in 1-2 years! The girl must still wear her membership pins on her shirt, and frequently they're forgotten.

We never even gave our girls the option of the sash: we told them all to get the vest, and we've never regretted that decision. The only downside is that the vest costs a few dollars more, but considering it's a three-year investment (and then becomes a memory), the small price difference isn't much.

The best options, in my opinion:
1. Remove some of the fun patches from the back and use that space for official badges.
2. Buy the vest and start sewing.

You'll be glad to know that the Cadette/Senior vest is MUCH larger than the Junior vest. Still, it's a SIX YEAR vest (worn from 7th grade - 12th grade), so it's likely to fill up. In our troop, we suggest that our girls use only the vest front for their official patches (and if things are sewed closely together, it's not likely to be filled). We encourage the girls to sew their fun patches on a lightweight navy blue jacket (could be any color, of course, but our troop chose navy). That means that the girls have the vest for official occasions, and they have the patch jacket for casual events.

Keep in mind that the patch jacket should be ONLY for fun patches -- official GSUSA badges, signs, etc. are supposed to be sewn only on the appropriate age-level vest or sash, and they're to be sewn in specific places. Fun patches, though, have no rules; many girls sew them on jackets, blankets, tote bags, etc.

 

[UMTerp]

Thank you all so much for this thread! My DD is a new junior GS. We had the issue with the filled vest in brownies too. I like the idea of a separate jacket or purse for the "fun" patches and keep the vest just for official badges! I will suggest it to DD and to her leader.

UMTerp