The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,929 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,474 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Outpost/Glamping Expert Level Merit Badge, my farmgirl friends and I joined forces and went glamping.

Oh yeah.

And in style … to boot.

(Boots? I brought boots of course. They look fetching with a sundress if I do say so myself).

Glamping—as we all know by now, unless you’ve been living under the perverbial rock—is a form of camping, but with more flair (glamour + camping). I’d worked my way up to this Expert Level badge, and I was itchin’ to really put my skills to use. I use the expression itchin’ in the figurative sense, of course, though I did bring some homemade anti-itch cream with me, just in case.

Homemade Anti-Itch (calamine) Lotion

• 1 t non-nano zinc oxide powder
• 1 t fine sea salt
• 1 t baking soda
• 2 t bentonite clay
• 1 T witch hazel
• 10 drops peppermint essential oil

Mix the zinc oxide, sea salt, baking soda, and bentonite clay. Slowly add the witch hazel and stir continuously until it’s nice and creamy, then add peppermint oil. (It’s a good idea to keep all of the dry ingredients on hand in a jar. Then all you have to do is mix in the wet ingredients. This recipe may not last super long, but if you’re prone to bug bites and falling into sneaky patches of poison oak like I am, that won’t be a problem.)

I’ve been saving up my spending money to buy a little teardrop camper,

but in the meantime, I still have my trusty childhood pup tent.

I patched up any holes, shook out the remains of 20 years of dead bugs, and aired her out in my backyard before we were ready to go. Then I got a little crazy and crafty and used some rickrack and lace trim I had lying around, and edged the tent. Once we got to the campsite, I hung some pretty crystal beads near the doorway and put a sweet little rug down at the entrance. She was looking gorgeous. I decided she needed a name. Cars get names, boats get names, campers get names, why not my adorable little home-away-from-home?

I stepped back and studied her with a critical eye as I sipped my Lady Grey tea out of my china tea cup (hey, I said this was glamping!).

I straightened her up (she tends to list to one side, but I think of it as cute little way of cocking her head) and placed my favorite lawn chair nearby. The effect was enchanting. She really was a looker. I named her Vivian Leigh.

Then I took in my friend’s campsites; we were sitting pretty. Midge had brought her Airstream with the awning that cranks out by hand in the most delightful way, and our girlfriend, Skipper, had brought her original 1978 Volkswagon bus with the gingham curtains. (Did you know you can buy tents that look like VW buses? I know, right?!)

photo by Saschaporsche via Wikimedia Commons

Our campsites made in the shade (literally and figuratively) we grilled up our dinner, sang songs around the campfire, brushed our teeth, and hit the hay. It was a night to be remembered: Midge, Skipper, Vivian Leigh, and me.

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Sherrilyn Askew!!!

Sherrilyn Askew (sherri, #1350) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner Level Grow Where You’re Planted Merit Badge!

“In Western Washington we have a number of non-invasive native ground covers, 5 of which are kinnickinnick, salal, wood strawberry, bunch berry, and coastal strawberry. I have planted both the strawberries in my strawberry patch and when they put off runners, transplant them around the trees and bushes in the yard. The bunch berries I have also planted around the shrubs and trees. The mosses in the grass are left unharmed, and the salal and kinnickinnick grow in the native part of my yard. I transplant any babies so that I can spread them further.

I’ll admit it, I’m a berry addict. An opportunity to plant edible berries native to the area is not to be missed. I plant some for the wild critters and some for me. I also hate to mow the lawn. I would rather be spending that time gardening, or sipping mint tea and dreaming while I enjoy the scents of my herb garden. Grow moss grow!!!! And the best part about a native garden is that is does not have to be watered or weeded once it gets started. I am cleaning out a corner of my place that is full of weed trees and have started establishing the undergrowth for the wild cherry tree and ocean spray bush already there, and will be planting more native plants so that I will have a nice little sanctuary to hang out in.”

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,892 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,416 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Farm Kitchen/Forage for Food Expert Level Merit Badge, I begged, cajoled, pleaded, beseeched, and otherwise nagged my good friend at the Department of Fish and Game to accompany me on my first annual Wild ‘Shroom Hunt. Dear, sweet Helen is pretty much my bestie. Okay, okay, we only met that one time last summer when I bought my fishing license, but I know we hit it off. I could feel the connection. I’m fairly certain she felt the same way, because she was way friendly and told me to have a nice day. So, yeah. Besties.

Anyway, Helen was leery at first—amazingly, she’s not much of a mushroom eater—s face it, girls, I cannot be trusted in the wild alone. I mean, there are lots of dramatic ways I want to go out when I meet my maker, so to speak, but poisoning myself with a mushroom omelet is not high on my list. Know what I mean, string bean?

So Helen finally agreed to spend the afternoon with me, as long as I brought along some of my famous homemade granola snacks and some organic lemonade. So off we went, we two intrepid foragers, into the forests of the Pacific Northwest. I accidently left the granola in the car, so to keep Helen’s plummeting spirits up, I made sure to sing lots of camp songs as we hiked. Two hours and a few mushrooms later, Helen told me that not only was my singing attracting Sasquatches, but it was also scaring away all the fungi. Who knew? So, hard as it was, I concentrated less on my crooning and more on the ground in front of me. At the end of our hike, we had some delicious finds:

• Apricot Jelly Mushrooms (How cute is that name? So in love right now.)

Photo by H. Krisp via Wikimedia Commons

• Bear’s Head Mushroom (Less cute name, but gorgeous ‘shroom.)

Photo by Martin Hlauka (Pescan) via Wikimedia Commons

• Blue Chanterelles (I kinda thought they were purple pansies at first, I admit.)

Photo by Noah Siegel via Wikimedia Commons

• Chicken of the Woods (No chickens were harmed in the making of this mushroom—haha!)

Photo by Jean-Pol Grandmont via Wikimedia Commons

• Western Giant Puffball (Was this one named by a toddler?)

Photo by Jerry Friedman via Wikimedia Commons

• Scaly Hedgehog (Really does look a bit like a hedgehog!)

Photo by H. Krisp via Wikimedia Commons

• Slimy Spike Cap (Seriously slimy. In the interest of full disclosure, I may or may not actually eat this one.)

Photo by Bernd Haynold via Wikimedia Commons

• Fairy Ring or Scotch Bonnet (So adorable! Like parasols for fairies.)

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons

• Ink Caps (Helen says these cause an allergic reaction when consumed with alcohol, so I won’t be doing any wine pairing with these! So glad I have my bestie.)

Photo by James Lindsey via Wikimedia Commons

• Oyster Mushroom (Only when found on trees. If you think you see some on a dead log, stay away! It’s the poisonous Angel Wing Mushroom masquerading as an Oyster Mushroom. Imposter!)

Photo by Jean-Pol Grandmont via Wikimedia Commons

• Horn of Plenty (A pretty lilac and grey colored ‘shroom.)

Photo by Jean-Pol Grandmont via Wikimedia Commons

I also think I found some Sasquatch tracks. But that’s a risk you have to take when foraging, I guess. ‘Shrooms and ‘Squatches. Sounds like a tasty restaurant.

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Sarah Baker!!!

Sarah Baker (#5926) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner Level Horse Dreams Merit Badge!

“I was helping my daughter earn her Young Cultivator badge in Horsin’ Around, so we drove around town looking at our neighbors’ horses. I love the sorrel-colored American Quarter Horses, but my daughter is partial to paints. I arranged for us to meet our neighbor’s horses and feed them carrots and grain.

The horses were so greedy! LOL We loved getting to meet them up close. My daughter is determined to get a horse of her own and I would love to as well.”

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 5,929 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,474 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Make It Easy/Make It! Intermediate Level Merit Badge, I decided to quit pinning amazing ideas and DIY crafts on Pinterest, and actually accomplish one. Or several.

In order to earn my Intermediate Level Badge, my little chickadees, I needed to make a piece of outdoor furniture. Seeing as how my garden is coming along at a beautiful rate and there’s nothing better than relaxing on the porch at sunset, a frosty beverage in hand, I was all about some outdoor furniture. (A girl can get tired of sitting on the steps, especially when that girl’s derriere is not as young as it used to be).

I cheerfully hopped on the Upcycling Bandwagon. Didn’t know there was such a wagon? Oh my, yes. Upcycling—recycling something into something else even more fabulous—is all the rage, and never let it be said that I’m not up to date in the newest trends; I have leopard-print ballet flats to prove it.

A little treasure seeking in my own attic brought out the perfect materials to make the cutest bench you ever did see: an old twin headboard and side rails. Are you following me, farmgirls? Headboard for the backboard, so to speak. Rails to make the bench, and a fresh coat of homemade chalk paint. I even had plans for the extra rail (after all, I only needed one section to make the bench): either a table to match (on which to place my frosty beverage) or a homemade swing (but where will I put my frosty beverage in that case)? Table it is.

I sawed a bit, measured a lot, sanded some, and nailed the rest. Along the way, I got distracted by other ideas for upcycled DIY outdoor (or indoor) furniture. You wouldn’t believe the creativity of our fellow thrifty gals out there in cyber space! A few more ideas now taking up real estate in my noggin:

• another bench idea, but this one made from 2-3 kitchen chairs, connected
• window seats made from cabinets
• nightstands out of stacked dresser drawers
• fire pits made from wine barrels
• tables and chairs made from pallets
• a porch swing made out of an old crib
• suitcases into end tables
• small entertainment centers transformed into children’s play kitchens
• take an old dresser drawer, add legs and a hinged and upholstered top, and you have an instant ottoman/footstool (with storage)
• ladders into bookshelves, or shelves for hanging bathroom towels on
• shutters turned into a bookcase
• a dresser becomes a doggy or kitty (or pot-bellied piggy) bed
• an overturned table becomes a bed, perfect for porch napping (you can buy memory foam cut to fit for your mattress)
• an aviary from an old television cabinet
• old microwave carts or small bookshelves become an outdoor bar station

You name it; some creative gal out there has done it! It might just be me … or you.

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Courtney Robbins!!!

Courtney Robbins (FolkHearts, #4840) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning a Beginner Level Knitting Merit Badge!

“When I was little girl, I wanted an American Girl doll more than anything in the world, but my parents didn’t really have the extra money to spare on one. I came home from school one day, and my mother had sewed me a doll that was the same height and she had made me a whole bag full of knitted doll clothes! I loved my beautiful redheaded doll and all of the hand knitted sweaters!!!!

Two years ago, I asked my mother to show me how to knit so that I could someday make my children clothes and later pass the skill on to my grandchildren. My first project was a wavy rib pattern scarf. After that I started making knitted headbands with colorful knitted flowers with buttons. Recently, I have become a beginner with circular needles, which I had never tried before and found a little challenging to get used to.

My most recent scarf, I would consider beginner level. It was a drop-stitch cowl pattern. I used super-bulky yarn and large needles so that I could wrap it around a couple of times. I gave my sister the purple one that I made and I kept a maroon-colored one for myself. During the process, I learned a new cast on for knitting in the round, I learned how to yarn over, drop a stitch, and practice on my circular needles. I am super-proud of the cowls, and I am anxious to make some more for this winter to give away for Christmas presents!!”

Our sisters-in-crime, the JUNK GYPSIES, are back on TV, Thursday, June 12, at 9/8cst on Great American Country (GAC). Be sure to watch our Texas friends! They’ll be tweeting during the episode and you’ll have a chance to win prizes.