Mini Kite SWAPS

 

Mini Kite SWAPS

Materials: cardstock or colored paper, two toothpicks, a piece of ribbon or string (curling ribbon is a favorite), a safety pin.
Also needed: glue and drawing materials (crayons, pencils, or markers)

1. Cut out a diamond on your paper to make the kite, ideally, the long side is ~2 inches or the length of your toothpicks.
2. Color your paper, if desired.
3. Glue the toothpicks in a lowercase t-shape onto one side of the paper to make the frame of your mini kite. You may cut the crossing toothpick in half to glue it flat on the paper.
4. Trim toothpicks as needed.
5. Trim or curl the ribbon of your choice and glue it to the bottom of the kite for a tail.
6. Punch the safety pin through kite paper and pin. 
   
   

This SWAPS lends well to scout-themed designs if desired.

Coffee Filter Butterfly SWAPS

Coffee Filter Butterfly SWAPS Instructions:

Materials: black pipe cleaner (already folded in half), coffee filter, string, safety pin
Also needed: non-permanent markers

1. Flatten out your coffee filter. Use non-permanent markers to draw or scribble on the coffee filter.
2. Place the filter on a baking sheet and spray or sprinkle water on the coffee filter to let the colors spread in a watercolor effect. Leave the filter to dry.
3. Pinch together the filter about ⅓ from the bottom. 
4. String the loop of the safety pin through the thread and tie the pinched coffee filter so you have a lopsided bowtie held sideways. Trim the extra string.
5. Pinch the tied coffee filter together from the top to bottom, forming the wings of the butterfly.
6. Fold the black pipe cleaner in half and slide, like a clip, from the center bottom up the middle of the coffee filter so the pipe cleaner makes the body of the butterfly. 
7. Twist the pipe cleaner to form the head and also tie the butterfly together.
8. Curl the remainder of the two strings of pipe cleaner to form the antenna of the butterfly.
   
   

Pictures of how I pinched the filter to form the wings:

Word and Feather SWAPS

 Word and Feather SWAPS Instructions: (AKA: Name and Feather SWAPS Alternative!)

Materials: Alphabet beads spelling word, 6" sparkly pipe cleaner,  2 feathers, 2 ribbons 4" long, pony beads (1 black or brown, 6 colored), 24" hemp cord, a safety pin

1. Lay down two feathers on top of each other, lay ribbon (if pointed side on the ribbon, face point toward quill tip), and lay pipe cleaner on top with all items lined up at the end of the quill. 
2. Hold your stack tight and (quill side) push everything through the black pony bead.
3. Thread the safety pin through your hemp cord and tie it in the middle of the cord. Tie a second knot if desired.
4. Tie hemp cord around the bundle, right under the black pony bead. The safety pin should now be secured under the black bead.
5. String, thread, or loop three colored beads through both strands of hemp cord as desired, followed by the word beads, followed by three more colored beads. On the last bead, if stringing beads, loop cords around the bead and string again! You can use any method you prefer to string the beads and word onto your bundle.
6. Tie a knot in cords.
7. Twist or bend the pipe cleaner into a fun shape, spiral, or zigzag. 
8. If desired, put glue inside the black pony bead to secure items.

This SWAPS is an excellent one to tie into Scouting/Rank color themes. For example, in my samples above, I used colors of:

• gold/tan, blue, and yellow for Lions!
• orange, black, and blue for Tigers!

Lion Face SWAPS

Lion Face SWAPS Instructions:

Materials: Wood disk, two small googly eyes, felt in tan and black, yarn in yellow or orange Also needed: pencil/pen/marker, glue, scissors, hot glue with adult supervision (optional)

1. Glue your googly eyes on the wooden disk for a lion's face.
2. Cut out two ears from the tan felt and a nose from the black felt.
3. Glue your ears and nose to the wooden disk and allow time to dry. You may choose to glue your ears sticking up from the back of the disk.
4. Draw the mouth and whiskers on your lion's face.
5. Cut a 12” piece of yarn and set it aside.
6. Wrap the remaining yarn around 4 fingers, be sure not to wrap too tight which can hurt your fingers and be harder for the finished yarn bundle to slide off. Wrap it all around!
7. Take the piece of yarn you set aside and push it through the middle between your fingers (get some help or use a tool like a toothpick to help, if needed.
8. Wrap the piece of yarn around through the tips of the fingers and tie a knot with assistance as needed.
9. Slide the yarn off your fingers and tighten/secure the knot as needed.
10. Glue the mane to the back of your lion's face.
    

Visual Guide for making mane from adventuresofadiymom.com:

While I chose another Lion-face craft for my Lions to do, this craft is grrrrr-eat alternative!

It can truly fit in anywhere during the year.

Additionally, I know at least one Adventure where it can be a great tie-in craft!

Recommended Adventure Tie-In: Lion = Rumble in the Jungle (focus on animals)

Mini Scout Neckerchief SWAPS

Materials: 3” square of fabric (can be a piece of a full-size bandana), pony bead, safety pin

1. Fold the square in half, to form a triangle. Roll or fold from the long edge over several times, just like folding a scout neckerchief.
2. Fold edges over to resemble a worn neckerchief. 
3. Slip bony bead through ends like a neckerchief slide (secure with glue, if desired).
4. Add a safety pin to the top of the neckerchief.

This SWAPS can be a great tie-in for discussing uniforms and the neckerchief near the beginning of the year, or cross over ceremonies when scouts are getting their new neckerchief for their new rank year.
Additionally, there can be Adventures related to team building or the rank color that can also apply to crafting this SWAPS!

Recommended Adventure Tie-In:

Tiger = Team Tiger Adventure, Earning Your Stripes Adventure, or Rank Requirements

Marshmallow Stick SWAPS

 Marshmallow Stick SWAPS Instructions:

Materials: white pony bead, bobby pin, safety pin, glue/hot glue (optional)

1. Slide the bobby pin through the loop of the safety pin so the loop is in the eye of the bobby pin (careful not to let the safety pin slide back off until the bead is secure).
   
2. Push the pony bead over the ball-tipped ends of the bobby pin, you may need to squeeze the ends together to slide it on.
3. Put some glue or hot glue inside the bead and allow it to dry (this step may be optional if your pony bead fits securely on the bobby pin).

Artwork/Trading Card SWAPS

 

Lion Sailor Scout  Art by Me (Elaine Eigel)

Artwork/Trading Card SWAPS Instructions:

Materials: Paper (copy, drawing, colored, etc), lamination/contact paper/shipping tape, safety pin
Also: Pencil/pen/markers and/or crayons (really any art medium), scissors

Optional: Labels for the back of your trading card (https://tinyurl.com/5ep9jyjp), thread and needle, other art supplies/crafting materials for embellishment.

1. Draw your artwork on your chosen paper (may be a cut-shaped paper).
2. Add your signature or label on the back.
3. Seal your artwork inside lamination/contact paper. 
4. Cut excess lamination/contact paper away. If desired, you can leave a border edge (or extra space) that you can pierce the safety pin into without damaging the art.
5. If desired, you can glue/attach embellishments on top of the laminated artwork.
6. Either stick the safety pin directly through the laminate for pinning or sew a thread through the laminate and attach a safety pin by a tied loop to the artwork.

This is a great one to be creative on. You can use any flat, small surfaces such as cardboard thread/embroidery cards or cutouts of cereal boxes, etc, and then seal them in lamination or contact paper. 

Note possibilities of making scrapbook-style themed to year (Lion on my example)

Be mindful of the size. I personally recommend trading card size or smaller (2.5 x 3.5”)

Lamination can also be applied to mini collage works or even favorite small art prints as SWAPS. There are all kinds of things you can laminate and turn into a swap!

Just be clear on artwork that you did not create that you do not take credit for that artwork.

Some contact paper types can start peeling away at the edges before very long, so I recommend ironing the trimmed and finished art on a low setting with your art sandwiched between layers of paper towels or scrap ironable fabric (protect your ironing table and iron from adhesive residue).
Alternatively, you can use other lamination paper or clear packaging tape instead!


This SWAPS can also be a great tie-in for Adventures related to making artwork!

Recommended Adventure Tie-In:

Tiger = Stories in Shapes