2011 Stories

These stories appear by month in which they were put onto the website, starting at the most recent month at the top of the page.

October 2011

Wearable arts creations

On 15 September it was the Brownie wearable arts show for Tauhinu Brownies, Greenhithe, North Shore. We all had a picture to copy off. My sixer did the Statue of Liberty. Some of the other sixers did Polly the Pavlova, the Punga tree and the Taniwha.

Each sixer had different materials to work with. Our sixer had some cardboard, some tissue paper, some white fabric, some double sided sellotape, some normal sellotape and some felt.

I got to help out a lot with the stapling and cutting out of the cardboard.

We had to start and finish our wearable creation in a certain amount of time in the one session.

At the end each model went up in front of everyone else and explained what the thing they had made was.

I think that was one of the best sessions at Brownies ever because most of us aren’t doing the wearable arts show at school on their own.

By Caitlin

Belair celebrates 45 years

A special celebration was had by all at Belair Brownies 45th Birthday Party held at the Guide Den in Glenfield.

Belair has been in operation since 14th June 1966 and has been a very successful unit – a true testament to the leaders who have dedicated their time over many years.

To mark this special occasion, guests Mrs Marjorie Gardiner and Mrs Vicki Stuart attended. These ladies were the first Brownie Leaders in the Glenfield area in the 1970s. Also in attendance was Mrs Barbara Naylan who has been a leader of Belair Brownies for 25 years and recently retired.

The afternoon was centred around the theme Sapphire, symbolising 45 years. Brownies made sapphire butterflies and blue foam butterflies for their sash. The den was decorated in blue with a big blue 45 lit with blue candles.

All Brownies received a Happy Birthday badge and gave our special guests a small gift as a token of their appreciation.

Amanda Corbin
Brown Owl
Belair Brownies Glenfield

September 2011

Pippin Princesses celebrate 10 years

Glenfield District have had many celebrations this year, with Belair Brownies turning 45, and the district celebrating our 75th jubilee. But the big celebration for me was that Glenfield Pippins has just turned 10 years old! We are finally in double digits! We couldn’t just let our birthday slide by, so we decided to have a party. Not only did we get to earn a Caterpillar Clause, but we also got to invite other age groups to come and hang out with the Pippins for the afternoon.

In the end, we had 19 princesses and four princes come and join us at our Princess and the Frog party. When all the girls had gathered outside, Queen Chrissy explained that the evil Dr Facilier had turned the ballroom into a swamp and all the princes, including prince Naveen, into frogs!

We couldn’t find any frogs, so the children had to make them! They even made the Pom poms from lengths of green wool. We played musical lily pads and decorated our own cupcakes with green icing and lollies. The girls all went home with a goody bag after singing Happy Birthday.

It was really nice to see some of our older girls who used to be Pippins, our District Co-ordinator and the other leaders from Kaipatiki Guides and Belair Brownies who came along to celebrate with us.

Pom Pom Frogs

2 x cardboard circles (6.5cm diameter) with a hole in the middle (3cm diameter) 2 shades of green wool
2 x white pom pom (2.5cm diameter)
2 x googly eyes (1cm diameter)
2 x green felt frog feet (5cm long)
Hot glue Gun

Place the rings together. The idea now is to wind the wool around the rings. Cut the wool into manageable lengths, perhaps a couple of metre at a time. Hold one end on the outside of the ring and feed the other end through the hole, round the back and through the front again. Repeat this, working your way around the ring until all the cardboard is covered. As you use additional lengths, you don't need to tie them together, just make sure the ends are on the outside, not in the middle. We put 3 lengths together at one time so it doesn’t take as long.

The next step is the trickiest in making pom poms. Once your rings are fairly full of wool, cut the wool around the edges (i.e. the scissor blade should eventually pass between the two pieces of cardboard as you are cutting.) You won't be able to cut it all in one go so just do a few layers at a time.

Pass a length of wool between the two pieces of cardboard, around all the strands of wool, and tie it firmly together. Now you can remove the cardboard rings (cut them if necessary). Trim any lengths of wool which are uneven to give your pom poms a tidy look.

Using the hot glue gun stick the two felt frog feet to the bottom of the pom pom. Then stick the white pom pom to the top pushing them into the wool so that they stick well. Glue the googly eyes onto the front of the white pom poms.

Chrissy West
Glenfield Pippin Leader

June 2011

It’s not every day you have the opportunity to ice skate in the middle of your local Mall, let alone be instructed by a champion figure skater and coach, but that’s exactly what Glenfield Pippins are doing.

As an initiative to bring GirlGuiding into the community the 16 girls and their Leaders spent an hour honing their skills as budding Stars On Ice, completing a caterpillar clause along the way.

Timed nicely to coincide with the late afternoon shoppers there was plenty of public interest for what the pink poppets were up to and the fun they have at Pippins.

Glenfield Celebrates 75 years

GirlGuiding has had a presence in the Glenfield area of Auckland’s North Shore for 75 years. Starting with the opening of the Brownie pack in June 1935, Guides quickly followed in the September of the following year.

To celebrate this diamond occasion past and present members met recently for a weekend of fun, commemoration and memories. Former Brownies, Guides, Rangers, Leaders and Commissioners mixed and mingled their way through the Friday evening and met again on Saturday for an afternoon of activities, to reminisce over District log books and enjoy afternoon tea.

District Campfire followed where current girls were treated to the actions and antics of the more experienced campers and the day was rounded off with a catered dinner and the cutting of the Jubilee cake. Celebrations culminated with Church Parade on Sunday morning before goodbyes were said with promises to keep in touch as journeys were made to home towns from Northland to Wellington, and even Tasmania
to Queensland.

Sandie Gorst
Glenfield District Co-ordinator

March 2011

Why we Love Kowhai Brownies

Mini golf in the Dark

As part of the Hillcrest/Northcote District completing their Pink Star Challenge they held a social event at Glow Putt. It was an exciting place to be as when you play mini golf in the dark everything glows from the fluorescent lights, making the game even more challenging and entertaining. We incorporated The Pink Star Challenge into the event so girls dressed up in pink. Every paying entry received a Breast Cancer pink ribbon and pink wrist band and we raised $50 for the Breast Cancer Foundation.

This event was a highlight for many of the girls so if you are looking for something different to do as an event check out Glow Putt on their website or phone 489 1139.

They are located at 28 Barry’s Point Rd, Takapuna and they have reasonable discounts for group bookings.