COMPLETE - Party Animal Patch

Party Animal Patch

Designed by:     Paul & Karissa

Order Info:     Amazon B071KNH4WQ

Associated Costs:     $4 for patch, door fee for parties

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The Mark regularly has Littles’ Play Date parties. Attend two of these to earn this patch.

Plan It

Watch the CPI/The Mark calendar for the next Littles’ Play Date at The Mark to come up. And the one after that. Plan out what you’re going to wear, and what you’ll bring. Decide which of the ‘Do It’ activities you’ll complete. Be sure to RSVP.

The first Littles' Play Date I attended was Friday February 22. Kiara came out for the first half, then we changed clothes for me to attend the second half. We both RSVP'd as 'maybe' so we'd count for half each .

Our second Littles' Play Date was Friday May 24. We did the same switch-off this time; Kiara came out for the first half, then we switched about halfway through so we both got to have a good time.

Do It

Attend at least TWO Littles’ Play Dates at The Mark. At each one, do at least TWO of the following:

- Take a picture of your outfit for the party.

- Take a friend to the party with you (your Big or a stuffie counts)
2/22/19 - Well, we took turns with Kiara - but we also took Boss and our metamour with us. And Kiara took a stuffie. And I took a stuffie, too!
5/24/19 - Boss went with us this time; and of course Kiara. We didn't take stuffies this time because we were already taking a bunch of other stuff.

- Bring a tasty treat to the party to share
2/22/19 - We brought a box of Reese's Cereal and a box of Nilla Wafers. Kiara had a cup of the cereal, but the Nilla Wafers didn't get opened. And that means that they get to be out at other Play Parties soon!

- Participate in one or more activities happening at the party.
5/24/19 - The Egg Hunt was the big activity for this one, but Kiara got to do this one because I did the Egg Hunt with the Little Scouts troop. But I did make slime at the slime table later on.

- Volunteer to help. Either contact the party host in advance, or look for an opportunity to help while you’re there.
2/22/19 - Some melted ice cream got spilled on the floor as someone was taking the box it was in outside. We cleaned it up before they got back in!

- Make a new friend at the party. Be sure to learn their name (and their FetLife name).

Share It

After each Play Date Party, journal about the great time you had. If you took any pictures, share them. Send the party host a thank-you message, or post something on the party discussion thread.

2/22/19 - We posted this thank-you on the group discussion page.

5/24/19 - We posted a thank-you on the discussion page this time, too.

COMPLETE - Hanky Code Patch

Hanky Code Patch

Designed by: Paul

Order Info: Advantage Emblem Q-0028

Associated Costs: $2 for patch, cost of bandana(s)

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Plan It

Learn about the Hanky Code, it’s history, and how it was used. What colors do you flag? On what side?

The Hanky Code was used by gay men in leather bars to quickly advertise what kind of play they were into. A handkerchief in the back pocket indicates, by color and position, what a guy's interested in for the night - specifically right then, which is key. Left pocket for tops, right pocket for bottoms. For instance, a man wearing a light blue flag in his left pocket wants someone to give him a blow-job. A man wearing a gray hanky in his right pocket is hoping to get tied up. A hanky tied around the neck indicates top or bottom interest, or he could wear one on each side.

For a while, I've been interested in flagging. Because I'm gay, and I do leather, and I go to the kink club, but I don't participate in most aspects of BDSM, that raised the question of what I do participate in. Which eventually led me to flagging. There are options in BDSM that aren't 'hit people' and 'have sex'. For me, personally, I flag light blue on the right - I am willing to give blow-jobs. 

After I started thinking a lot about flagging, and even doing so on the rare occasions I'm out at the club, M started thinking more about it - here's the writing she made about it - https://fetlife.com/users/120724/posts/5356255. There are several sites linked at the bottom of that which were used for reference. The big girls flag several colors I don't, which is an awesome thing about flags. If we switch alters, we can add or remove flags easily.

Do It

Get at least one bandana, and wear it out to at least one kink-friendly event as a flag. Journal about how you felt about this. Did anyone notice and comment on your hanky? Did you draw it to anyone’s attention?

I do wear a light blue hanky when I'm out, especially if I'm feeling brave and hoping maybe someone will approach me. It makes me really nervous and embarrasses me to feel like I'm 'cruising' - which also is one of my kinks, so just wearing it gives me lots of feelings. It's been noticed a couple of times, but nobody's ever taken me up on it. There's one person at the club that M's talked about flagging with, and he notices and comments. Mercury, of course, notices and comments, too, but in 'host mode', not like he's ever gonna take someone up on it.

Share It

Share your journalled answers with a friend or with the troop, either in person or online. Will you be flagging again? Do you have any thoughts you’d like to share about flagging?

M's taken action on this, deciding to make some special-to-us flags that can be clipped onto clothes - especially our kilt - instead of tucked into pockets, since we often don't have pockets. She's bought a bunch of hankies in colors that one or another of us flag and made them into little clip-on things that we can add and remove based on who's out and their mood. I'll definitely wear one when I'm out. They also got me, for Christmas, a keychain with a teddy-bear on it that can be clipped, as well. Because I do like the bears...

I'd really like to see flagging come back into style at the club - it would be cool to see what people are advertising. And in the last couple of years there's so many people in and out that don't know each other, I think it would really help generate some play for those that want to do it. It's neat to look at, and it's an easy conversation-starter.

Here's the flags M's made for this, that various of us might wear at some point:

Houndstooth - biting (left, right, and a neckscarf for both)
Dark Gray - bondage (left & right)
Light Blue - blow-jobs (left & right)
Black - impact play (left & right)
Fuschia - spanking (left & right)
Red - fisting (right)
Dark Blue - sex (right)
Dark Pink - boob torture (right)
Teddy Bear - bears/cuddling (right)

My Little Scouts Sash

A year ago, I took a picture of my sash and all the awards I had earned on it. Here's the picture from January 2018:

And here's a new picture from January 2019, showing some progress I've made. I still have two patches that I've earned but haven't yet received to put on there:

Troop Reorganization

As our Little Scout Troop passed its first anniversary, we had a bit of a shake-up in the organization. The original Troop Leader decided to step down, leaving the Scouts to decide to either continue the troop someone or quit. I was the only remaining leadership, being the Social Media Coordinator. At the next scheduled meeting, I and some of the most active members of the troop decided we would continue meeting as Little Scouts Troop 346. And we decided on a few changes to make.

We now have a leadership team of six people - two leaders, a badge master, an activity director, someone assisting both the badge master and the activity director, and me; I'm going to keep being the social media coordinator. One of the first things we did was all get on a Slack group so we could communicate - and boy do we; almost every day. That way everything could be all coordinated.

Then we started looking at the badges and patches. A big complaint was that it seemed too complicated and too much work to earn a lot of them. So we came up with some simpler formats for the awards. Patches are now PDS - Plan It, Do It, Share It. They should be pretty simple one-afternoon or one-evening efforts. And Badges are now SCOUT - Self, Create, Outreach, Understanding, Teach. These take a little more work, but maybe not so much as before, when we had ten different steps to put together. And sometimes the steps were a little weird to try to fit into the ten categories.

Once we simplified the awards, we started converting the old awards to the new formats. That means that all my posts earlier than this will be in the old 'legacy' format, and my new ones will be in the new formats. But anything earned on one of the legacy forms stays; Scouts earning those things anew will use the new format, and it'll be just a little easier for them. Like I earned the legacy Leatherworking Badge that I designed; I don't have to earn it again. But someone else that earns it will use the converted Leathercrafting Badge sheet, and they'll have a few less steps to do.

The only place that needed special exception, really, is the Friendship Braiding Badge. See, at their first meeting, all Scouts get to make a Friendship Bracelet. Before, that covered a couple of steps into earning a badge. And nobody except for me had ever completed it. So we changed the Friendship Braiding to a PDS patch, and now everyone earns that as their first patch at their first meeting! But what about all the work I'd done on the old one? I converted that into a different badge, and called it the Paracord Bracelet Badge. So now I'm the only one that's earned that one, instead.

We reorganized the meetings a little, too. We now have someone working the front desk and checking people in. And we have some meet-and-greet time before we have the orientation slideshow. Oh, and I totally redid the slideshow so it takes like 20 minutes instead of an hour, and is a lot more fun! That was a lot of fun work to make it look good and be less boring. And I found a ton of Red Panda images to scatter all over the place for it.

So I'm in charge of keeping up all the FetLife stuff - the troop profile and the discussion group. That means keeping up links to all the badge & patch worksheets, too. Which means keeping up with the troop's Google Drive and all that information. Unfortunately, in the transition, we got locked out of the old Google Drive, so I had to create everything up from what I could salvage. I'm also the goto for our Slack group for troop leaders.

It's a lot of work, but it's almost all online, and I really enjoy doing all the background stuff without having to get up and talk in front of people and stuff. The only thing I do 'live' is be in charge of a box of goodies that goes to every meeting for Scouts to get prizes out of.

COMPLETE - Fall Friends Patch

Fall Friends Patch

Designed by: Paul & Tiffy

Order Info: Advantage S-0531

Associated Costs: $2 for patch, craft supplies

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Plan It

Go look at the pinecone felt squirrels at https://liagriffith.com/pinecone-felt-squirrel (be sure to look at the other pinecone animals, too).  As a group (or in a journal), discuss how squirrels spend their fall preparing for winter.

- I put together this worksheet with Tiffy's help, so I spent a lot of time looking at those critters.

- Squirrels prepare for winter by eating a lot to build up fat reserves and caching food to eat during the winter, when they will stay in their den a lot. They bury the food in shallow holes, and hope they can find it when they get hungry!


Do It


Gather materials to make a new little friend - a pinecone, scissors, felt, a penny, and hot glue. What else do you think you might want to use? Googly eyes, a marker? Cut out your felt pieces according to the pattern and glue them all together according to the instructions. Adjust the pattern to make your squirrel (or other critter) special!

- With Tiffy and Sage, we got all the materials together and designed and cut out templates for the other Scouts to use. I made a squirrel with an acorn using our patterns, and it turned out pretty well!

Share It

Show everyone your new critter. Pick an animal you like and tell us something about how that animal prepares for the coming winter during the fall. 

What are your plans this fall? Tell about the fall activities you’ve already done or plan to do. Include your Halloween and Thanksgiving activities, too!


- Coyotes are our favorite animal. In the fall, they grow a thicker coat of fur that will help them keep warm. They also eat a lot in the fall to bulk up for winter, focusing on insects and small mammals instead of berries and fruit. When it gets too cold for small prey, they'll start hunting larger prey, like deer. Fall is when younger coyotes may leave the rout (or pack) to search for a mate or territory.

- Our fall activities have also been preparing for winter, kind of. We're going to be in a production of A Christmas Carol in December, so we've been in rehearsal mode since early October. We did make it to a few Halloween parties and a haunted house, though!

Troop Service Awards

In May of 2018, I took on the role of Social Media Coordinator for the Little Scouts Troop. That means all my duties should be just online stuff, which I think I can handle. I don't have any swag for that to show here, though.

Extra Mile Service Award

At our one-year Anniversary Party and troop meeting, our troop leader handed out service awards, and I got one! This is what she said about me:

"Paul. @Paul_Meronym, has always been an outstanding example of what this program is about. He goes after badges, he contributes new material, he stays organized for all of us, he is always ready to pitch in and help out. And he has taken on the role of social media coordinator like a champ. I don't know what I would do without him. His smile lights up the room. Thank you Paul, you're a dang fine scout."

Build-a-Badge Badge
We did a workshop on creating new badges at our October 2017 Troop Meeting. I created a Polyamory Badge, which I'll be working on soon. But for building a badge together, we'll be getting this extra badge! --- This is now called the Badge Builder Award, and is awarded as a Service Award to any Scout who designs (and has approved) at least four badges or patches that the troop uses.

IN PROGRESS - Camping Patches/Badges

There may be a lot of camping-related badges and patches, so they get their own page.

Camp-In Patch

We worked on a patch together at our Scout Troop meeting. Although there is a patch worksheet, we didn't have to fill one out to get this camp-in patch. We put up tents - indoors! - and made candy campfires.

First Campout

We had our first troop trip for camping at Edgar Evins State Park. While there, we did some workpages to earn our First Campout patch.

We also did all the work in the Tennessee State Parks Junior Ranger workbook to earn a Junior Ranger pin. This was a Level 1 campout, which means we stayed in cabins, but we did a hike that was pretty hard for me, and I'm proud of how much I did. One of my favorite things I did was coloring this picture of a coyote.