Cub Camp - Costuming

Spence was really excited about going to Cub Scout camp this year, it being his first year and all. He's a Tiger Cub, and the rules state that an "adult partner" (read: Spence's dad) needs to be with him for every activity, including camp. Since I knew I'd be there the whole week with him, I thought I'd do what I could to get into the theme of camp: Pirates.

I puttered around for a day or two, thinking of anything creative I could whip together that would be piratey. Then it hit me! When I was 17-18, I was in a theater production of Babes in Toyland where I played Gonzorgo, a pirate with a parrot. I ended up keeping the parrot after the production was over--with permission, of course! When I got her out of storage, she was still in great condition. So I tried on the harness that she is attached to...the one that I wore when I was a teen...and it still fit. *big grin* All I needed was a shirt with a hole in the right shoulder that I could stick Polly out through. I found a baggy old black tshirt, ripped a few seams, reinforced with a few stitches, and voila! a pirate-with-a-parrot shirt.

But I wanted a little more. That's when I remembered my fencing foil.

In college, I took a fencing class and I still have my old foil. I figured it'd be perfect! It's neither sharp nor pointy, it's thin so it's not too bulky, and it fit in at least relatively closely to the pirate theme...but I needed a way to carry it.

I sewed a belt loop out of some black fabric I had laying around, then sewed an unused key ring into the bottom of the loop. That way, it'd make a nice metal-on-metal ringing sound when I sheathed and unsheathed it. When I showed it to Kara, though, her exact words were, "You're not bringing a sword to Cub Scouts."

I was horrified to realize that she might have a point. Ha ha. So I emailed the camp director and he was really excited about it--in a good way. So I brought it.

Lastly, I needed a head covering. Lacking a pirate hat, I went to bed on Sunday night pondering what to do.

You know how sometimes you have dreams where you get these fantastic ideas but they're totally unrealistic so they could never work except in your dreams? I get those all the time. But this once, I had an epiphany that was so crazy it just might work. I could wear a bandanna, like pirates, but instead of some generic bandanna, I'd wear a Scout neckerchief. But not just any neckerchief...no. A dark blue Tiger Cub Den Leader neckerchief. Subtle, in theme, and Scouty.

Okay, so here's the picture: