I recently posted pics on Twitter of the Arrow of Light career arrows that our Webelos made.

Some people wanted to know "how" – some people wanted to know "why". There are dozens of reasons why we did what we did the way we did it.  After starting to type up the why of every little point, I sort of realized it was all trivial and unimportant.

Simply put: We did what we could with what we had based on need, desire, and resources on hand.

Just like everyone else does. :)

So here's the quick and dirty of HOW, which is way more interesting than WHY:

1) The Webelos used these basic instructions to make arrows.  They made them as one of their requirements for their Craftsman badge.  Some differences:

• They did not use "sharp rocks" for anything, they used basic hand tools. 
• They were unable to cut notches at the ends for the arrow to be knocked (is that the right word? I know nothing about archery), or for the arrowhead to be slipped into, in spite of numerous valiant attempts. The Webelos Den Leader and I managed to help them get enough of a notch that their "too fat" arrowheads were at least able to sit atop the arrow well enough the boys could use twine to hold it in place so they'd stay.
• They used hot glue and twine, not sinew and resin.

2) While the boys would have been perfectly capable of putting their own achievements on the arrows, we wanted to surprise them, so we held on to their arrows and I snuck them home so I could follow these basic instructions for marking their achievements.  It was, in essence, my gift to them.  Things to note:

• I basically used the instructions as a loose guide – my colors varied  based on the fact that we highlighted some different achievements than those listed and I had different available colors in embroidery floss.
• I won't lie – this was MUCH more time consuming than just using electrical tape.  Embroidery floss is not that thin – 5 times around the arrow = 1 thinner stripe (for my stripes, your mileage may vary) and 10 times around = 1 thicker stripe, so it wasn't too painful, but it did take some time. 
• Because of the extra time it does take to wrap the achievements, if I'd had more arrows than I did I wouldn't have done all of them myself.  I'd have likely had the boys add their own achievements, or else I would have recruited the help of the parents to do their own kiddo's arrow. 
• If the boys had done them, I'd have let them pick how they wanted to put the achievements on (paint, tape, floss), but if parents had done them, I'd still have gone with the wrapping.  It just flat out looks cool, especially given the "home made" and "genuine" look of the arrows the boys had made.

3) Since the boys also needed to do a frame or some sort of award display for their Craftsman, they opted to create a plaque on which to display their Webelos Colors, rank patches, and of course their Career Arrows.  The plans for these were hybrid and random whim mixed together, but I'm sure a little Google-foo would find plenty of plans.  These guys just used donated wood, sanded it down after it was cut to size, stained it, added in hooks for holding their arrows, and then put their info (name, pack, date, etc.) on it.  They also glued the popcicle stick "key" (showing which stripes go with what award) on to their boards.

I do not have the plaques in my possession so I am unable to take pics, but I do have some not-that-great photos of the arrows themselves:

(If you look closely, you may be able to tell one of the boys accidentally glued one of his feathers on wrong.  No doubt about it, these arrows would NEVER fly… but they are pretty cool to look at!)

Pic 1

Pic 2

Pic 3

Scott, that arrow is made of pure awesome!