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I’m proud to say that my oldest son became and Eagle Scout on April 10, 2014! I’m so happy that we have his project over and he is so happy to be an Eagle Scout. He feels accomplished and like a leader now. He is working on his Ranger Badge now and is gung ho about it! He just turned 15 in June, and I’m so glad he did this early. I know when he gets busy with High School, Scouts will be in the backround. If he didn’t do it now, I don’t think he would have had the time or energy for it.
(Click the picture to go to the download page, but be sure to read this whole post so you know how to use them)
We had a fun Eagle Scout Court of Honor for him and another boy in his scout troop at our church about a month ago. I thought I’d share my ideas for decorating and how to put together the program (the other mom helped me a lot with the program since she had already had 3 Eagle Scouts). I’m also going to share with you the printables I made for decorations.
First, I took a picture of him in his uniform. ** Please, if you take a picture of your son with the flag behind him please make sure to have the stars on HIS right side, left to us. I made the mistake of doing it the wrong way.** We did this just before his Board of Review, so he was all ready.
You can do this yourself. No fancy camera needed. Just find a good background, a tree, a nice rock wall, an American Flag, etc. Just have him put on his uniform, fix his hair, step away from the background so it’s a little out of focus, and you’re done. You don’t need an awesome professional picture for his Eagle Scout Invitation, trust me.
This is the one I took of my son. He was just sitting on the porch and his sister was holding up the flag. I probably should have ironed the flag, but no one cares, right? ** Please, if you take a picture of your son with the flag behind him please make sure to have the stars on HIS right side, left to us. I made the mistake of doing it the wrong way.**
Then I made his invitation in Photoshop. This invitation is included in the download pack too! Just load into photoshop or photoshop elements and place his picture on the correct layer, change the text and you’re done! It’s sized as a 5×7. If you don’t want to go to the trouble of doing this yourself, or if you don’t have photoshop, you can order it from me HERE on Etsy and I’ll make it for you. If you order the custom invitation from me, I’ll also send you the free printables in the email so you don’t have to download them here.
Next we made the program. On the front it just had the pictures of the boys. I have one made up for you that has a generic front and you can type what you want on the inside. Just open a new project in Word, turn it landscape and make two columns. In the right hand column, type your program. Then when you print it front and back it will come out right.
Get with your scout leaders and find out what they like to include in an Eagle Scout Court of Honor. Here is an idea of how an Eagle Scout Court of Honor is conducted:
Conducting: Name
Flag Ceremony: Troop 751
Invocation: Name
Eagles Nest: Name (this is where someone stands and asks all Eagle Scouts to stand and come sit in the Eagles Nest, a place where the chairs are made into a semi circle. They stay there for the remainder of the program)
Remarks: Name
Remarks: Name
Eagle Presentation: Name
Eagle Charge: Name
Presentation of the Mentor Pins: Boy’s Name (my son took this time to tell the audience about his project too)
Scout Masters Minute: Name
Retiring of the Colors: Troop 751
Benediction: Name
Refreshments
Keeping it simple is best! We don’t want everyone do die of boredom now do we? Our Eagle Scout Court of Honor was about 30 minutes. Perfect! I told the speakers to only take a few minutes, like 3. Seriously.
Now on to the presentation table. I had taken my sons picture and reduced the opacity so it would print lightly. I printed it on a piece of cardstock then had everyone who attended, sign it. As you can see, my husband thought it would be funny to write his name in green pen coming out of his nose. Silly boys!
Also included on his presentation table was his Eagle Trophy (which we purchased from a trophy store but I really like this one from Amazon.), his certificate in a frame, his invitation and his Eagle picture framed.
Then on the wall above his table I got some twine and taped it to the wall with stars hiding the tape. Then with clothes pins, I hung some pictures of his project, him when he was a cub scout, pictures of him in his soccer uniform and other various pictures. Also his letters of congratulations from various people, like the President of the United States, Stake Presidency and City Mayor.
Inside the room we had a refreshments table set up with more of the decorations I made. The table cloth, stars on the wall, flags and glitter stars and the little containers were all purchased at Zurchers, a local party store. I’m sure you could find these at your party store too or even Hobby Lobby.
To make the centerpieces I just cut out the scout law printables (the ones with the words on them) and taped them to a bamboo skewer. I also did the same with the glitter stars. Then I stuck a rock in the bottom of a small “popcorn container” to keep them from tipping over and added a crumpled up piece of white tissue paper. I stuck in the flag, star and word and I was done! So easy! I needed 13 containers because I wanted one for his name to be displayed on his presentation table then there are 12 scout law words to display too. So I needed 13 flags and containers. Then I needed 26 stars because I wanted 2 stars in each container.
I asked family members to bring a dessert to share, but I also got cream puffs and served them in some really inexpensive star plates I also got at the party store.
One more special thing we did? We made some Lollipics with his Scout picture on them! These are so cool! Lollipics are presonalized, handcrafted lolly pops with a printed edible image on them. They can print anything on a lolly pop from a digital file. They taste so good too! The ones we ordered tasted like marshmallow! They sent these to me complimentary so I could show you how fun these are and how much they add to a party! These would be so fun for a wedding, sweet 16, over the hill party, you name it! I’ve even seen friends scan their childs artwork and make lolly pops for them to display. So cute!
I used the box the lollipics were shipped in to display them. I wrapped the box in tin foil so it was shiny, and I used a small screw driver to poke holes evenly across the top of the box. Then I just poked the lollipics through the holes, and it was an instant display!
Head over to the Lollipics Website and follow them on social media to learn more about how awesome these Lolly Pops are! FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | PINTEREST | GOOGLE+
Want to download all this great stuff now? Well CLICK HERE and you can download it for yourself. Remember, if you don’t know how to or you just don’t want to do it, I can make the invitation for you. Just order it HERE through Etsy.
All in all we had a great Court of Honor. I’m so proud of my son and wanted this to be a special day for him. After his Court of Honor, we went and got dinner as a family at the Olive Garden. It was a great day. Simple and easy, that’s the way to go.
Are any of you working on an Eagle Scout Project right now? I’d love to hear about it!
We are working on working on his Eagle project. He left all the hard badges til last (typical) but we’ll get there in the end. In the meantime, I have about 8 other boys I will be doing ceremonies for over the next six months. Our Troop does them in groups of 3-4 every six months or so. These are great resources. I’m going to add them to my Scout Pinterest board. Thanks for sharing!
This is going to come in VERY handy for this mom of all boys! And I love LolliPics so I’m super excited about that giveaway!
This makes me so excited for when my boys get older! Congrats to your son! PS – love Lolly Pops! They would be adorable for my son’s birthday next month!
These are so fun!!! 🙂
These are awesome! I’m gonna need it someday cuz my son is almost 11
This is amazing. Way to go. Love how it all turned out.
The thought of scouts overwhelms me! Ha But with three boys, I’m sure I’ll be a pro in the end. Way to go though!
wow! love these personalized gifts. Great idea!
iam working on his court of honor and looking for ideas like what i see thank you
What font did you use on your prinables?
I’m working on my son’s Eagle Ceremony. Thank you for posting this! I’ve gleaned so many great ideas from your blog!
i just came across this I will need this in not too long. My 13 year old son will be proforming his Eagle Scout project November 1,2014 . He will be building a 10×10′ shed for our local MSPCA . This shed will have so extra much needed storage but will also house their John Deere Gator that transports food and supplies around the property. My son Tyler only has to complete 3 more eagle required badges. I am so proud of him.
My son just turned 14 and has turned in his ES book. I am starting to plan his ceremony now so that when he’s’official’ I’ll just need to put things in motion. THANKS for sharing your ideas!!! Pinning this post to my Boy Scout board
LOVE IT! Although my 14 yo made Eagle last fall we are now just doing the ECOH this month. With a Troop that is sort of falling apart due to leadership everything has been left to me (husband is deployed for 16 months). I love the ideas.
Thanks Tris! I’m glad these helped you~
Great ideas in this post, thank you! I have one question: once you make up an invitation, whether it’s with Etsy or using Photoshop, where do you get them printed? Do you do them on photo paper or is there a way to have them done on cardstock or a “nicer” paper?
You can have them printed through Costco, Wal-Mart, Walgreens etc. Costco has a cardstock for cards now that is great. Or you can go to a copy store like Kinko’s or Alphagraphics. You can also just print them through your own printer at home.
Thank you! I have used Costco for holiday cards with that nice cardstock, but I used their pre-made designs from the website, so didn’t know that you could bring in your own design and have it printed there. So, do I go to Etsy, pay the $12-15 (approx) for one of their layouts, customize it, and they send me a pdf or something that I take into Costco?
Yes Michelle. If you order my invitation, I will customize it for you then you take it to costco, or upload it to their photo site and drop the image I send you on the card and order it online.
Thanks for the great ideas! My son’s Eagle Court of Honor is Sept 5th, over the Labor Day weekend. I borrowed your invitation & program idea. It saved us some money and looks very professional!
I’m so glad it helped you out Sharon! Tell your son congratulations!
Parents – Please consult a flag etiquette guide when taking pictures with the American flag. The flag shown in the photo here is backwards and is too common of a mistake.
Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I didn’t notice I did that.
I cannot thank you enough for this blog post and the invitation template you shared. It helped me so much. Ceremony is tomorrow. I hope I remembered everything.
That’s awesome Candice! I hope you have a great time, and don’t stress too much about it. Your son will love it!
Thank you for the fabulous freebies! You are amazingly talented and have saved me so much time! Thank you!
You are so welcome Camie! I hope you have a great time at your son’s Eagle Court of Honor.
My son submits his binder to the board next week. He completed his project last September but completing all the required paperwork and making sure all the I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed has been a whole 2nd project! Thank you for the free printables! I look forward to putting them to use soon!
So exciting Charis!! Good luck!
I was feeling overwhelmed with all the Pinterest ideas for the COH – then came through a link to your site and was so thrilled to find a well-done COH that didn’t take a year’s worth of planning of $$$. Thank you for posting this.
I’m so happy you found me Chris! Thanks for your kind words!
Thank you so much for the invitation template. I used it for my Son’s court of honor invitation
I am so grateful I didn’t have to take the time to make it from scratch. Thank you again!
You’re so welcome Candice!
Question. Loved the Eagle Scout invitation and program you made through photoshop. I do not have photoshop and don’t plan on using it. Is it possible to use your invitation for Costco photoshop to print off( I think they use jpeg)? What do you recommend? Thank you! Jamie
Hi Jamie, I can add his picture and wording if you want to email them to me at tipsfromamom@gmail.com
I love the popcorn container idea, but I cannot find them anywhere. Anyone know where to get them?
I got mine at a party supply place. Try Hobby Lobby, Zurchers, JoAnn’s . . .
I love all of your wonderful ideas! My son just earned his Eagle and we are starting to plan his Court of Honor. I especially liked that you posted his picture for guests to sign and the special letters you displayed. I do have a question, how did you get a letter from the President of the United States? This is my first son and first experience in Scouting. Does that letter come with the national paperwork or do we need to write the President specifically and ask for a letter? I know my son would love that kind of a keepsake so I figured I had better ask. Thanks again for sharing such fabulous ides!
I think the Boy Scouts of America send out the information to all these people and they automatically send them these letters. I didn’t do anything. It was easy! Thanks for your comment and I’m glad you liked the ideas!
Keely,
Depending on your unit you might have to send them out yourself. Some units do this for you though. We have to do it ourselves. We used this list initially: http://usscouts.org/eagle/eaglecongrats.asp Then added any favorite authors, musicians, etc.
So ask your unit first but if they don’t provide this then use the link above. It isn’t hard- just remember the people you send them to usually need around 6 weeks to get the letters back to you.
Hope this helps!
These are fabulous! Thanks for sharing them. I was wondering if you had any invitation templates in a “portrait” layout? Could you please send me the link for the download, if you do?
Thanks so much!!
Thank you for sharing this information on your son’s Eagle Court of Honor. It helps me feel less stressed about my son’s coming up really soon, knowing I can just make it simple, and not over the top difficult. Thank you!
You are so welcome Christine!
Would you mind telling me where you got your eagle trophy? We are from Utah as well and I really like the one you got.
Planning my sons eagle court of honor. Thank you for your post!
Yes we got it at McGee’s in American Fork.
Thank you so much for these ideas and printables!! I just love your stuff and appreciate all the help!! I was wondering what format is “psd”? I was able to save and use everything except the invitations.
That is a Photoshop file that you can edit in photoshop yourself.
amazing ideas!
Thanks so much for these!! Can you tell me what font you used for the scout law printables? I want to do my sons names as well and want to match it up.
Thank you for the printable. I am going to use the invitation for my sons Eagle Celebration. He did not want a formal court of honor. This is so nice!
You just saved my life with the printables of the Scout Law! My son’s Eagle Court of Honor is in three weeks and I’m starting to get a bit worried about getting it all together. Thank you for the wonderful ideas and encouragement. I’ve been overthinking the food and the decorations. Your approach gave me piece of mind. Hope you and your family are well!
I’m so happy I could help! Have a great Court of Honor!