I wonder who will be the first to discover these two new travel bugs.....?

Travel bugs, in geocaching circles, are usually small items which move from cache to cache, and can be tracked on their journey by means of a tracking code number.

The picture to the left is one of the travel bugs we currently have in circulation, his tracking number is on the other side of that silver dog tag, along with a stripey bug logo.

But there are also larger bugs which can just be "discovered", rather than put into geocaches.  These also have a tracking number on, and fellow geocachers can log where and when they saw the bug.

These can be stickers on cars:

or tattoos!

and also t-shirts:

To buy these t-shirts ready printed costs a bomb, but I saw on ErikaJean's blog that she had made her own, using a clever combo of a bug stencil and stripes made of strips of tape, and I thought "I can do that!"

So I have :)

I've made two travel bug t-shirts for Connor and Reece to wear to geocaching events. 

We're going to one tomorrow night, here's hoping they get "discovered" :)

In case you would like to make your own, here's how to do it :

Step 1:  print out a large sized travel bug (image readily available on the interweb) and trace it onto a sheet of acetate.  Cut out the bug shape (but not the stripes) using a sharp knife or a stencil burner.

Step 2: place the stencil in the centre of the ironed t shirt on a flat surface, and secure it at the corners with sellotape.

Step 3: cut tape into various widths and use this to make the stripes across the bug, like so:

Step 4: apply fabric paint carefully with a sponge, pouncing up and down, rather than brushing side to side, to ensure that no paint gets under the edges of the acetate stencil

Step 5: using foam stamps, stamp your tracking number, geocaching name etc to finish the t-shirt.  Iron to set the paint once dry, and they're done :)

FRONT (the tracking numbers are where the swirly things are in the photo)

BACK