I'm a sucker for merit badges. Who isn't? Photo credit: Etsy/Julie Schneider

I'm not crafty, but as a kid my mom did teach me some embroidery stitches. To me, embroidery is more like coloring than sewing, so it's less intimidating to learn.

Besides, that's the thing about summer — there's time. Time to learn and time to mess up and start over. That's the beauty of this tiny project. Yes, it's time-consuming, but it's small and open to interpretation. Great for middle-graders.

And FUN. BADGES. You know you want one. I do. I'm gonna suggest this to my almost 10 year-old daughter as a summertime project.

Click through to the Etsy blog for a beautifully-photographed, well-written tutorial.

→ At the Etsy blog: How-Tuesday: DIY Embroidered Merit Badges

Thanks to Claire Robertson at Kiddley for turning me onto this tutorial.

Another adorable idea, this one from CRAFT: incorporating LEDs into embroidery.

Looking for a beginner guide to embroidery? My favorite is Doodle Stitching by Aimee Ray.