A History of St. Patrick

Shamrock Wall Hanging

The luck of the Irish will be in your home this year with this friendly and welcoming paper bag wall hanging.

You will need:
 

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brown grocery bag
acrylic paint in antique gold and Kelly green
toothbrush
paintbrush
fine tip black marker
pinking shears (or other decorative scissors)
small material scrap in stripes or other pattern of your choice
2 gold buttons, any shape
cotton batting (Fiberfil)

white craft glue (Tacky glue)
gold craft wire
pencil
shiny green ribbon
shiny gold ribbon


What you do:

Lay brown paper bag on flat work surface. Cut out two large sections from the front and back of the bag. Stack those sections, one on top of the other, then fold them in half. Draw a shamrock, then cut it out with the pinking shears. Or you can use this as a pattern.

Beginning at the bottom of the shamrock, use tacky glue to connect the two layers at the seams, stuffing the shamrock as you go with cotton batting (Fiberfil). Work your way around the edges, carefully stuffing (but not too much!) until shamrock is completely closed. Note: there is not enough room in the shamrock stem, simply glue this together.

When the glue is dry, paint the edges of the shamrock with antique gold paint. When that dries, paint the shamrock green as shown in photo. When the green paint is dry, dip the bristle tips of a toothbrush into the antique gold paint. Test your flecking ability on a piece of scrap paper before doing this on your heart. Hold toothbrush horizontally and drag your thumb across the bristles, causing the paint to fleck spots wherever you aim it. When you are comfortable with this method, go ahead and fleck gold paint across the shamrock to look like gold dust.

When gold paint is dry, use the black fine tip marker to write "It's Your Lucky Day!", placing decorative dots at the point of each letter. Draw small double stitch lines around the shamrock approximately 2 or 3 inches apart (see large photo). Use pinking shears to cut out a square from the striped scrap material. Use white glue to adhere the material to the lower right hand corner of your brown bag shamrock. Use white glue to adhere a small gold button to the material scrap. Tie a bow in a piece of shiny gold ribbon, glue it the base of the stem.

Cut a piece of gold craft wire long enough to wrap completely around your shamrock. This should be enough for your hanger. Find the middle of craft wire, wrap the middle section of the wire around a pencil about 6 or 7 times. Pull the pencil out to create the curl at the top of your hanger. Curve the wire into a hanger shape and poke each end carefully through the sides of the shamrock as shown in the photo. Use the skinny end of a small paintbrush to curl the ends of the wire that you poked through.

Using shiny green ribbon, tie a knot onto the craft wire halfway down from where the top curls begin. String both ends of the ribbon through the back of the button, then tie a bow. If your button is flat, tie ribbon in a bow, then use a hot glue gun to glue the second gold button to the center of the bow. Spray the entire shamrock with a coat of acrylic sealant.

Note: It is not necessary to paint the back of the heart, though you may if you like.

printer friendly instructions

Pot of Gold

by Amanda Formaro

This super easy project is a fun way to create a little package of goodies for friends, family, or best of all, Mommy or Daddy! Simple items make this a great classroom project for St. Patrick's Day.

You will need

8-10 iridescent yellow pom poms
yellow curling ribbon
green tissue paper
small baby food jar
white craft glue
water
scissors
paint brush or sponge applicator
M&M's, Skittles or other colorful small candies (optional)

Instructions

Thoroughly wash and dry small baby food jar and lid. Mix 4 tablespoons of white craft glue with enough water to bring it to painting consistency.

Have children cut tissue paper into squares. Starting with small sections, apply glue mixture with paint brush or sponge applicator to jar. Stick tissue paper onto glue mixture and continue all the way around the jar. Apply glue mixture over the top of tissue paper layer. Apply a second layer of tissue paper, allow to dry completely.

While jar is drying, apply glue around the outer edge of the jar lid. Adhere the ribbon around the lid lip and tie in a knot. Curl the ribbon by sliding the flat edge of the blade from a pair of scissors along the ribbon. Glue pom poms to the top of the lid and allow to dry.

When jar and lid are completely dry, fill jar with colored candies and give to the lucky recipient! Attach a cute note such as "Kiss me. I'm Irish!" or "A Lucky Pot of Gold for You!".

About the Author
Amanda Formaro is the entrepreneurial mother of four children. She is also the owner of FamilyCorner.com Magazine.