St. Patrick's Day Crafts

[Lisa1969]

Pot of Gold
By: Amanda Formaro


Are you lucky enough to catch the leprechaun and gain his pot of gold? If he has outsmarted you again, go ahead and make one of your own!



[b]What you'll need:
2” wooden circle
1 each black and gold chenille stem
5 medium gold glitter pom poms
8 green sequins
Black acrylic paint
Paint brush
White craft glue or hot glue gun
Magnet or pin back

How to make it:
Paint the wooden circle black.
Cut both the black and gold chenille stems in half, save the halves for another project.
Twist your trimmed-down black and gold chenille stems together to form the pot handle.
Glue the ends of the chenille stem to the back of the wooden circle.
Glue the pom poms to the top portion of the black circle so that they hide the top of the circle.
Glue the green sequins under the gold pom poms for the pot band.
Glue magnet or pin back to the back of you project.

[i]Tips:

Sequins are available in the sewing section of most discount department stores and craft supply stores.
This project can be completely with white glue, however the use of a glue gun does speed up the process when adding the handle and the gold pom poms.
If you don’t have sequins, try green beads or use a green chenille stem.

[Lisa1969]

Leprechaun Hat for Chips

A fun table decoration that can be used to hold chips. We found our green tortilla chips at our local grocery store. You can use regular tortilla chips and then tint your dip with green food color. Whatever you do, have fun!


What you'll need:
1/2 gallon Round ice cream container, clean and dry (you do not need the lid)
2 or 3 sheets of Green construction paper
1 sheet of Yellow or Gray construction paper
1 sheet of Black construction paper
Scissors
Ruler
Pen
Double stick tape
Large circular object (however wide the construction paper is)



How to make it:
Trace around the large circular object on the green construction paper with the pen.
Cut out the circle.
Use the double stick tape to adhere the circle to the bottom of the ice cream container.
Cut a piece of green construction paper to fit around the container. You may need two pieces of construction paper or be able to piece them together.
Use the double stick tape to adhere the construction paper around the container.
Cut a strip about 2" wide out of the black construction paper.
Cut a 4" square out of the gray or yellow construction paper.
Cut a rectangle in the middle of the gray construction paper about 1 1/4" x 2". Discard the little piece of construction paper. Hint: Fold the square into fourths and cut a square out of the middle of the folded area. Open up the square.
Check positioning of the black band by laying it around the hat about an inch above the brim. Cut off any excess construction paper where it meets in the back.
Lay the gray or yellow (buckle) over the black band as shown in the photograph. Once the layout is satisfactory, tape in place.
Add green tortilla chips, if available, and get ready for your feast.



Tips:

Our local Hy-Vee store sells green tortilla chips around St. Patrick's Day.

[Lisa1969]

Pony Bead Rainbow
By: Amanda Formaro

This pretty rainbow is so easy even little ones can make it. It’s perfect for teaching kids about colors and improving dexterity.

What you'll need:
1 brick of styrofoam
1 each purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red chenille stems
15 purple pony beads
18 blue pony beads
23 green pony beads
27 yellow pony beads
32 orange pony beads
36 red pony beads
Bag of cotton balls

How to make it:
String pony beads onto chenille stems, matching the colors. (i.e. string green pony beads on green chenille, purple pony beads on purple chenille, etc)
Start with the purple beaded stem. Center the beads on the stem and trim the ends of the stem leaving about 2” on each end.
Find the center of the Styrofoam block and insert the two chenille ends into the brick, forming an arch (see photo example here). Hint: use one of the pieces of chenille that you cut off to create the holes first, pull them out then insert the beaded chenille into the hole.
Repeat step 3 for each beaded stem, in the rainbow sequence (next is blue, green, yellow, orange, and red).
Glue cotton balls all around the bottom of the rainbow to form clouds. Cover the Styrofoam brick with cotton balls.
When cotton balls and glue are dry, stretch and gently pull the cotton balls to cover any exposed Styrofoam edges.

Tips:

If making several of these (i.e. class or preschool project), cut the bricks in half. This will give you twice the supplies as a full brick is not necessarily needed.
Find large bags of pony beads in multicolored value packages at craft supply stores.
Show small children the ends of the chenille stems so that they know there are pointy edges.

[Joan]

These are great tips for folk who would like to make them Lisa

[elaine]

thanks for shaaring

[marti]

Thanks for sharing