Shamrocks

My family LOVES St. Patrick's Day. It is a special holiday for several reasons which will be shared in Friday's post so make sure to come back and check it out (I will update this post to include the link once that post is published!).

I looked through my Pinterest board dedicated to St. Patrick's Day, and I saw so many projects that I wanted to do. My initial project was to create a wreath, but I didn't have time because my husband worked crazy mandatory overtime this week. I decided to do some crafty projects that weren't so time intensive. As I started to get the materials for my project, I realized that I should get Monkey involved too. Thus, I'm sharing two projects in this post! One project is for momma and the other project is for the kiddos.

Project 1 - Paper Strip Shamrocks

When I was on Pinterest, I found this wonderful post on how to do paper strip shamrocks. Mandy, from Sugar Bee Crafts, showed a really easy and creative way to make shamrocks using paper strips. I loved the idea of having shamrocks hanging all over the house.

Step 1

Gather paper that you want in your shamrocks. I wanted green shamrocks so I found 3 shades of green. I liked how Mandy used white so I decided to use white too.

Step 2

Cut the paper into strips. Each shamrock requires 19 strips of paper (18 strips for the "heart shaped shamrocks" and 1 strip for the stem). I made 1 inch strips that were 12", 10", and 8" inches long. Each heart requires 6 strips of paper, 2 of each size. Place the 12 inch strips in the center, the 10 inch strips on the outside, and the 8 inch strips on the outside of the rest of the strips of paper. Staple the strips together on the bottom.

Step 3

Pull the strips down from the top to the staple at the bottom. Hold them in place until each strip of paper is down by the staple. Then staple again. For the shamrock stem, fold a 12 inch strip in half and staple.

Step 4

Assemble the segments together by using a hot glue gun. You will want to use a lot of hot glue. This is my finished product. I love it. I totally recommend doing this project because it is easy and fun to do. Plus, they look so beautiful. I can't wait to hang them up!!

Project 2 - Texture Collage Shamrock

Monkey loves to paint and use glue. So when I saw this texture collage shamrock at No Time For Flashcards, I knew that he would love this activity.

Step 1

Trace a shamrock onto a piece of cardboard. This piece of cardboard came from scrapbook supplies (it is the cardboard used to hold the sheet protectors form). Cut the shamrock out.

Step 2

Gather various green textures that can be used to glue onto the shamrock. I got the following: tissue paper, ribbon, pom poms, grass twine, pipe cleaner, and paper. I also got painting supplies because I knew Monkey would have a blast painting the shamrock, and he did!

Step 3

Paint or color the shamrock. Monkey had so much fun painting his shamrock.

Step 4

Apply glue to the shamrock and have your kiddos put whatever green items they want onto their shamrock.

I had so much fun with these projects that I can't wait to do more! I hope you have a Happy St. Patrick's Day. And, remember to wear green!