St. Patrick's day is almost upon us, oh my!
Just one week away, so I feel we best plunge if we want to get crafty in time
How about some fun little ideas to help us celebrate?
I gathered some of our fave projects for this little wrap-up.
Craft projects, free printables and baked goods.
Let's jump in with some baked goods first.
I tested a recipe for Irish brown bread (no yeast! zero rise time!) that is so easy and delicious to make, you might faint.
I tested it three times and each time was flawless.
If you have never made bread before, you want to start with this, trust me.
Eeeeasy.
And if you have made bread before, you'll love this.
(The only thing I did different was I used salted butter)
I am sooo amazed at how easy and wonderful soda bread is to make, and all this time I've been waiting for yeast to rise I could have been making tons of soda bread.
Amazing stuff, just be careful, you might not be able to stop eating it.
As for crafty things to make...
Let's start with a shamrock pipe cleaner ring tutorial, yes?
I made so many, I have one for every finger.
Some have short stems, others long.
Some I even doubled up with sparkly pipe cleaners.
3 fuzzy little hearts folded up, to make a whole lot of St. Paddy's day fun.
Here is a side shot...
To the ring below.
So, let's get busy making some fun rings for you, and maybe even for some friends.
Whatta ya say?
To make one ring all you need are two pipe cleaners.
One for the ring part and one for the shamrock part.
The pipe cleaners I used are 12" long (a standard size around here).
To create your shamrock you will be forming 3 hearts out of one pipe cleaner.
So, one pipe cleaner will be used to make the shamrock, and the second pipe cleaner will be used to make the ring section.
To begin, choose your pipe cleaner for the shamrock piece.
Begin your shamrock 2 inches from the end, this will be your stem.
2 inches from the end is where you will begin to form your first heart.
A pencil works great to help round the heart tops.
After your round your top, pinch the center with your fingers to form the middle of the heart.
Then use your pencil to form your next heart top.
Now you have a heart below, with an open bottom.
Your short stem is on the left, and your long piece of working pipe cleaner is on the right.
Take the long piece and loop it around the short stem securely, once or twice to close your heart, as seen below.
When you close your heart, your long piece of working pipe cleaner will be on the left, so...
Simply flip your piece over, so the long working pipe cleaner piece is now on the right, as seen below.
Now, form another heart just as you did above.
Looping your long working pipe cleaner piece around to close your second heart as seen below.
Your working pipe cleaner piece is now on the left, so...
Flip your piece over so that the long working pipe cleaner piece is now on the right.
Now form your last heart as you did before.
After you create your last heart to form a shamrock, as seen below, then...
Take your last piece of working pipe cleaner and loop it securely around the stem.
Then just wind the remaining pipe cleaner all around the stem until you reach the bottom, or run out of pipe cleaner.
Like you see below.
There you have it, a shamrock.
Now, take the pipe cleaner piece you will use for your ring...
Center the pipe cleaner over the center of your shamrock.
Then pull one piece of pipe cleaner over the top right side of your shamrock center.
And, pull the other piece over the bottom left side of your shamrock center.
Push the pipe cleaner securely (and snuggly) towards the back side, so that the back of your shamrock now looks like below.
Then, give your pipe cleaner a very secure twist in the back.
Make sure you twist a couple times so it is nice and tight.
Now you are ready to form the ring part.
Hold the ring over the top of your finger of choice, with the open pipe cleaner behind your fingers, like you see below.
When you feel you are at the correct size (not too tight), take the pipe cleaner ends and loop the ends around your finger towards the front, so that one pipe cleaner end is on either side of your finger, as you see below.
Now, just take the pipe cleaner ends and twist them around, right under the back of your shamrock securely, as seen below.
You can take the ring off to tighten your pipe cleaner ends, winding round and round under the shamrock back, until there is no more pipe cleaner left.
And then, Voila!!
You have your own pipe cleaner shamrock ring.
Isn't that easy and fun?
If you don't want a ring you can easily glue on a pendant back, and use as a pendant instead.
If you don't have a pendant back, just pin it on with a safety pin to wear on St. Patrick's day.
These are fun for grown kids or young kids.
An easy little treat.
Hope you enjoyed that lil' tutorial.
Another fun treat is...
Green rice krispy treats for St. Patrick's day!
Just add a little green food coloring to the melted marshmallow stage.
Voila!
Green.
They are yummy, fun and keep things light hearted...
Here is my free printable PDF for the St.Patrick's day cardlettes below.
Please give the PDF a minute to open, as it is a high resolution file for great printing quality.
However, it does take at least 80 seconds to open.
And, my printable Shamrock Brooch Tutorial, here...
Click on this link for the printable pdf and tutorial, which will give you all the layers of shamrocks you need to make your own.
I still have mine and will wear it for certain.
With my shamrock pipe cleaner rings.
I better get some rice krispy cereal soon.
Life is rolling along at crazzzzy speed, ain't it?
Spring is here, warm days, green everywhere.
Petals are blooming and all is garden magic around my neck of the woods.
And now, green drinks commence!!
Do you have any St. Patrick's day traditions you'd like to share with us?
Please do ♥
May the luck of the Irish be with you the whole year through!
Love,
Vanessa
ps:
Still one of my faves...
