Category: Crafts

Crafts For St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations

While it certainly can be fun to visit a pub and raise a pint in honor of St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, such efforts are not necessarily a family-friendly way to commemorate the patron saint of the Emerald Isle. Thankfully, there are plenty of activities for children and adults that focus less on imbibing and more on hands-on fun so everyone can be involved equally. Crafting often fits that bill.

The following are some unique craft ideas to celebrate the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day. Many of these projects include items you may already have around the house.

Shamrock Key Chain

Find your favorite salt dough recipe and use a shamrock cookie cutter to cut out the shape of a lucky clover. Poke a hole at the top where you can connect a key ring. When the shamrock is dried and hardened, paint it in a vivid shade of green. Attach keys, a school ID or anything else to the key ring, or simply hang it from a backpack.

Leprechaun Hats

With a little green paint, green card stock and construction paper in black and gold, anyone can create miniature leprechaun hats. Paint the toilet paper tube green, then wrap the bottom in a strip of black and place a gold “buckle” made out of a rectangle of gold or yellow paper. Glue the tube to a round of green card stock, and voila, you have a perfect leprechaun hat for decorating a room or table.

Easy Rainbow Craft

Grab some fruity O-shaped cereal and let kids sort the colors into red, orange, yellow, green, and purple. Glue rows of these colored cereal rings onto a piece of white cardstock to make the rainbow. At the base of the rainbow, glue some cotton balls to serve as the clouds.

Beaded Bracelets

Visit a craft store and stock up on small green, white and gold beads, as well as some bracelet wire or poly string. Spend a few hours making bracelets that everyone can wear with their green attire for St. Patrick’s Day. The bracelets also can be given as gifts.

Shamrock Slime

Those who can find green glitter glue and shamrock confetti can turn their favorite slime recipe into one worthy of St. Patrick’s Day.

Rainbow Cereal Bars

Incorporate some of the marshmallows from a favorite “lucky” cereal brand into the mix of rice cereal treats to give them a rainbow-inspired upgrade.

Pots of Gold

If you have leftover plastic witches’ cauldrons from Halloween, paint them gold and use them to store foil-wrapped chocolate coins. Otherwise, tie green helium-filled balloons to the cauldron to make a perfect centerpiece.

St. Patrick’s Day crafts get the entire family in on the fun of celebrating the Emerald Isle.

Make Holiday Crafting A Family Affair

Families gather frequently during the holiday season as everyone enjoys the feasts and festivities that are synonymous with this time of year. Families often bake and decorate together, as these activities are inclusive of people of all ages.

This time of year also is one for dabbling in creative pursuits. Now is a prime opportunity to bond with children over a table full of paint, glue, beads, and other crafty supplies. The crafts made during the holidays often become cherished mementos that will be regarded fondly for years to come. Here are some ideas to inspire holiday creativity.

Snowman family

Handprint crafts are popular among children. Adults and children can dip their hands into washable white paint and make a handprint stamp on a small canvas, wooden palette or even a terracotta flowerpot. Decorate the white fingerprints with black dots to look like the faces of the snowmen and paint on top hats and scarves. In the years to come, artists can marvel at how small their hand prints once were.

Wine cork reindeer

Repurpose wine corks by crafting adorable little reindeer. Two corks make up the head and the body, and four vertically will comprise the feet. Stick on googly eyes, and add a small red or black bead for the nose. Pipe cleaners can be bent to form the reindeer’s antlers.

Family garlands

This craft also makes use of handprints. Ask all family members to trace their handprints on different colors of construction paper or card stock. Cut out all of the paper hands, punch holes in the tops and then string a ribbon through. Decorate the Christmas tree or a mantle with this garland.

Miniature Christmas trees

Paint the tips of gathered pine cones with green paint and allow to dry. Add white glitter or paint as “snow.” Glue the pine cones to wine corks that will serve as the tree trunks, and attach a small wooden star to the top of the trees for the finishing touch.

Decoupage ornaments

Purchase wooden or plastic ball ornaments. Cover with small scraps of cut fabric or paper dipped in craft glue or Mod Podge®, and attach to the ornament in an overlapping fashion. Remember to add a string from which the ornament can be hung on the tree. Allow to dry completely before use.

Paper chain Advent calendar

Cut strips of paper to make a link for every day of Advent. Advent begins on Sunday, December 1, 2024, and lasts until Christmas. The top link can be any design artists prefer, but those who need a little inspiration can consider a religious symbol, the face of a reindeer, a snowman, or a Christmas tree. Hang the chain and then children can take turns ripping off a link from the bottom each day as they count down to the holiday.

Popsicle stick snowflakes

Paint four popsicle sticks per snowflake in desired colors. Decorate with glue, pompoms, beads, or other trinkets. Add small looped strings to hang the ornaments.

Parents, grandparents and children can have fun crafting holiday decorations this December.