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Bring some Irish luck to your home with this shamrock door hanger. Photo: Gina Provenzano
You don't have to be a leprechaun to enjoy the festivities, because "everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day." So, don those green tights, that funny little hat, and muster up your best Irish accent, because it's time for some fun. And while your decorating yourself, by all means, don't forget to dress the house.
Who knows? Besides welcoming all with the promise of green beer, corned beef and cabbage, a sweet shamrock door ornament could bring a little bit of luck your way...
Putting it all together is easy. I used wooden hearts from Michael's, some ribbon and gold toy coins...how I wish they were the real deal!
So here's what you'll need:
Materials:
-3 wooden heart-in-heart shapes, about 6 inches OR plain heart shapes and heart-shaped cookie cutter
-1 scrap piece of balsa wood
-Pencil
-Utility knife
-Sandpaper
-Brushes
-Paint, dark and light green
-1 round wooden shape, about 4 inches in diameter
-Hot glue gun and wood glue sticks
-Decorative paper
-White glue
-Gold coins, about 24
-Ribbon
-Scissors
Directions:
2. Using utility knife, cut out stem.
3. Sand all wood pieces and wipe clean.
Step 4. Paint hearts to form shamrock leaves. Photo: Gina Provenzano
4. Paint edges of hearts and stems with light green paint. Let dry. Then, paint fronts of hearts, stems and round piece dark green. Let dry.
5. Place round wooden piece on surface in front of you. Layer on hearts as before and add balsa wood stem. Use hot glue gun to glue hearts in place on round base.
6. Place decorative paper over center heart and rub to indicate shape on paper, or use cookie cutter to trace small heart shape onto decorative paper. Cut out three hearts. Use white glue mixed with water to adhere decorative paper hearts to center of each heart/shamrock leaf. Brush top of paper and entire shamrock with glue. Let dry.
Step 7. Glue Coins to ribbon ends. Photo: Gina Provenzano
7. Turn shamrock so right side is face down. Cut 12 strips of ribbon varying in size from 8 inches to 12 inches. Use hot glue to sandwich ribbon ends in between two gold coins.
8. Group coins into four bunches of three coins, and use hot glue to adhere the ribbons to back of shamrock. Cut a small strip of wood, about 4 inches long, and use it to secure the ribbons.
9. Cut one 12-inch length from two different ribbons. Fold in half and knot end to form a loop and secure to back of shamrock at top center.
Step 10. Tie a bow and glue to shamrock center. Photo: Gina Provenzano
Hang on a door or door knob and wait for your pot of gold to come...I am still waiting.
Happy St. Paddy's Day!
Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)
You didn't just get the wooden hearts from Michael's, you got the whole clover there (minus the dangling coins). I got a clover door hanger from Michael's about two months ago that looks exactly the same as the one in your pictures.
ReplyThis is supposed to be easy? How many people have all of the
Replymaterials around the house? You would need to buy about $100
worth of stuff to make this decoration. Better go to the hobby
store of the party store.
Thank you for your comments.
ReplyI really did make the clover myself and you can too. And believe it or not, the cost is not that great at all. You'd be surprised how inexpensive some craft supplies are. The heart shapes were $1 each, the ribbon was $1, the paper was $0.50, the coins were about $6 and I had paint and hot glue in my craft supplies. Plus often Michael's and other craft stores have coupons in the weekend papers.
I love the idea of making something myself, and I kind of liked this shamrock, even if I am an Italian-American. FYI though, I really try to keep the cost in mind when picking up the supplies.
gina - i think it's great! i'm disappointed i didn't find it in time to make it this year. i will definitely give it a try for next year. why do people think someone can't make something from scratch and have it look as good or better than what the store has? thanks for the idea!