Happy St. Patty's Day!

So, what's the big idea with this new blog? Well, the other day I was searching for some craft ideas for a St. Patrick's Day playdate we had planned. I came across a blog that totally inspired me; it was an art teacher who posted all kinds of fun things she did with both her students and her own children. Little Crafter and I love doing arts and crafts, so I figured it might be worth sharing some of our ideas in a format where other people could benefit from our experiences. Please feel free to borrow any and all ideas shared here; if we enjoyed it, we want you to enjoy it too! If you have any questions about materials or instructions or anything else about how we did something, just ask!

For our first entry, I figured I'd share what we did today to celebrate St. Patty's Day. LC's friend O-man came over to play [along with his mommy and his three month old brother K] and they made two super cool crafts.

#1: Pipe Cleaner Rainbow in a Pot of Gold

We got this idea from Parenting magazine's website. Great for ages 2 and up!

Materials: multicolored pipecleaners, small flowerpot, black acrylic paint and brushes, shredded paper or easter grass, and gold wrapped candy [I really wanted the cute little coins but couldn't find them anywhere!]

Instructions: Paint pot black and let it dry. Then, bend and insert the colored pipe cleaners, sticking both ends in the pot. We trimmed each one slightly shorter than the one above it. Put filler in pot and add candy. Voila! A colorful, yummy treat for your little leprechaun.

#2: Classic Tissue Paper Rainbow

This one brought back memories...remember doing this as a kid?

Materials: rainbow colored tissue paper cut into squares, paper plate cut in half, glue

Instructions: Pretty simple. Crumple up the tissue paper and glue in concentric half circles onto the plate. It took Noah and Owen no time to catch on. Toddlers are good at crumpling and this time they didn't get in trouble for it!

They just couldn't be any cuter, could they?! We also had fun making green pancakes together for lunch, and Little Crafter and I walked to a local bakery for shamrock shaped cookies this afternoon. Even though it's actually his third St. Patrick's Day, this one was more fun than all the others because he's finally old enough to understand that it's a holiday and to get excited about making crafts and celebrating together. All day long our conversation went like this.

LC: "It's St. Patwick's Day!"

Mama: "Yes! And what did St. Patrick do?"
LC: "Tell Baby Jesus."
Mama: "Right. He told the Irish people about Baby Jesus. Good job, buddy."

Good job, indeed.