EASY ST. PATRICK’S DAY CRAFT!

March 14, 2023 2 Comments

Here is our little Leprechaun made from cardboard inner tubes, although he sneakily has golden chocolate coins inside his top hat!

What is St. Patrick's day?

When one speaks of St. Patrick’s day what comes to mind? The Irish, the colour green, shamrocks, perhaps leprechauns, fasting for lent or a religious occasion?

Have you decided yet? Any of the above? Some are symbolic of this special day.

So what you may wonder will I craft In this post?

My subject will be a ‘leprechaun’, I thought it would be a fun and easy St. Patrick’s day craft for kids to do, with a little bit of help from an adult of course.

I will be using cardboard inner tubes!

First, let’s take a look at the history of St. Patrick’s day.

There really is no connection between St. Patrick’s day and leprechauns, but it is all things Irish and we will be crafting him soon! 

Folklore has it that wearing the colour green on St. Patrick’s day makes you invisible so that you won’t get pinched by a Leprechaun!

WHAT ABOUT LEPRECHAUNS?

It was believed that Leprechauns were tiny men that stemmed from the Celtic time and that they were fairies with magical powers to serve good or evil.

SOME SAYINGS!

The saying that goes ‘Luck of the Irish’ came about if you capture one of these small creatures and you would have some luck and three wishes. That’s why today Leprechauns are so popular.

WHY 17th OF MARCH?

St. Patrick’s day came about when the patron saint of Ireland died on this day the 17th of March and to honour him, this day became a holiday that was named after him and is now celebrated by the Irish every year and around the world.

WHAT ABOUT SHAMROCKS?

Saint Patrick used the shamrock as a metaphor when he first introduce Christianity to Ireland. This was known as the holy trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and regarded as faith, hope, and love.

ABOUT LEPRECHAUNS!

Leprechauns are mythical little fairies, fun looking, wear green clothing with a top hat, and have long orange beards.

kids love anything magical, although they don’t have wings and don’t sparkle like you would imagine a fairy to be and they are known to hide a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

It is said that they get up to mischief and are very naughty playing, lots of tricks on unaware humans!

POT OF GOLD!

When it is said to find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, goes back to the 17th century where their interpretation went a bit like this ‘One was not likely to find a pot of gold, as it were to find the end of a rainbow’.

Other interpretations could also mean that ‘Hard work always pays off or ‘A wonderful end to a job well done’.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

I would go with the last one. I wonder what you make of a rainbow with a pot of gold at the end, how would you or your kids interpret this?

TO CONSIDER.

I never really gave St. Partick’s day much thought it has only been highlighted by a good friend of mine who is Irish and always gives up chocolate for lent, to the lead-up to Easter.

WHAT OF ST. PTRICK’S DAY?

As St. Patrick’s day is a great event of the year for drinking and partying, and usually occurs in the middle of Lent, this special day was considered a welcomed break from their fasting, as they are now allowed a day off from fasting in order to celebrate!

So there you go, my friend would be up for that! 

ABOUT LENT.

Lent for most religions around this time of the year is to sacrifice something to cleanse the body, in other words, the repentance of sin and renewal of the soul, in respect of their faith.

Christians, practice Lent which begins on Ash Wednesday, February 22nd, and finishes on Holy Thursday, April 6th. (2023)

MY INTENT!

So back to our little fellows the Leprechauns. I thought this would be a fun subject for kids to craft.

I will be using cardboard inner tubes with a bit of cutting and reshaping, but work well for our subject, to make an easy St. Patrick’s day craft for kids to do!

Hey there, when you click on links in this post and you make a purchase, I may earn a small commission that l can use towards resources (other than throw-outs) for project making within my website😀

(affliate disclosure)

ARE YOU READY?

         RESOURCES!.

LET’S START!

1) Snip all the way around tube and cut, then trim off to shorten all tags.
1) Snip all the way around tube and cut, then trim off to shorten all tags.
2) Draw the rim of hat on spare packaging card.
2) Draw the rim of hat on spare packaging card.
3) Now draw the inside of hat by going around the tube.
3) Now draw the inside of hat by going around the tube.
4) Cut out the middle part and cut an opening.
4) Cut out the middle part and cut an opening.
5) Secure all the way round with strips of masking tape.
5) Secure all the way round with strips of masking tape.
6) Snip 4 sections all the way around.
6) Snip 4 sections all the way around.
7) Squash inwards to make opening smaller.
7) Squash inwards to make opening smaller.
8) Paint the main body.
8) Paint the main body.
9) Take another tube and cut thin strips all the way round., about half way up.
9) Take another tube and cut thin strips all the way round., about half way up.
10) Cut out a deep curved section, this will be the base of the beard.
10) Cut out a deep curved section, this will be the base of the beard.
11) For the hat trimming cut a long stip and small gold square.
11) For the hat trimming cut a long stip and small gold square.
12) Fold gold square in half and cut out a smaller square and glue onto the middle of black strip.
12) Fold gold square in half and cut out a smaller square and glue onto the middle of black strip.
13) This is the fknished hat belt.
13) This is the fknished hat belt.
14) Check for size and trim off extra bit.
14) Check for size and trim off extra bit.
15) Cut down to size the top part of the hat, so that it will hold a few gold coins.
15) Cut down to size the top part of the hat, so that it will hold a few gold coins.
16) Paint green top hat.
16) Paint green top hat.
17) Glue on with glue stick the black belt onto the hat.
17) Glue on with glue stick the black belt onto the hat.
18) Paint extra tube orange and cut out eyebrows, glue on to face, and glue on eye.
18) Paint extra tube orange and cut out eyebrows, glue on to face, and glue on eye.
19) Draw and cut out pointed ears from spare tube, draw features.
19) Draw and cut out pointed ears from spare tube, draw features.
20) Now paint the beard in orange, allow to dry.
20) Now paint the beard in orange, allow to dry.
21) Slide in dry green body into the tube with face.
21) Slide in dry green body into the tube with face.
22) Glue beard once you have wrapped it around the bottom of the face. glue at the back.
22) Glue beard once you have wrapped it around the bottom of the face. glue at the back.
23) This is the finished little fellow.
23) This is the finished little fellow.
24) Take disc you cut out (see image 4) trim and add inside of the top hat. This will stop coins falling right through.
24) Take disc you cut out (see image 4) trim and add inside of the top hat. This will stop coins falling right through.
25) Paint the inside of top hat, once dry you can add the chocolate coins.
25) Paint the inside of top hat, once dry you can add the chocolate coins.
26) Here is the finished Leprechaun.
26) Here is the finished Leprechaun.
27) With loose coins inside the hat and some shamrocks.
27) With loose coins inside the hat and some shamrocks.
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Here is how to make an easy cardboard tube shamrock.

These are quick and easy to make and once completed they can be used for decoration or to have kids use them to stamp shamrocks on paper after dipping them in green paint.

Make sure to stick each heart shape evenly and lays flat when placed on paper.

There you have a little Leprechaun made from cardboard inner tubes and some easy shamrocks.

I thought it would be a nice touch to use his top hat to put gold coins in, rather than have a separate container for coins, these would represent the pot of gold, that leprechauns are said to have.

Check out some St. Patrick’s day free printable posters at Baker Ross, easy to download and print off! Also, there are an array of resources that are available to help with your colouring in too!

   SOME TIPS!

    PREPARE THE TUBES.

  • Get all the tubes ready so you have one for the top hat, one for the face, one for the body, and the final one for the beard.
  • So that each tube can fit into the other. You have to cut and squeeze the ends, this way you can twist them in.

    PAINTING.

  • Keep painting the tubes until you get the right coverage, and allow them to dry in between each layer.
  • You can paint a skin colour if you like.

    FOR BEARD.

  • When adding on the beard push it up as far as you can, so it comes under the mouth.

    ELF EARS.

  • You can leave the pointed ears out, although this adds to the elf look.
  • You may need to hold ears in place when glued on as they make drop off but add more glue.

TO CONCLUDE!

I have shown you how you can create an easy St. Patrick’s day leprechaun just by using cardboard inner tubes.

You can make one, or as many little fellows as you like, but with different naughty expressions!

Remember the colour green is what will stop you from getting pinched so don’t forget to wear it on the 17th March!

Check out another fun memorable character I crafted in a previous post. This time it’s British and very Royal and particularly what happens to his hat!

Platinum Jubilee Crafts.
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2 thoughts on “EASY ST. PATRICK’S DAY CRAFT!”

  1. As it was St Patrick’s day yesterday me and the wife did go out for a few drinks and as we were sitting there talking I happened to mention what is this all about.

    I was amazed to read about all the facts associated with this event like St Patrick was not called Patrick and was born in the UK.

    Celebrated in over 200 countries around the world which started in the US. Very interesting read…

    As for the article, I loved it and love the story behind Leprechauns and I wonder if the term “the luck of the Irish” has something to do with this.

    I also like the slider at the end of the post showing us in detail how this leprechaun is made.

    Love the idea of putting chocolates in the hat and incidentally was wearing one of those hats last night.

    The wife is well into her crafts (crochet and knitting) and I will pass your site on to her.

    Great job, Mick

    Reply

    1. Thanks for your comment, Mick! Happy to hear that you liked it and that you celebrate St. Patrick’s day!
      I wanted to wear green on March 17th, but it was Red Nose day, comic relief so in our school we brits wore something red to support
      the charity that helps vulnerable children and families with many issues, but I got to wear a bright green hairband, so I wouldn’t get
      pinched by a Leprechaun! lol.
      So as far as I can gather, the ‘Luck of the Irish’ has a few interpretations, one of which dates back to the second half
      of the 19th century during the Gold and silver rush in the American mining industry, where successful miners were of Irish and Irish Americans and over time
      this is where the saying came from ‘the luck of the Irish in other words extreme good luck and good fortune.
      You could play ‘Guess what’s in my hat?’ if you get to play a game with some kids lol and sing ‘what’s in my hat, what’s in my hat guess what guess what’s in
      my hat! and have some kind of gift, sweets you name it!
      Anyways appreciate you passing on my site to your wife, maybe she could knit a woolly green scarf with Leprechauns on it, just for you!
      Thanks for your feedback.
      Julia.😄

      Reply

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