With two ND alums in our house, you can bet our house is filled with Irish spirit, if not Irish blood, year round.  St. Patrick’s Day is a momentous celebration around here, not only because of our Fighting Irish schooling, but also because it typically signals the beginning of Spring – the first outdoor town celebration of the year, complete with parade, with weather warm enough to actually enjoy a few hours in the great outdoors.  I saw countless crafts online celebrating wee little leprechauns… but they are little red-headed, bearded men.  And as it turns out, according to Irish lore, there is no such thing as a Leprechaun Girl.  But that didn’t stop my girls from creating their own Leprechaun Girl masks.

A Wee, Little Leprechaun Girl

Not only is Big M a willing blog activity model, she now requests daily afternoon projects, and wants to style the photo shoot to go with them.  My Mom, and the girls’ MerMer, is in town for the week, and we have been busy playing, and starting to pack for our move.  After a particularly busy morning, Big M came down from quiet time eager for a project… and I had nothing planned.  Since today was supposed to be our St. Patrick’s Day Parade (rescheduled to next week due to rain), I decided a little Leprechaun project was just what we needed.  I hit the craft closet to round up supplies.

Supplies:

Paper plate
Orange, yellow, and black construction paper
Green foam
Dollar Store foam shamrocksGlue stick
Green popsicle sticks

Cost: Less than $5
Prep Time: Less than 5 minutes
Clean-Up Time: Less than 5 minutes

The best part about projects on the fly is they usually are simple, with easy set-up and clean-up.  To start, I cut out the center of two paper plates, leaving just the rim as the base for our Leprechaun Girl masks.  Next, I traced the top 1/3 of the plate on the orange construction paper to make the bangs.  Big M was more than eager to practice her scissor skills, so I drew lines on the orange paper to let her cut the fringe for the bangs.  While she was busy cutting, I cut long strips for both girls to glue on as hair.  Of course, Big M wanted to try this too.

Finally, it was time for the traditional Leprechaun hat.  I had green foam to make a top hat, but I also had some green foam crowns from the Dollar Store.  I let Big M choose, and she, of course, picked the crown.  I cut out black and yellow construction pieces to make a buckle and let the girls glue those on, along with a sparkly shamrock.  Last but not least, I glued on the green popsicle stick with hot glue as a handle for their mask.

Big M was ready to model her mask, and instructed Lil’ M to sit on the steps with her.  Lil’ M, however, thought the mask would make a better hat.  The outtakes on this one are pretty hysterical! Big M trying to show and tell her sister had to wear her mask, and Lil’ M just wanting to pull it all apart and put the whole thing over her head.

Does your town celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?  What is your favorite tradition for the Irish Saint’s feast day?  You can find all our St. Patrick’s Day Crafts and Activities here. For more great St. Patrick’s Day activities, recipes and ideas, be sure to check out our St. Patrick’s Day board on Pinterest.