DIY Thursdays: St. Patrick’s Day Crafts for You and the Entire Family

St. Patrick’s Day is more than just drinking green beer and wearing green clothes. It is a time where families take a moment to step away from their every day, fast-paced lifestyle and spend quality family time together.

Here are some fun crafts that parents can do with their children to teach them about St. Patrick’s Day as well as so to spend time together without spending a lot of money.

Try-On Leprechaun

What you will need:

• Small mirror ( 4 to 5 inches wide)
• Printable templates from here
• Craft foam
• Tacky glue

Instructions:

1. Use a small mirror as the base.
2. Download the above template for the craft foam pieces or you can make your own.
3. Use the tacky glue to attach the pieces to the mirror

Shamrock Crystals

What you will need:

• Borax
• Boiling water
• A wide mouth glass mason jar
• Green and white pipe cleaners
• String
• A pencil
• Food coloring

Instructions:

1. Twist your pipe cleaner into a desired shape. You can download free templates from the internet of shamrocks for the kids and you to look at.
2. In each mason jar place 3 cups of boiling water and a 1/2 cup of Borax. Remember that the more saturated your solution is, the larger your crystals will be.
3. Stir solution until all of the borax is dissolved and the solution is clear. Add food coloring as desired.
4. Tie a string around the tail of the shamrock and tie the other end to a pencil. Gently lower the shamrock into the solution making sure that it is not touching any sides of the bottom. Set the jar in a safe spot that will not be disturbed.
5. For best result let this sit overnight.
6. Gently cut off the string and display in your window.

St. Patty’s Day in a Jar

What you will need:

• Large mason jar
• Pack of golden coin candy
• Large bag of skittles
• Mini marshmallows
• Ribbon
• Personalized tags (optional)

Instructions

1. Drop 5 small packs of golden candies into the bottom of a large mason jar.
2. Open a large bag of skittles and dump it into a bowl.
3. Separate each of the colors into piles. You can also combine like colors like blue & purple, orange & yellow, and so on.
4. Pour the skittles, color by color, on top of the golden coins. Start with the purple and end with the red on the top.
5. Top your Skittles off with mini marshmallows to ensure that the Skittles won’t move around.
6. Place the lid on the top. Tie a ribbon and sign on it that says “St. Patty’s Day in a jar” or “Lucky rainbow in a jar.”
7. Your jar is now ready to mail or eat.

Jessica Williams is Consolidated Credit’s Marketing Communications New Media Coordinator. As a member of the education team, Jessica focuses on helping consumers make better financial decisions while living debt-free. She has previously worked with Take Stock In Children, where she was a mentor and communications specialist, and SouthPromo.com, where she managed community relations, event planning, marketing, and public relations. Jessica attended both the University of Florida and the University of Central Florida where she received her B.S. in Interpersonal/Organizational Communications and Marketing. Connect with Jessica on Google+.