Celebrate St Patrick’s Day with Crafts, Foods and Fun

Celebrate St Patrick’s Day with Food, Fun and Crafts
By Beth Engelman
From Mommyonashoestring.com

St Patrick’s Day is around the corner and that can mean only one thing, it’s time to celebrate with a tip of our hat to shamrocks, leprechauns, and lots of green food coloring. Did you know that if you catch a leprechaun, he MUST give you his pot of gold?

Leprechaun Trap
Mischief abounds with this tricky trap that is not what it seems. A paper-mâché shoe sits atop a disguised “hollow” box.

Materials: An old shoe, aluminum foil, newspaper, Mod Podge, paint, construction paper, ribbon and an empty cardboard box.

Directions:

To Make the Paper-Mâché Shoe:
• Cover an old shoe with aluminum foil to make a mold. If you don’t have an old shoe, visit your favorite second hand store!
• Cover the aluminum shoe mold with Mod Podge and newspaper. Allow “shoe” to dry for at least 24 hours.
• Paint the shoe or cover it with decorative paper. Add shoe straps with ribbon or additional paper-mâché.
• Do a little dance because the shoe is so cute…it rivals Jimmy Choo!

To Make the “Hollow” Box
• Remove the top of an old box.
• Cover the entire box with construction paper so it looks like a solid box.

Position the Trap
• Place the shoe on top of the box.
• When the Leprechaun sees the shoe, he will want to fetch it (since he is a cobbler by trade). Unfortunately for the Leprechaun, when he hops up onto the box to get the shoe, he will fall into the hollow box and get trapped.
A really fun follow up to this activity, is to hide the shoe while your children are asleep. In the morning they will be amazed to see the trap was touched and the shoe is missing! You might even leave a surprise treat or leprechaun written-note as a way of congratulating your children on their fine effort. I recommend signing each note, “better luck next time,” as a way of keeping the tradition alive for years to come.

“Potato” Candies
Satisfy your sweet tooth with these yummy candies that look like potatoes and taste like cheesecake!
Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
8 oz low-fat cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 1/2 cups flaked coconut (optional)
2- 3 tablespoons cinnamon

Directions
Beat butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners’ sugar and continue to mix until smooth. If desired, mix in the coconut. Roll into balls or potato shapes, and roll in the cinnamon. Place onto a cookie sheet and chill to set. If desired, roll potatoes in cinnamon again for darker color!

Make Green Bath Bombs
(Or at least a fizzy green one!)
Thanks to Megan from Metropolis Bath and Body for this delightful idea that will turn your kids bathtub into a green river!
Ingredients
2 parts baking soda
1 part cornstarch
1 part citric acid (optional, but helps the fizz ~available at most grocery stores)
1-2 tsp vegetable oil *
green food coloring
*If the fizz balls don’t seem to stay together well add more vegetable oil to bond the ingredients together.

Directions
Mix all of the dry ingredients together then add oil. Carefully add the green food coloring, making sure not to add too much which would activate the baking soda. Roll into balls and let dry on wax paper Drop 1-2 fizz balls into the bath and watch the green fizz go!

“Do the Mashed Potato” Buffet
Thank you to entertaining hostess Jeanne Benedict for this terrific idea.
Create a mashed potato buffet with usual and unusual toppings. Here are some of my family’s faves….
• Cheese slices (Cheddar, Swiss, Parmesan, etc)
• Low-fat sour cream
• Turkey bacon bits
• Chopped chicken
• Spinach soufflé
• Chives
• Sunflowers seeds
• Italian Dressing
• Cottage cheese
• Broccoli
• Teriyaki chicken breast slices

Lucky Crayons
Do you have a pile of broken crayons that have seen better days? Do you struggle to explain to you children that just because the crayons are broken, they still work? Give your kids good luck and your crayons a second chance with this easy and inexpensive craft. Gather a pile of green, yellow and blue crayons (in honor of St Patrick’s Day). Peel the papers off the crayons. Break the crayons into 1-inch pieces. Place crayons in a muffin tin (sprayed with non-stick spray) or letter molds (available at most craft stores). If using a letter mold spell out the word LUCK! Place in an oven at 150 degrees for 15 minutes. Allow to cool. Carefully pop the crayons out of the mold! Your kids will love their new lucky green crayons and you will love knowing no crayons were hurt to make this craft! A word of caution: PLEASE hand wash the tins / mold after use. Do not place any crayons remnants in your dishwasher!!!!

To learn more about Beth and Mommy on a shoestring visit: mommyonashoestring.com

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