St. Patty's Decor Without Having to Spend A Pot of Gold

It's officially March! That must mean Spring is right around the corner, right? Mother nature teased us a little in Minnesota this past weekend. Although it hasn't been too terrible of a Winter, I am ready for more sunshine!

But, whether it's filled with rain, snow, or sunshine, March brings St. Patrick's Day celebrations! With Easter being in March this year, I know many people skip getting festive for the Irish holiday, but I can't help trying to squeeze in decor for both. Why not have some St. Patty's decor until mid-March and then switch over to Easter pastels? You can always leave those treasures up through April!

With the decor being up for a short timeframe each year, you probably don't want to spend a lot. Here are some simple ideas that won't cost you a pot of gold.

1. Canvas Glitter Shamrock

Supplies:

• 8 x 10 canvas (These often come in packs and you can get them on sale at local craft stores)

• Piece of green scrapbook paper (I went with glitter)

• Shamrock clip-art cut out for template

• Pen/pencil for tracing

• Scissors

This one is pretty easy. Print off a shamrock template and cut it out. I just searched clip-art shamrock on Google images. Position it on the paper, trace, and cut-out. If you trace on the back of the paper, make sure you flip your template around, so you don't end up with a backwards shamrock. Choose your glue of choice (I used hot glue with the thicker paper) and attach to the canvas. And, voila decor!

2. Subway Art and Green Flowers

Supplies:

• Cheap 8x10 frame (I re-use this for a bunch of holiday stuff)

• Free printable

• Green bottle vase (I got mine at Dollar Tree, but have seen similar things at craft stores)

• 2 bunches of green flowers (Dollar Tree has had these every year- $1 each)

• St. Patrick's Day Ribbon (Available at Joann Fabrics or craft stores)

For the subway art, I picked up a cheap frame at Target (less than $5) that I re-use for things like this. You can either print the file on a color printer or if you want a higher quality print, I recommend printing it as an 8x10 at Target or Costco Photo. The prints usually cost between $2-$3. Pop it in the frame and you're good to go.

For the flowers, I picked up the $1 green vase, grabbed two bunches of the flowers and topped it off with leftover ribbon my friend had from her St. Patty's crafts. The ribbon would be inexpensive to buy though!

3. LUCK Letters

Supplies:

• 3 wood letters (L,C,K) and 1 horseshoe wood cutout (Available at Michaels $2-$4 a piece)

• Green acrylic paint or spray paint ($.50 - $2)

• Gold acrylic paint or spray paint ($.50 - $2)

This project is probably the most time consuming of the bunch, but it turns out super cute. Lay down tarp or wax paper and paint the L, C, and K green. You may need to do a couple of coats. Make sure to let the letters dry in between coats. Paint the horseshoe gold using the same directions. I used acrylic paint -- it's cheap and works well. If you spray paint, remember to do light layers as well. Caking it on in the beginning doesn't leave as nice of a coat of paint.

4. Banners

Supplies:

• Spritz Banner ($4 at Target)

• Shamrock foam cutouts ($1 per pack Dollar Tree)

• Glue

• A trip to Goodwill?

With finally having a fireplace, this was my new project for this year. First, I crafted the shamrock banner. I picked up the pre-made banner in a light green from the Target party decor aisle. I thought the lighter green would compliment the darker green shamrocks. I could have gotten by with one pack of shamrocks but the packs had different shades of green, so I grabbed two since they were so cheap, so that I could make a pattern of sorts. I glued the shamrocks on and was done! 

To create the double-banner look, I picked up the "Lucky" burlap banner from Goodwill. It was brand new! Pro tip: If you miss items on Target clearance after a holiday, the items are salvaged and sent to local Goodwills. If they get several of an item Goodwill usually keeps them stored up and then puts them out as new product around the holiday. These banners were $3 in last year's dollar section at Target, but selling for only $1 at Goodwill this year! You can also find some brand new Easter decor right now that was straight from Target last year. Who knew?!

If you don't get lucky at Goodwill, Target has had several banners for each holiday in the dollar section and usually some nicer Threshold brand banners in the home section. These are great items to get on clearance after a holiday.

Stay tuned for how to transition those Valentine's Day apothecary jars!