The saga of the failed shamrock

So when I first had my paper scraps from the Lucky Garland, I had a great idea.

I grabbed my ModPodge and started layering on the scraps.

 About this time I was really tired of the smell of the glue and hating the look of it.  But, might as well finish.

Oh. My.  Not good.  Not happy.  What to do?  So I mixed some green with the ModPodge and went over the whole thing.

Not any better.  Worse?

Ah, the savior!  It's even called 'Clover'.

I just painted the whole thing.  So now it has in interesting texture!  And its not completely a failure.

Hanging out with his friends.

Shamrock Shirts

The kiddos are all ready for Thursday!  I'll leave it up to you to figure out which shirt goes with which kid!

Ok, maybe this one is obvious.  I got the shirt from Target and added the letters.

These two were clearance at target.  I picked off the pockets and added the shamrock and words.

Shirt from Hobby Lobby.

Thanks for reading!

Family Friday - Irish Week

I was trying to decide how to do Family Friday with Irish Week and realized that we had our old pictures from our Ireland trip still on photo CD's.  They really needed to be loaded and saved onto our external hard drive that we use for photos.  So I am going to share some pictures of when we were a family of two!  The quality is questionable.  Digital processing from 11 years ago!

This is me, in the middle of the road between the peat bogs.

Clonmacnoise.  An old monastery site.  Beautiful.  Sacred.  Right on the River Shannon.  These colors aren't exactly true, but we were there in November and Ireland was still quite green.

This is called the 'whisper arch' - one of the buildings at Clonmacnoise.  I could stand in the middle and whisper, and Mr. Riley could hear me across the building. (I look like a deer in the headlights!)

An old Norman(?) Castle near Clonmacnoise.  The US just doesn't have history like this!

One of the biggest trees I have ever seen.  It is on the grounds of Kilkenny Castle.  Mr Riley and I are sitting on the roots of the trunk.

Hope you all have a happy Friday and a good weekend!
Thanks for reading!

Paper Circles Covered Shamrock - Tutorial

If you saw my tutorial on the Lucky Garland yesterday, I mentioned I'd show you what to do with the scraps. 

I simply took my pile of scraps...

And cut them into circles - free hand.  Perfection isn't necessary here.

I cut out a clover shape from some foam board. 

And started gluing on the circles.  I used tacky glue.  This gave me some time if I needed to move the circles around a bit as I overlapped them.

And the finished shamrock - ready for the wall.

Here it is hanging out with some friends.

The bottom one is fabric covered.  The middle one is painted.  It will get it's own story next week.

Guest Blogging

Hello!  Today you can find me as a guest blogger over at My World - Made by Hand.

I am showing you how to make my Lucky Garland.

Tomorrow, I'll show you what to do with all those paper scraps.

Irish Week - Tablecloths

Alright, today's post is real deep.  Tablecloths.

Directions:

• Measure Table
• Go to fabric store
• Buy fabric long enough and wide enough to cover table
• Iron Fabric
• Put on table

Now, you may want to finish the ends.  I turned mine over twice and stitched.  I didn't even bother to trim off the selvage.  You could just seal them with fray check if you don't sew.  Or you could do a fancy rolled hem if you have a Serger. and use it. and understand it.  (mine sits in a box)

The End

  
*Today is the last day to enter the CSN giveaway!

Irish Week - Easy Shamrock Framed Picture

 First order of business - don't forget the giveaway for a $20 gift code to CSN stores!

Second - I've decided to declare this week:

Irish Week

@ The Life of Riley 

My baby turns 1 on the 18th, and I married into an Irish Family (well at least the name is Irish).  So I am embracing the holiday this year and decorating.

Here is a glimpse of what's coming up.

I've got a tutorial today for the picture frame shamrocks and one coming up for the garland.  I've also got in the works a shamrock collage for the wall, some embellished T-shirts for the kids and easy-peasy table cloths.

Lets get started on the framed shamrocks.

You will need a picture frame with a mat.  Some felt shamrock stickers.  Orange cardstock.  Fabric or paper if you want to wrap the frame.

First, cut some of the card stock to tape onto the back of the frame.  It doesn't have to be perfectly squared up, no one will know.

Put on your stickers.  (no picture of this step - I'm sure you can figure it out!)

Now for the fame - I didn't want the blond wood, so I decided to cover it up with some orange fabric (you can read about it here)

Cut out a rectangle large enough to wrap around to the back of your frame.

I taped it in place.  Lame, I know.  But nice and temporary!  If you want something a little more permanent, go ahead and glue it down.

Now, cut an 'X' in the middle up to the corners and trim off the extra triangles

Wrap around to the back and tape. 

Pretty, huh?  Put your picture frame back together.

And.....a nice, easy and temporary St. Patrick's Day decoration.

Tomorrow - tablecloths.