I WAS GIVEN A ST. PATRICK'S DAY CHALLENGE!

So just as I was about to be finished with all of my St. Patrick's Day projects and do a little post on some small projects I've done, my package arrived in the mail from Donna at Distressed Donna Down Home.  

 Remember last week when she sent me a beautiful handmade post card warning me that the St. Pat's were coming and I didn't really know what that meant?  Normally a package from Donna is a sheer delight!  But, they are not usually preceded by a warning!  Now I know why!  It all looked innocent enough.... tied up in a pretty little bundle, wrapped in tissue paper with a hand stamped tag on the front.....

 Here's what that tag says......

  Hmmmmm....a craft challenge.  That was new to me and I am not a girl to back down from a challenge.  Let's take a look at the materials inside.....

 5 cute St. Patrick's post cards, 3 Shamrock tags and 1 piece of blue-green ribbon, plus a lot of green tissue paper.  I decided right from the start to make one project using all of it. Probably in hindsight, I would do it differently now, but, I had a couple of hours to spare and thought I would just get after it.
I decided on a vertical banner. .

Now I don't mind telling you that two things in this package drove me crazy....
This post card....

(Really...what is that girl doing with a giant shamrock and a pig??!!)  She was off center and the colors didn't match anything else in the package, and neither did that funky bluegreen ribbon.  It was maddening for me.  I'm a girl who likes things to match and balance.  But...the challenge was to use it all and so I did....I made this little Irish Banner....

Here's a quick run down, just incase you think I didn't use it all, Donna!  

• I trimmed the images out of the post cards. 
• Punched some gold circles out of the tags.
• Folded the tissue to use as a background.
• Fastened it all to the folded tissue using glue dots.
• Adhered the rest of the tags to the back side for support.
• Used one of the eyelets from a tag as a hanger for the top.
• Used the tag strings as a bottom piece and added some beads.
• Hung it up using that funky green ribbon at the top.         

It might not be my favorite  St. Patrick's decoration, but it was by far, the most fun!!  Thank you Donna, for a fun challenge! (And just so you know....I'll be using that funky blue-green ribbon for another project!)
Now, if anyone else wants to send me a package of fun stuff for a craft challenge, please do because I enjoyed doing this and it certainly made me think outside of the box! 

MY IRISH ROSE WARNING

This may be my last St. Patrick's Day project for this season.  It also may be my favorite.

 Rather vintage looking isn't she?  I guess that's one of the things I love about holiday decor....it gives you a theme that any style can fit into.  Believe it or not, that sweet looking girl in the frame arrived in my mail box as a warning.  That's right, a warning.  A warning from a friend no less.  It came as a beautiful handmade postcard from my friend Donna at Distressed Donna Down Home.

 It was a beautiful card (the image came from The Graphics Fairy) and you wouldn't normally find her frightening, but the warning was that "the St. Pat's are coming" and I should be watching my mailbox.  I don't know what the means....but I'm kind of afraid/excited to check my mailbox every day.  I'm a little bit terrified that she's going to send me some of those creepy "Frozen Charlottes" that she's so fond of.  I mean, with Donna, you never know....she did send me these zombie sheep at Halloween.....

 

However, I couldn't resist using that pretty postcard in a project, especially since I had a frame that seemed perfect for it.

 Back when I made the Valentines French Toile Frame for the Inspiration Cafe, I also snagged a 4 X 6 frame for the same price.  Such a deal...but it was way too white and shiny for this girl, so I used 3 different colors of craft paint and some antiquing gel to age it until it looked like this.....

 You can see that I cut the girl out of the post card and added a piece of green non-woven fabric paper for a textured background.  (If you don't know what non-woven fabric paper is, you can read about it HERE.  Awesome stuff.)
All I needed now was a little embellishment.  I decided on some vintage buttons.  It's possible that I got carried away with the buttons and may have forgot the lesson that "less is more".   

 I have so much fun every time I open that awesome box of buttons that I can't help myself!  They were a gift from another blogger and if you want, you can read about it HERE.  So the whole time I was working on this project that old song "Wild Irish Rose" was stuck in my head.  I'm not going to post another video song, but I'm finished with this project and the song is what I think of when I look at this girl in the frame.

" Her glances are shy when e'er I pass by
The bower, where my true love grows;
And my one wish has been that some day I may win
The heart of my wild Irish Rose."

 Thank you Donna!

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SHAMROCK CONTAINER - 5 MINUTE PROJECT

Ummm another project made from something I was going to throw away.  It took me 5 minutes and cost me almost nothing.

Lemi Shine is the best product for removing hard water residue on your glassware and dishes.  Just add it to your dishwasher.  Then, don't throw away that cute little container.  Peel off the label...it's not even glued on.

These are some stickers I got after St. Patrick's Day last year...1/2 price.  I always get my seasonal stuff after the holidays are over.

Apply the stickers to the container.

Wait for magic leprechaun to appear.

 Fill with whatever you like.  I think I'll fill mine with Lucky Charms...or maybe green m&m's and give it to the Golden Child.

Sláinte! 

 
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THE KERRY DANCE - FRAMING A MEMORY

I love Irish music!  The lively fiddles, the merry flutes and the beautiful words about lovely green glens.  
I'm not Irish, I didn't grow up in an Irish household with my mother singing "Irish Lullabye" all the time.  But there is one Irish song that I do remember my mother singing.  My sister, Jennifer and I would always ask her to sing it because we loved it so.  It is called "Kerry Dance" and I made this frame to remind me of it.

The framed first line of this song is a nice addition to some of my other St. Patrick's Day decor.

 It's a lovely song and really, you should listen to just a minute of it.

 

(If I can get my sister Jennifer to sing it, I'll post that video for you because she has a beautiful voice and I would love for you to hear it.)

The Kerry dance itself is a type of dancing done in county Kerry in Ireland. It is also called "Rince Fada".  It is said to be an earlier form of the Virginia Reel, but the Kerry Dance is livelier with more high stepping and fancier footwork.  You can see an example of The Kerry Dance in this video.....

 The song itself is a reminisce of days gone by.  I have heard this song both fast and slow.  Sung quickly, it's a merry dance tune.  When sung slowly, it's more like a beautiful lullabye.  Here are the lyrics, in case you are interested.

 Kerry Dance

Oh, the days of the Kerry dancing
Oh, the ring of the piper's tune
Oh, for one of those hours of gladness
Gone, alas, like our youth, too soon.

When the boys began to gather
In the glen of a summer's night
And the Kerry piper's tuning
Made us long with wild delight!
Oh, to think of it
Oh, to dream of it
Fills my heart with tears!

Was there ever a sweeter Colleen
In the dance than Eily More
Or a prouder lad than Thady
As he boldly took the floor.

Lads and lasses to your places
Up the middle and down again
Ah, the merry hearted laughter
Ringing through the happy glen!
Oh, to think of it
Oh, to dream of it
Fills my heart with tears!

Time goes on, and the happy years are dead
And one by one the merry hearts are fled
Silent now is the wild and lonely glen
Where the bright glad laugh will echo ne'er again
Only dreaming of days gone by in my heart I hear.

Loving voices of old companions
Stealing out of the past once more
And the sound of the dear old music
Soft and sweet as in days of yore.

When the boys began to gather
In the glen of a summer's night
And the Kerry piper's tuning
Made us long with wild delight!
Oh, to think of it
Oh, to dream of it
Fills my heart with tears!

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SHAMROCK WALL DECOR Mystery revealed and Tutorial

I asked yesterday if you could guess what this is made of..... 

If I had told you that it could be found in your dairy aisle at the supermarket, it might have been too easy to guess.

A few of you guessed it....
The Feral Turtle - who has one of the most amazing recycle projects I have ever seen!  See it HERE. 
Distressed Donna Distressed Donna Down Home - killer vintage makeovers and cutest tags EVER!
What We Keep - Tina actually  got out a ruler and measured a package of this cheese to be sure! Gotta love that!
Del's Shells - who makes fabulous jewelry with some amazing shells.  (I know because I have some of it.) 
Pondered Primed Perfected {P3} - who just made the coolest Lazy Suzanne..see it HERE. 
Thanks for all the fun guesses everyone!

Yep, those cute little wedges of cheese come in the most awesome cardboard circle box that I never really thought about until the other day.(I think in some places it's also called "Laughing Cow Cheese".)  Here is something I never noticed about them.....

 Uh-huh...they have these two little holes already punched in the side of them.  I have no idea why, but I did instantly have an idea of what to do with them!  A St. Patrick's Day Wall Hanging!
First I had to cover up the labels.  I decided on some fabric, because I have a lot of green fabric...it's my favorite color.

I cut some circles out of some green fabric.  If you want a great tip on how to make fabric stiff enough to use in crafting without fraying and still be pliable, you can find it HERE.    
I attached the circles to the front and back of the container with a little ModPodge.  

I also cut a couple of smaller circles out of some pretty contrasting paper and applied them to the center of the fabric circle.  I made a little shamrock template out of some plastic, traced around it on yet another piece of fabric and applied it with ModPodge as well.
Pretty much ended up looking like this....

Now before I put the front and back of the box together, I needed to figure out how to hang it.  Enter this awesome Goodwill score

 Oh yes...green silk corded tassels.....and on half price day too, making them a quarter each!  Perfect!  I taped the end of one off, cut it, slid it through those two strange little holes in the box and made a loop for hanging.  Then I covered the sides of the box with a couple of strips of fabric that I cut notches into to accommodate the cording.

 

Just a touch of bling around the edges and I'm finished!

  Not too shabby for something that was about to go in the trash bin.

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