Who is Saint Patrick and why do we celebrate him?
Saint Patrick, who lived during the fifth century, is the patron saint of Ireland and its national apostle. Born in Roman Britain, he was kidnapped and brought to Ireland as a slave at the age of 16. He later escaped, but returned to Ireland and was credited with bringing Christianity to its people.
Do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? I tend to change over our decor from Valentine’s Day and go straight to Easter; however, I usually try to work some green into my outfit on March 17th. I went to college at Georgia Southern University, which is 45 minutes west of Savannah. If you know anything about Savannah, you know that city goes hard for St. Patrick’s Day! They dye the Savannah River green and people from all over flock to River Street for the Irish festivities. I always steered clear of that chaos but had teammates who were diehard and would brave that madness to celebrate. They would go to the craft store to get shamrock material, make homemade dresses and wear any other green accessories they could find. One of my roommates always commemorated the occasion by stocking our fridge with a Heineken mini keg … that she drank single handedly. That gives me a headache just thinking about it.
Fast forward to motherhood, and now it’s a reason to have fun with extra crafts and all things rainbow. When St. Patrick’s Day rolled around last year, we were almost one week into what was only supposed to be a two week quarantine. There was so much uncertainty and fear in the world that planning anything fun for my girls on that day didn’t really happen. I do remember making some homemade muffins with fruity pebbles … and they were terrible!
This year for St. Patrick’s Day, we are celebrating one year of the pandemic under our belt, our health and the hope that the end of all of this is near. So here’s a few fun things you can incorporate into your day. Enjoy!
How To Catch A Leprechaun
When you were in elementary school, did a leprechaun visit your classroom on St. Patrick’s Day while you were at lunch or recess? I have a vivid memory of this from when I was in Kindergarten. I believe we were coming back from the library. The lights were off and when Mrs. Miller turned them on, we realized that things were knocked over, books were scattered, supplies were spilled, chairs were either overturned or on top of our tables. It was a disaster. But then we noticed gold coins hidden around the room. The back door of our class that led to a little courtyard was open so our teacher suggested that maybe the leprechaun ran out that way and we should go see if we could find him. So of course we all went out there trying to catch him. I remember someone saying they saw him jumping over the trees in the distance and I can still picture that exact image in my head. I would have bet anything I had seen a leprechaun that day jumping over those trees. I probably tried to convince my mom when she picked me up that day. Childhood is such a magical time.
Each month, we receive a box from Craft+Boogie filled with themed crafts and activities. This month is obviously themed with all things green and rainbow for St. Patrick’s Day. One of the fun things also included in this box are instructions on how to catch a leprechaun so I’d thought it would be fun to share those with you:
Take a walk outside and look around. Leprechauns burrow underground in a secret network of caves. Do you see any small holes in the dirt?
Listen closely. They love music, so you might hear them playing the fiddle or the Irish harp at night.
If you spot one, look him in the eye. According to fairy law, leprechauns must be polite and look at you in return. But if you look away, they are free to disappear!
Build a trap with shiny decorations, four-leaf clovers and rainbows to attract them.
Put a gold coin inside your trap for bait. Leprechauns live in the wild and eat nuts, so you could make a nutty snack and put that in the trap too.
Once you catch a leprechaun, beware of the tricks he’ll play! He’ll give you three wishes and a gold coin. But leprechauns are smart and devious, so he might try to trick you into making the wrong wishes. Don’t trust him!
Leprechauns watch the golden treasure that was left by Danish invaders more than 1,000 years ago. According to fairy law, the leprechaun will have to tell you where the gold is hidden.
I encourage you to go visit Craft+Boogie over on Instagram as well as their website. They have so much to offer aside from monthly themed boxes. We also have the Road Trip Travel Kit which is a big hit! And in addition to their retail side, they also are a non-profit, Craft+Boogie Collective. This entity of Craft+Boogie focuses their efforts on getting crafts into the hands of children in foster care, students in under-resourced schools, and families needing emergency food and clothing relief. It’s truly a mission worth supporting. I dedicated an entire blog post to it last year that you can find here to read more.
To save, shop with code MULTIPLYINGMICHIE10.
Over The Rainbow Pancakes
First things first, if you haven’t tried Funfetti’s new pancake mix you need to go pick it up, Instacart, Target Drive Up, Walmart Pick Up, something. Hands down the best and that’s saying a lot because I used to search high and low to get Hungry Jack’s Light & Fluffy mix, which is still a great option if you either don’t have kids or aren’t #teamsprinkles.
Here’s what you will need:
Pancake Mix (and any ingredients listed on box)
Food Coloring
Whipped Cream
Rainbow Candy
Rainbow pancakes are obviously a little more time consuming between splitting batter and mixing colors; however, it’s not too bad once you come to terms with the patience you need when actually cooking them. 🙂 I’ve been making pink pancakes for my girls for the last few Valentine’s Day. We would mix the perfect shade of pink, pour them on our electric griddle and watch that pink fade to brown. Ugh. Lesson learned so here’s the secret: Cook colored pancakes on a lower temperature and cook them unevenly. Let me explain– the hotter the temperature of your griddle, the more likely they are to turn brown. I normally whip up a regular batch of pancakes at 350F or 375F. For these, I turned it down to 250F. I let the pancake cook just long enough to be able to slip my spatula underneath it and then I flipped it over. Voila! The color was still there! And now here’s the cooking unevenly part– to ensure your pancake is cooked thoroughly, cook this side a little bit longer and since it may turn slightly brown you can serve that side facing down.
Once your pancakes are ready, stack them up, add 2 whipped cream clouds and add a rainbow candy. So cute! And delicious!
Pot Of Cold Gold Coins
Here’s what you’ll need:
Balloons or Ice Tray
Water
Coins (we used pennies to look like gold)
Small Hammer or Child-size Tools
Find a sink spout in your house that will fit the end of a balloon. I found it easier to get the pennies into the balloons if I put a little water in them to rid of the talc powder. I then put 5 pennies in each balloon and filled them until they were just smaller than the size of my fist, tied them off, placed them in a bowl and put them in the freezer. I used a bowl because of freezer space, however you could use a baking sheet to create flatter shapes. If you have an ice tray, you can do the same thing. Recommendation — if you want the coins to be dispersed around the the ice block rather than together, squeeze the balloon to carefully move around the slush every so often until they are solid. If you are using ice trays and want to achieve the same thing, just freeze in layers.
Once ready to “dig” for treasure, peel away the balloons or pop the cubes from the ice tray. For inside play, place them in a baking dish and just take that into consideration with the tools you use to get the coins out. Or if you have nice weather, play right on your driveway or patio! I have a small hammer that Laney used and Morgan used some of her Melissa & Doug wooden tools. Morgan also later resorted to letting them drop and shatter until she could get the coins out, which she thought was so funny to watch the ice pieces go everywhere.
I hope you and your littles uncover lots of treasure! I wanted to be that extra mom by drawing a chalk rainbow and placing these in the clouds, however, I think we have used up all of our chalk as I couldn’t find any so time to get a new pack for spring! But there’s that idea for a cute photo op. You’re welcome. 🙂
The girls loved this activity and Laney told me it was “the most fun ever!” It was also a lengthy activity which was fun for me too. 😉 Enjoy!
And because we are just over two weeks away from our 10th wedding anniversary and had our pastor incorporate this into our ceremony, I’ll leave you with this Irish prayer:
May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind blow at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
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