How to Make a Paper Shamrock

I decided that our house needed another St. Patrick’s Day decoration. I chose to get the scrapbook paper out and decided on this paper shamrock.

This shamrock was actually pretty easy to put together. That is after I figured out that I should use the low setting on my hot glue gun instead of the high. Figured that out after burning my finger. Can you tell this is the second time I have ever used it? If you don’t want to use a hot glue gun, you can use liquid glue or glue dots. It depends on what you are comfortable using. If you plan to do this as kid’s craft, I would not use the hot glue gun.

What you will need:

• Hot Glue Gun (or other type of glue)
• 12 x 12 Scrapbook Paper in 2 shades of green (make sure it is double sided paper)
• Paper Cutter
• Ribbon, yarn, or string (for hanging)

Need Supplies?

Blusmart 100-Watt Industrial Glue Gun High Temperature Hot Melt Glue Gun with 10pcs Glue Sticks,Dark GreenElmer’s Washable School Glue 4 Fl Oz / 118 Ml (Pack of 6)ColorBok 73477A Smooth Cardstock Paper Pad Green Promenade, 12Creative Ideas Solid Grosgrain Ribbon, 1-1/2-Inch by 50-Yard, Emerald Green

Instructions for Paper Shamrock:

Cut your paper into 1.5 inch wide strips. You will need 4 strips of each shade of green to make the shamrock leaves. Choose which color you want for the inside part of the leaves. Cut those strips down to an 8 inch length. This will allow it to nest inside the larger part of the leaf. For the stem, you will need 1 strip of your color choice.

Fold your strips in half. Then curl each strip and glue the ends together to form a heart.

To assemble the leaf, place a line of glue in the fold of the larger heart. Place a small heart into the fold. On the smaller heart, put a line of glue where the ends come together. Place the ends of the larger heart into the smaller heart to connect them. Repeat for all the leaves.

To assemble the shamrock, glue the hearts together where the points come together. Make sure the stem is in the middle of the shamrock. Here is the layout for putting it together. You can curl the stem just  a bit so that way it doesn’t stick straight down.

If you want to hang it attach a ribbon or yarn to shamrock to hang it. You can either glue it in as part of your shamrock or string it through the shamrock itself.

You can hang a few of these from your mantle or windows to help decorate your house. How did you decorate for St. Patrick’s Day?