St. Patty's Day Project Part 2

 St. Patty's Day 4 Leaf Clover Wreath:
You will need:
Cardboard- big enough for the letter size you would like & thick enough to not be wobbly
Frame
Ribbon
Scissors
Hot glue gun
Felt square(s)- I had to use two as my letter was slightly bigger than one.
About 30 little shamrocks/ four leaf clovers from the previous post

The first step is to figure out how big you want your letter, draw it on to the cardboard and cut it out.  I didn't take pictures of this step- oops!  If you want you can always use your computer to print out a letter and then copy it on to the cardboard, but I just used a pencil and drew it until I liked what I saw and then cut it out.  Notice my letter has a few little places missing on it- they just happened to be in box that I used! 

Next, you will lay it face down on the felt and then cut around it.  I glued it to the felt first and then cut it out, but I think it would be easier to use a sharpie and draw on the felt where you want to cut it- then cut it.  Notice that I cut tabs up to the edge of the letter.  That will help to make everything nice and flat when you start gluing them down.

Using a hot glue gun, you will glue down all the tabs working your way around the letter.  The corners can be cut out so that they will glue down easier:

Here is what it looks like from the front:  (Not very pretty and there is one little gap, but it will work!)

Then you will start gluing the shamrocks on to your letter:  (A little bit of hot glue goes a long way!)

I placed mine in a random pattern, but they also look nice all facing the same direction.  Here it is finished before the frame:

Next, I took a little bit of ribbon, looped it around the letter and duck taped it to the back of the frame.  I was glad I taped it, because since a "B" hangs a little bit off center it took a few tries to get it properly centered in the frame.  After this step, you can always throw a few staples in there to really hold it in place but it is so light that I doubt you will need them.

Here it is hanging on my door:

And another shot:

If you make one for your front door, you may need to stick a few pieces of tape between the letter and the door or it may blow in the wind! 

St. Patty's Day Project Part 1

Four Leaf Felt Clovers:

Here is what you will need:

Green felt squares- I bought mine 4 for $1 at the fabric store. 

Scissors- the sharper the better!

Ruler

Sharpie

Needle and thread

 You will take one of the squares and measure out about 1.25 inches and draw a line.  I cheated and just put the ruler against the edge of the square and used it's width as the measurement.  You will continue to make lines across the whole square.

 Then you will mark every inch along the 1st line and then skip every other line and repeat.

Here is what my fist two lines looked like:  You only need the inches marked in every other line as you will find out.

Here is what your square should look like with all the lines.  I didn't mark the inch lines all the way through since all you need is to keep the ends of the clover leaves the same size.

 Then you will cut them out two lines at a time as shown:

 

Then you will fold it in half: 

Then start cutting out a scalloped edge using the lines as your guides. 

 

Here is what it will look like:

 

Here's what it will look like unfolded:  

Then you will cut them into individual leaves: 

Some how I missed getting pictures of the stems, but I drew a line on my felt that was 1.25 inches wide (the same as the leaves) and then cut it into stems about .25" wide.  The one in the picture below is a bit too wide, I ended up cutting that one in half and it was perfect.

The picture above shows the basic way you will sew them together.  You could do it that way and then pull your thread tight after adding the stem, but I found an easier way!  If you fold the leaves in half and stack them all together, you can run the needle through them all at the same time:

Much easier.  I also found that if you put the stem in the middle of the leaves, they turn out looking better.  I ran the needle through two times right down the center, then loosened it slightly before tying the thread.  After you tie it off, gently tug the leaves apart and you will end up with a perfect four leaf clover!

I made approximately 21 of these per felt square and found that was plenty in order to make a wreath and have some leftover to decorate with!  You can add them to clothes, headbands, tie one to a candle, stick a few on a frame, or use them to make a wreath as I will in the next post!