Leprechaun Trap 2011

This year's version of the Leprechaun Trap

Since last year's Leprechaun Trap (http://craptasticcrafts.blogspot.com/2010/06/leprechaun-trap.html) was so much fun we decided to do it again this year!

You will need:

• Empty tissue box (Again, good thing St. Patrick's Day comes during cold season!)
• Green paint (plus other colors, if desired)
• Flat piece of cardboard for base. (We used a portion from a cereal box.)
• Rocks
• Gold glitter paint
• St. Patrick's Day stickers
• Cotton balls
• Pipe Cleaners in all the colors of the rainbow
• Glue gun

How to:

1. If using a base, paint and let dry. Paint tissue box and let dry. Paint box with additional colors, if desired.

2. Paint rocks and then cover with glitter glue. Let dry.



Elliott loooved painting glitter glue on the rocks.

3. Decorate box with stickers.

4. Cut pipe cleaners to desired size and curve into a rainbow arch. Wrap each end of rainbow with pipe cleaner to secure.

5. Stretch out cotton balls as much as possible without tearing. (We used four balls for each cloud.)
6. Glue ends of rainbows into each cloud, using glue gun to secure.

7. Glue rainbow and clouds over the hole on the top of the box.




I love that Elliott came up with the idea to cover the hole of the trap all on his own.

8. Glue glitter rocks on to trap.

Recap on story:

Leprechauns are very sly little guys and it's hard to catch them. But if you do, they HAVE to take you to the end of a rainbow where you will be rewarded a pot of gold. If you don't catch them (most likely), but they are impressed with your attempt, they may leave you a treat. (As well as play tricks on you!)

Thoughts:
Ahhh, glitter glue. Just when I thought I had lost Elliott to the Wii, glitter glue brings him right back. E had no desire to paint the box or base green, but after glittering up the rocks, he decided to paint some other colors onto the box, hence the dripping blood look. He was really into placing the stickers on and insisted on going through the whole sheet. (So much for saving some for next year!)

My favorite part? On his own, Elliott came up with the idea to place the rainbow and clouds over the hole so that the leprechaun wouldn't see the hole and would, hopefully, fall in. That's using your noggin, Kid!

Elliott's Evaluation:

I love glitter glue! I really liked painting the rocks. Putting stickers on the trap is fun. I think we are going to trap a leprechaun but I hope he doesn't get scared if he falls in the hole. Maybe we should put a light in there for him....can we do that?

Tissue Rainbow

You will need:

• Tissue paper in all the colors of the rainbow, cut into small squares (about 1 inch by 1 inch)

• Sturdy piece of card stock or cardboard, cut into rainbow shape
• Glue

Optional (if making a pot of gold):

• One piece black construction paper, cut into shape of a pot
• Gold stickers or gold paper cut into circles

How to:

1. Sort tissue paper by color. Ball up each piece into tiny wad.

2. Working through each layer, glue pieces on to make colors of the rainbow.
3. Glue gold stickers or paper onto black pot and glue onto end of rainbow.

Thoughts:
Elliott seemed a bit bored while we were doing this, and yet he remained at the table the whole time to keep working at it, so I'm not sure what to make of it. He claims he enjoyed it, so that's good enough for me. While working on each color, I would quiz him on animals or food that might be that color. (His answer every time? "Gummy fish." True enough, I guess.) The finished rainbow is a bright pop of organic color during our dreary winter weather.


Have I mentioned to anyone that my sister's least favorite saying is anything that "pops organically"? That one's for you, Michelle.


I really do love seeing the bright colors first thing every morning.

Elliott's Evaluation:
This was fun! I liked putting all the paper on. Mommy couldn't ball it up fast enough so I had to wait on her. I don't want to pose for a picture with it today. Maybe tomorrow.

Leprechaun Trap

Make a trap to capture a leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day!

You will need:

• Tissue Box (Ironically enough, finding an empty tissue box during cold season is not a problem in this house!)
• Gold paint
• St. Patrick's Day stickers
• Pipe cleaners (optional)

How to:
I can't take credit for this craft. My friend, Carla, had a St. Paddy's Day party and the kids made these fun traps.

1. Paint empty tissue box gold. Let dry.
2. Decorate with stickers.
3. If desired, make a ladder out of pipe cleaners, so your leprechaun can be more easily enticed into the trap.

The story:
Leprechauns are notoriously clever and extremely hard to catch. However, they appreciate a good try, and are willing to leave special treats to anyone who attempts to catch them.

Thoughts:
We had a lot of fun with this trap and I only just recently was able to sneak it into the recycle bin after telling Elliott it "tore" and my husband(?) that it was "time to let it go". We set our trap out on St. Patrick's Eve, leaving some coins around to "lure" a leprechaun into it. We were not successful in catching one, but we did find out that we do have a local leprechaun named Finnegan who left us some stickers and chocolate coins after taking the money we laid out for him. (He also turned our milk green, which Elliott refused to drink.) We will definitely be repeating this craft each year.