We sham-rock hard here at the Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks Headquarters—turning the milk green, blasting Dropkick Murphys, and counting our lucky clovers that our cherished Guinness beer is not trapped in a shipping container at the bottom of the sea. Even the cat is green on the inside on St. Patrick’s Day. Literally. He ate some plants, we think, and vomited green stuff in the morning. Then, like all of the other St. Patty’s Day revelers at the rise-and-shine Irish buffet raging at 5 a.m., he felt just fine, and thought about going back for a second round.
The only thing missing was a St. Patrick’s Day decoration for the table, but I solved that problem with a craft that puts the “rock” in shamrock. It’s a plant/flower of sorts—one the cat won’t want to eat. And it couldn’t be easier. Here’s what to do:
–Find free, printable templates of shamrock shapes online—and print one out. (Teacher sites are great. They like to celebrate!)
–Cut out the desired shape and place it on a piece of sturdy green paper.
–Trace the shamrock shape onto the paper and cut around the edges. (I tried to cut through felt for a fun, fuzzier shamrock look—just as you might find in nature—but sawing through felt with a pair of scissors was like trying to drive through an oatmeal apocalypse. I switched to paper instead.)
–Find green pipe cleaner, which you might have stuck in a drawer somewhere.
–Also, find the stapler, which might be in the same drawer, under the pipe cleaner.
–Staple the shamrock head onto the pipe cleaner body.
–Place the shamrock flower into a vase—no water needed.
Results: Nate thought I BOUGHT the shamrock plant/flower at the store. That is the highest compliment I’ve ever received for a craft—and it is now recorded here, forever. I think it might be my stapling technique, perhaps? I made sure I lined the staple up exactly with the pipe cleaner stem, so it looked like it came out of a professional crafts factory and not some seedy leprechaun bar, littered with scraps of paper soaked in beer and stuck to the floor—with some random pipe cleaners twisted around the edges.
The cat, on the other hand, is not impressed. He wants his plants back, ‘cause it’s still St. Patrick’s Day somewhere.
Your Turn: Do you like to craft? What’s your favorite thing to make, if you do?
Fixin' Leaks and Leeks 
Glad to hear your cat found a green and tradition-soaked way to participate. I just looked up the patron saint for cats, it’s Gertrude, and she shares her day with Saint Patrick. Based on the medieval illustration they used for the article, I think Gertrude liked to use cats to make sweaters, but maybe it was regular wool and she was making tiny Saint Paddy’s day sweaters for cats I don’t know.
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Oh, I love that! St. Gertrude for the patron saint of cats, sharing Saint Patrick’s Day as well:) Oh, I hope there are St. Paddy’s day sweaters for cats–I’ll bet a quick search on the Internet will show thousands at least. Cheers!
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Nice work! Highest compliment indeed! Hope the cat’s okay. My daughter drew and cut out green paper shamrocks, attached them to green string, and strung them from the picture on the wall above our dining room table. She is the crafty one. We’re also fortunate enough to have clover growing in our yard, so that wound up in a vase on the table on top of our green table cloth. Seriously disappointed I didn’t think to play Irish music in the background. Maybe next year.
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Thanks! The cat’s fine, all things considered. He’s been having thyroid problems for the past year or so. We just keep adjusting his medicine to make sure he’s feeling okay. He’s getting old, but there’s still a lot of light behind those eyes–and mischief, so we’re hoping he sticks around for a few more St. Patrick’s Days. Those paper shamrocks sound amazing! Cheers to your daughter!
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My daughter might be part Kennedy.
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🙂
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Nope, no crafts for me. I’d just make a mess.
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Yeah–crafts do tend to get messy–even the one I made–it’s something the cat and crafts share, I guess. 🙂
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I do lots of crafting – my most recent is making tie-dye t-shirts. My kids and grandkids will be getting them for easter.
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Yes, you do! You make all kinds of wonderful things! I’m so jealous of your kids and grandkids who get the tie-dye T-shirts–I’ll bet they look amazing!
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My husband was wearing the one I made for him today. It does look really good on him.
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🙂
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Sham rocks. 😀 Great job! I’m not at all Irish, but my spouse is half-Irish and has an incredibly Irish surname.
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Thanks! I’m second generation Irish on my dad’s side and third generation Italian on his side as well. My grandmother on my mother’s side was from Irish heritage, also. Cheers!
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There didn’t seem to be any St Patrick festivities here this year. I think everyone is just worried about everything else.
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Yes–there is lots to be worried about these days. Hope you’re safe and doing well.
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The “rock” in shamrock still has me giggling. Nice clover. And I hope the cat has recovered and is no longer puking green stuff all over your nice Irish decor. 😁💚♣️
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Ha! He is on thyroid medicine to help with all that, but sometimes we have to adjust it. Looks like we’re going to be doing some more adjustments. He seems to be pretty spunky, though, and in good spirits–and eating again. Cheers!
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I would definitely go to a seedy leprechaun bar if given the opportunity, but your craft is definitely better than anything found there!
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Thanks so much! And, I would gladly go with you to a seedy leprechaun bar–cheers!
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Apparently Kitty didn’t read my spooky plants horoscopes at Horror Tree LOL. I’m still in St. Patty’s mode weirdly enough, so I gotta try making this! 🙂
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Oh, no! Happy St. Patty’s Day! 🙂
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Ha, here’s the Horror Tree horoscopes. https://horrortree.com/march-horoscopes-what-grows-in-your-spooky-garden/ And I’ve had quite a few cats with thyroid issues! Good luck with that! Glad Kitty is eating again!
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I’m not worth much, honestly, so I really admire those like you, so skilled
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Ah, we do like to stay organized 🙂 –though we don’t make any of the furniture ourselves. Now, Nate’s dad used to make furniture, and we have a few of his pieces, which we cherish.
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