Building a Leprechaun Trap

We get a lot of Leprechauns sneaking around our house about this time every year so it's become tradition to begin Leprechaun trap construction the first week of March. 

Hendrix knew exactly what he wanted his trap to look like. He drew out a sketch for me so I could help him put his plan into action.  

As you can see from the sketch, the Leprechaun climbs the ladder and makes his way toward the pot of fake gold but falls into a hole before ever reaching it, landing on a cushion of feathers in the trap compartment.

We used two boxes for the body of our trap (one of them being a cereal box) which we cut circular holes into before adhering them together. We painted the whole thing green and then decorated it with items from our craft box and shamrock stickers we bought at the craft store.

We made a ladder from craft sticks and added a couple signs that said things opposite of what we wanted the leprechauns to do—reverse psychology works great on leprechauns you know. Lastly we layered a pile of feathers to the bottom of the box so the leprechaun could land on something soft. It took about 3 days to finish our trap working on it about 20 minutes a day, we are very devoted trap makers!

The final product came out working and looking quite similar to the blueprint sketch with one exception; we ended up not needed a third box for stability because our bottom box was large enough to carry the weight of the box on top.

In all our trap making we have never caught a leprechaun but we are hoping this is our lucky year. If not, we know we'll probably at least end up with some chocolate gold coins like years past. In fact, we have already collected a few coins near the tiny green footprints we have found.

   

Is Leprechaun trap making one of your traditions or on your crafting agenda this month? Please, do share.

P.S. Sewfixated wins a bag of pom-poms and googley eyes for answering the question to my question on the Warm Fuzzy post. Please email me your address and I will get it in the mail right away!

Wooden Worry Dolls

One night when Hendrix was having bedtime woes I told him we’d have to get him a set of worry dolls, (those miniature hand assembled dolls that have a knack for vanishing worries while tucked under your pillow as you doze off to dreamland). It was the first he had ever heard of such a tale. He was beyond astonished at this fact and requested he become the owner of a pack of these dolls immediately.

Later I pulled out my own pouch of childhood worry dolls and I remembered how teeny-tiny they were, each doll no larger than a plump raisin. I became worried a certain 2 year old hand might think of his 4 year old brother's worry dolls as a snack should he receive a set. So instead we decided to fashion a non-choking hazard alternative; we made our worry dolls from wooden pegs and acrylic paint.

I purchased two sizes of pegs at the craft store to suggest age variation among the dolls. Hendrix and I each painted a family of 5 (or two adults and three kids) and little Avi (the 2 year old) painted three child-sized pegs. We drew faces on the peg people with sharpie markers.

Although Hendrix occasionally buries the dolls under his pillow at night after expressing a worry or two, both my kids especially LOVE playing with them during the day. To be honest, this neighborhood of peg people is probably their new favorite toy, at least for the time being.

Any craft that can actually provides a use when it’s completed qualifies for gold stars in my opinion. I highly recommend this project. If you paint these dolls with the intent of using them as toys I would recommend adding a coat of spray varnish after the paint dries (either glossy or matte), just to keep them in better shape. Oh and just as a P.S., I am in no way claiming these dolls all 100% choke proof. In fact, probably only the larger sized pegs would pass the choke tube test. Still, the size does very much decease the opportunity to mistake the toy for, say, a tasty looking M&M.

Leprechaun Sightings: Cobbler Foot Print How-To

Does everyone have their leprechaun traps set for St. Patrick’s Day? We are a little behind on trap setting this year because we have been sick, sick, sick but we know those sneaky little cobblers have been lurking about because we have seen tiny green footprints everywhere and our milk keeps going green!

If you are celebrating the green holiday with the kiddies this year and you have yet to see any evidence of leprechauns on the prowl, you could always make-believe!

To start your own leprechaun sighting game, you will need:

• a plastic or metal lid from an old bottle or jar (I used lids from a baby food jar)
• sticky back craft foam or non sticky back craft foam with glue
• scissors
• a green washable marker or ink pad

From the craft foam you will cut out tiny shoe-shaped foot prints and then attach them to the top of the lid. Need I go on?…A stamping you will go. Don’t forget to use WASHABLE ink unless you want to tattoo all your furniture and appliances with the spirit of Saint Pat.

This activity has been loads of fun for my kids. Whenever they spot these mini shoeprints they begin to search for the mischief those little sneaks have left behind. They especially like when they find a chocolate gold coin or two that the leprechauns have dropped by mistake.

(I originally posted this project here)

Rainbow art in action

Thank you to those who were able to come to the March Make! Just thought I’d share with you a little snippet of the rainbow colored coffee filters we made.

After creating some butterflies with the dried filters Hendrix and I decided to cut flower shapes to create a spring garland for one of our windows. Would you be willing to share the things you are creating from your child's rainbow art? Send me a pic and I will post it.

By the way, a couple of parents asked me where I had purchased the kids paintbrushes and paint caddy. I got them on sale at one of my favorite stores in the whole wide world; Lakeshore, which is a teacher supply store my mom introduced me to when I was young. Colorado residents are lucky to have a location right in Littleton. You might want to leave your credit cards at home though because it’s not hard to go crazy in a store like this.

One last thing, Hendrix and I have yet to catch a leprechaun but based off of the little green shoeprints we have seen in our home, we suspect they are near. Those of you who made (or are making) a leprechaun trap might be interested, check it out HERE.