With Valentine’s Day gone, it is time to think of the next holidays 🙂

I know Mardi Gras (or “Carnaval” like we call it in Portugal) comes before St. Patrick’s Day; however, I could not resist and make these! 😀

These cute magnets are an easy and fun way to bring St. Patrick’s Day cheer into your home or classroom. The simplicity of the activity  makes it easy for little hands to work, and the cuteness of the final product will provide a sense of accomplishment to all involved 🙂

Materials:

• Clothespins
• tempera or acrylic paints
• brushes
• glue
• St. Patrick’s Day clip art (I used a set from Graphics from the Pond)
• Magnets or magnet tape

How to:

• Remove the metal components of the clothespins.
• Allow the children to paint each clothespin in the color of their choice (preferably green – to match the theme 🙂 )
• After the paint is dry (it should only take a few minutes), place  the metal components back onto the clothespins. Make sure you handle these with caution so not to injure yourself.
• Allow the children to choose their favorite clip art image and help them cut it. Make sure they leave a small white border around the image.
• Glue the image to the clothespin.
•  Glue the magnets to the other side of the clothespin
• Use it to decorate your fridge, doors, etc.

NOTE: If you wish to make these magnets a little more durable, you might want to consider laminating the images prior to gluing them to the clothespins.

VARIATIONS: If you don’t want magnets, you could use these as bookmarks too. Just don’t glue the magnet to the back of the clothespin 🙂

I hope you enjoyed this little craft activity!

Take care,

Catia