These felt shamrocks are SO CUTE and cheerful! Transform simple heart shapes into an adorable clover plant to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. You can make both 3 leaf clovers and 4 leaf clovers with this easy method!
This festive St. Patrick’s Day craft is really easy to make, and it can be kept out year-round with no water or attention needed! Use simple craft supplies to make just one shamrock, or fill your whole plant pot with these adorable shamrocks.
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How to Make Felt Shamrocks
Materials:
- Printer paper (or other scrap paper)
- Green felt
- Green thread
- Green pipe cleaner
- Small clay pot(s) (2-1/2 inch diameter)
- Dried black beans (or other pot filler)
Equipment:
Check Out The Video Tutorial:
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
- Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Make the shamrock's leaves
- Draw a heart on a scrap piece of paper, about 1-1/2 inches across at the widest point. Or you can print a heart outline if you need a template. Cut out the heart shape.
- Place the heart on green felt and use it as a template. Cut around the heart. You can also trace the heart first with chalk or a gel pen.
- Repeat, cutting 2 more felt hearts.
- Cut the bottom 1/3 off of the hearts, creating the shamrock's leaves.
Step 3: Sew the shamrock together
- Thread a needle with green thread and sew through the bottom of the leaf (about 1/8 inch above the flat edge) with a running stitch.
- Repeat, adding the next two leaves onto the same thread, using the same number and type of stitches.
- Hold the thread while pushing the leaves together, "scrunching" them up so they look pleated.
- Tie the ends of the thread together.
- Pull the thread tightly to the back of the shamrock and secure it in a double knot.
- Cut the extra thread close to the knot.
Step 4: Attach the shamrock's stem
- For the shamrock's stem, use a 6 inch green pipe cleaner.(You can also use a regular 12 inch pipe cleaner and cut it down to size later.)
- Add a dot of hot glue to the center back of the shamrock.
- Place one end of the pipe cleaner into the glue and hold it until it stays in place on its own.
- Trim the stem shorter, if you'd like.Most of our felt shamrocks have stems between 3-1/2 and 4 inches long.
Step 5: "Plant" your felt shamrock
- To "plant" your felt shamrock, use a small clay pot. (Ours has a 2-1/2 inch diameter.)Pour dry black beans into the pot until it's mostly full.
- Push the pipe cleaner stem down into the beans to keep it in place.
- Your felt shamrock is complete!
Helpful Tips:
- This craft is a great way to use up scrap felt – you only need a few small pieces to make the shamrock!
- Print a free shamrock template as inspiration for your felt shamrock’s leaves.
- Use felt shamrocks to decorate an office or another low light area.
What do shamrocks symbolize?
Shamrocks, a type of clover, are an iconic symbol of both St. Patrick’s Day and Ireland. In the 5th Century, St. Patrick used the shamrock (an abundant plant in Ireland) as a metaphor to teach about the Holy trinity.
The three leaf clover remains a prevalent icon in Irish culture today, and is also seen as a symbol of spring and new beginnings.
Four leaf clovers are another popular symbol (and are considered lucky!), but did you know that they’re not actually shamrocks? To be considered a shamrock, the plant must have 3 leaves!
What else can I use to fill my felt shamrock pot?
We love the look of the black beans in the the small ceramic flower pots – it almost looks like real soil! If you don’t have black beans you can also use coffee beans, rice, flat glass beads, or crumpled up black tissue paper.
Or add real planting elements like dirt/sand and decorative stones, moss, or wood chips. Be sure to block the draining hole at the bottom of the pot with a bit of tape if you use anything smaller than the beans.
How do I make a four leaf clover from felt?
You can make a four leaf clover using the same technique described above. Simply cut an extra heart from felt and connect it to the other leaves!
What else can I do with felt shamrocks?
You can leave the pipe cleaner stem off your felt shamrock and turn it into a barrette, badge/pin, or magnet. You can also string or glue them onto ribbon or twine to form a felt shamrock garland! These felt shamrocks would also make a cute bookmark!
Have fun making super cute felt shamrocks this St. Patrick’s Day using just a pipe cleaner, felt, and thread. Make shamrocks in various shades of green felt, or simply use one colour like we did!
Here’s even more St. Patrick’s Day craft ideas:
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
Amazon |  Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound |  Amazon Canada
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