Tag Archives: St. Patrick’s Day

Fit and Healthy on Route 66: Robertsville State Park

On Saturday, March 19, 2022 my Dad and I drove from St. Louis County to Sullivan, Missouri to attend a neon sign re-lighting ceremony at the historic Shamrock Court. The Shamrock Court is being restored and plans are to re-open it as a motel in the not too distant future. Members of the Route 66 of Missouri and many other volunteers are helping to restore the property, with labor, fundraising, and other opportunities.

The Route 66 Assocation of Missouri Neon Heritage Preservation Committee (“NHPC”) has assisted a lot of historic property owners in various ways to get their neon signs restored. Here is a web page with a list of some of their neon sign success stories. It’s customary for Route 66 Association of Missouri members and allies to get together for a celebratory re-lighting ceremony whenever a historic Route 66 property in the region lights up the newly restored signs for the public to enjoy. March 19 was the Shamrock Court’s turn to shine.

Left: Dad (in red hat) and roadie friend Fred Zander. Center: A big, beautiful party! Right: “It’s so comfortable on the ground here!”

Route 66 events often incorporate car shows, and this night was no exception. Cool cars and trucks filled the parking area in front of the Motel and spilled over into the adjacent street, appropriately named Shamrock St. In keeping with the motel’s theme and proximity to St. Patrick’s Day, it was also a St. Patrick’s Day party complete with Leprechaun, Lucky Charms, wearin’ o’ the green, and lots of Irish luck bestowing fine weather upon us.

On a day so beautiful, my Dad and I left early so that we could go for a hike on the way there. There are lots of choices of places to hike between our homes and Sullivan – we are very blessed to live in Missouri which has abundant parks and trails. We considered several locations then decided on Robertsville State Park. It’s one of the closest State Parks to where we live, but since when we drive by it we are usually on our way to somewhere farther away, believe or not neither of us had ever been there! The one previous time in all my years of 66-ing (23!) that I tried to take a short detour off of historic Route 66 to check it out, I had to turn back because of a flood. So we decided now was the time to try something new and go finally go there. We drove around to see what the park contained and chose two short trails to hike on.

Left: beautiful blue sky and trees not yet leafed out. Center: frog or toad eggs in an ephemeral forest pool. Right: ornate cast iron post in the Roberts family cemetery.

The park was perhaps not in it’s full glory two days before the start of spring, when there is almost no green vegetation to see yet and the ground is saturated from late winter and early spring rains. Nevertheless, we found plenty to appreciate. I have not lost my childhood fascination with ephemeral spring pools. I’m intrigued mostly because I like to look for frog eggs and tadpoles, but they also have quiet beauty in their own right. They are usually clear and still and any vegetation or critters in the water look especially beautiful in such water bodies. As a special treat for me, one of the pools we saw did contain many masses of frog or toad eggs, and some free-swimming tadpoles! I looked at one mass up close to see the different stages of development of the tadpoles. They ranged from little dots to almost ready to emerge, with feathery gills developing and eyes looking right at me! I returned the egg mass to the water and prayed that they would all get a chance to hatch while the pool is still wet.

There is something to enjoy in every season in the magical Missouri Ozarks!

For more information about the re-lighting event and the Shamrock Court project:

Saving The Shamrock Court! Facebook group

Shamrock Court web page

Historic Preservation Weekend in Sullivan, MO A previous blog post of mine about volunteering at the Shamrock Court

Make St. Patrick’s Day Cards

St. Patrick's Day Cards
Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day! Wish good luck and celebrate spring by making St. Patrick’s Day Cards!

Supplies and Materials
Cardstock and a variety of decorative papers in shades of green
Downloadable templates “St. Patrick’s Day Card 1” and “St. Patrick’s Day Card 2”
Scoring tool
Tracing paper
Chipboard (can be scrap – for making templates)
Flower punch
Small circle punch
Paper flower embellishments
Eyelets
Eyelet setter
Metal ruler
Craft knife and blades (X-Acto or something similar)
Cutting mat
Pencil
Eraser
Rubber stamps (St. Patrick’s Day, appropriate greeting, Celtic designs, spirals)
Stamping ink pads and re-inkers in the following colors: dark brown, shades of green
Acrylic stamp mounting blocks
Double-sided tape
Paper cutter
Awl or needle tool
Small hole punch
Scissors
Decorative scissors
Glue stick
Masking tape
Hammer
Decorative brads
Optional – buttons, white craft glue such as Turbo Tacky Glue, needle, thread

The first part of the process for the pair of cards is to stamp out St. Patrick’s Day and Celtic motifs onto small pieces of scrap paper. Use stamping inks in various shades of green and dark brown. Mix in some neutrals if you want. You can make the backgrounds more interesting with the use of background stamps or techniques such as brayering.

Once you have a quantity of stamped pieces finished and the ink is dry, gather them together with some scraps of paper in various shades of green. Make a collage by gluing these scraps down with a glue stick onto a 1/2 sheet of white cardstock. You can create interest by cutting the scraps into smaller pieces by tearing while using a ruler as a straight edge or by cutting apart with decorative scissors. Burnish your collage periodically with a bone folder under a piece of clean scrap paper so the glue has a nice tight seal. Set aside for now and let the glue dry.

Collage made with scrap paper and paper pieces that I stamped with rubber stamps.
Collage made with scrap paper and paper pieces that I stamped with rubber stamps.

Directions for St. Patrick’s Day Card #1

St. Patrick's Day Greeting Card

1. Download and print out the template “St. Patrick’s Day Card #1”.

2. Cut a 8.5 x 5.5″ size piece of card stock to use as the background of your card. Score it  and fold it in half.

2. Trace the shamrock from the template onto the back of dark green decorative paper. Cut out the shamrock with scissors. If you want to make several cards, you can trace the shamrock onto chipboard and cut it out to use multiple times for tracing.

3. Trace the half-leaf shape onto chipboard and cut out. Trace onto four different pieces of decorative paper in different shades of green. Instead of pre-made decorative paper you can use some parts of your collage if you want (if you do this be sure to leave at least a 3 7/8″ x 5 1/8″ sized piece intact to use on card #2). Glue the half petals in place as shown on the card sketch in the PDF file.

4. Cut out a narrow strip (3/4″ wide) of light colored paper and stamp or glue a sentiment onto it. Glue this onto a slightly wider (1″ wide) paper strip. Glue to front of card and trim.

5. Glue the shamrock down in place on the front of the card.

6. Punch out a flower shape with a punch and glue down in center of shamrock.

7. Punch out a small circle and glue in place on the strip near the bottom of the card.

8. Punch two holes for eyelets in the center of where the two flower embellishments will go. You can use a small hole punch or a needle tool or awl to start the hole. If the hole is not large enough to accept the eyelet you can enlarge the hole with paintbrush handle or other handy tool.

9. Push the eyelets through the holes and set with the eyelet setter.

Variation – use buttons as embellishments instead of the paper flowers. Attach by gluing with white craft glue then further secure by sewing.

Directions for St. Patrick’s Day Card #2

St. Patrick's Day Greeting Card

1. Download and print out the template “St. Patrick’s Day Card #2”.

2. Cut a 8.5 x 5.5″ size piece of card stock to use as the background of your card, score it, and fold it in half.

3. Cut out a 3.75 x 5″ size piece of dark green cardstock.

4. Trace the shamrock from the template onto the back of the dark green cardstock. Cut out the shamrock with a craft knife. If you cut carefully, you can use the cutout to make another card. If you want to make several cards, you can save your first cutout and use it multiple times for tracing.

5. Get your collage out and cut a 3 7/8″ x 5 1/8″ size piece out of it. Position your dark green cutout piece over it and place those on top of your folded cardstock card base. Make sure the three layers line up correctly. If you decide you want a sentiment or other embellishment in the lower left area where there is some space, now would be a good time to add it.

6. Using the printed out template as a guide, poke holes in all three layers with an awl or needle tool.

7. Push decorative brads through the holes and spread prongs on the back side. You’re done!

Some of the rubber stamps and papers I used in this project are by 7gypsies by Canvas Corp Brands and Inkadinkado. The “Good Luck” stamp is by Carolyn Hasenfratz Design and the celtic and spiral stamps are hand carved by me.

If you would like to make envelopes for these cards here is a template that will fit:
http://www.limegreennews.com/documents/templates/envelope_template_rectangular.pdf

Extra tip: If you have heart punches or stencils, you can make a three or four leaf clovers for yet more cards from three or four heart shapes!

See my Pinterest site and past lesson plans for ideas and craft projects.
https://www.pinterest.com/chasenfratz/
http://www.limegreennews.com/lessons.html

Upcoming Class with Carolyn on March 5, 2016: St. Patrick’s Day Cards

I hope you can join me for my next class at my new Studio! Learn rubber stamping and other paper craft techniques as we make St. Patrick’s Day cards. Participants will be provided with enough paper and cardstock to make at least two cards, two different card sketches and written instructions to take home.

St. Patrick's Day Card with paper flower embellishments
St. Patrick’s Day Card with paper flower embellishments

I will have paper, cardstock, templates, rubber stamps, punches, decorative scissors, ink, stamp pads, paper cutters, stamp mounting blocks, tape, glue sticks, tracing paper, embellishments and other tools and supplies available for you to use during the class. If you have any of the following tools or supplies, it would be helpful to bring them – there will be less wait to use tools if participants bring some – but it’s not a requirement. If you bring tools please mark them to indicate ownership.

Optional tool and supply list:
Clean scrap paper
Bone folder
Metal ruler
Craft knife and blades (X-Acto or something similar)
Cutting mat
Pencil
Eraser
Rubber stamps (St. Patrick’s Day or Celtic themes if you have any – spirals are good too)
Stamping ink pads and re-inkers in the following colors: Dark brown, shades of green
Acrylic stamp mounting blocks
Double-sided tape
Paper cutter
Awl or needle tool
Small hole punch
Scissors
Decorative scissors
Glue stick
Masking tape

If you have any questions about the class please feel free to contact me.

Class: St. Patrick’s Day Cards
Date: March 5, 2016
Time: 1-4 pm
Location: 7403 Manchester Road, Maplewood MO, 63143
Cost: $17 if paid in advance, $25 day of class
Signup form: www.carolynsstampstore.com/catalog/class_signup.php

If you choose to pay ahead of time to get the discount for pre-paying, I will send you a PayPal invoice via email. Alternately if you prefer to pay by Square I can take your information over the phone. Credit card processing at the studio will be with Square. Beginner stampers are welcome. Children under 18 must be enrolled with a parent as I think parents are best able to judge their child’s ability level and what tools they should be allowed to use.

St. Patrick's Day Card with collage
St. Patrick’s Day Card with collage

Supplies for the class are included in the class price. I will have some paper crafting supplies available for purchase the day of the class in case you see anything you want to add to your stash but you will not need to purchase anything additional to make the class project.

Decorate a Celtic Gift Bag

Rubber Stamped Celtic Gift Bag
Rubber Stamped Celtic Gift Bag

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, here is an idea for decorating a drawstring muslin bag with Celtic designs. Fill with St. Patrick’s Day treats or a gift for someone who would enjoy Celtic designs at any time of year.

Click here for Decorate a Celtic Gift Bag.