St. Patricks Day Fun for the Entire Family

This week I had the privilege to play with my nieces and nephews and some of their friends.  We did some fun crafts, so I decided to write a little piece about what you can do with your kids for fun on St. Pattys Day.  I hope people are able to read this and take something from it! Enjoy 🙂

My Nieces Socks!

Holidays are always a welcome experience to break up the monotony of everyday living. They allow us to bond with our families and friends, they let people of all ages just kick back and have some fun and they maintain traditions that have lived on for hundreds of years. When people think about holidays the focus generally shifts to holidays like Christmas or Halloween or Thanksgiving, but there are plenty of other holidays out there that are rich in history and fun for the whole family and one of them is St. Patrick’s Day.

St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday made to commemorate the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick. St. Patrick was one of the first people to bring Christianity to Ireland and is well known for a legend that states that he explained the Holy Trinity through the use of a shamrock, which is a clover that grows in Ireland and generally has three leaves.

St. Patrick’s Day is now celebrated in many different countries, not just Ireland. The people who celebrate it generally take part in the various traditions of St. Patrick’s Day such as wearing green, going to parades and going to church. It’s also common to see people wearing some form of shamrock during St. Patrick’s Day.

There are many different ways you can celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with the whole family. For instance, you can cook some Irish food. Corned beef and cabbage is a very popular Irish dish to make on St. Patrick’s Day. In addition, there are dishes such as Irish soda bread, corned beef pizza and deserts such as lime pie and green velvet cupcakes. It’s always fun to try new and exciting dishes that are popular in other countries. You can find numerous recipes for traditional Irish meals through a quick search on the Internet or various cookbooks.

Another option is to get creative with regular food. Some people dye their food green for St. Patrick’s Day or arrange it so there are many green items on the menu. A fun option for the kids is to make shamrock shaped sugar cookies made with green sugar on top. You can also let them decorate some cupcakes with icing in Irish designs.

The fun doesn’t have to end with the food. You and your children can also have fun with some St. Patrick’s Day arts and crafts. For example, with some green, black and gold construction paper or felt, some scissors and glue or tape you and your children can make leprechaun hats to wear on St. Patrick’s Day. You can also get some cardboard, green paint, scissors and safety pins to make shamrock pins that you all can wear. You can also stick with a classic and get some gold construction paper along with a small cutout of a shamrock to make a gold paper chain shamrock necklace. Some free time to draw can also exercise their imaginations for St. Patrick’s Day.

Celebrating the holidays with your children is one of the best feelings a parent can get and it creates some great memories for your children as well. Break out your best green clothes, grab a shamrock and gather your children so you can all celebrate St. Patrick’s Day to the fullest.

Live – Laugh – Love – Travel

AJ

Advertisement

Decorations for Every Holiday! Halloooooooween

I love decorating my apartment for every holiday.  I don’t have very many festive pieces quite yet, as I am just beginning to collect.  I started by actually going shopping at my mothers house.  She is always known for decorating the house head to toe for every occasion!

 

Fall is here, and the excitement of Halloween is just around the corner! Nearly everyone enjoys dressing up and celebrating with spooky tricks and sweet treats, but the fun does not have to end on the front porch! It is possible to decorate your whole home for this festive fall holiday — without making a frightful mess. Think outside of the box and create tasteful Halloween decor with these easy steps.

Smart and Simple: Do not just waltz down the Halloween decoration aisle in your local big-box department store and grab one of everything. Instead, collect a few items that particularly strike your fancy. Try to find items that are somehow similar, as these will serve as the base of your Halloween decoration theme.

Accentuate Your Space: Inside the home, your Halloween pieces will look best when presented as a part of a room’s decor. Rather than masking your home with bright orange and green decorations, consider a more subdued approach. A classic black and white theme sets an inviting backdrop for festive pops of orange, green and purple. Use various shapes and patterns to give a classic black and white theme holiday appeal, and integrate color with bright candles or glassware. Deep hunter green is a gorgeous backdrop for autumn reds, golds, browns and oranges. If using this classic harvest theme, avoid busying the space with purples and black.

Group Like Items: Now that you have your base set, get out those fun decorations you picked! Put witches with witches, pumpkins with pumpkins and ghosts with ghosts! Select a variety of different glass dishes or vases and arrange them on a mantle with a different Halloween candy in each. Create a harvest centerpiece with gourds and harvest corn. An excellent and classy idea comes from Martha Stewart. Glitter pumpkins are a unique accent for any Halloween decor, and they can last through Thanksgiving.

Avoid covering every square inch of your yard with spider webs and gravestones and give your house festive flair that is inviting to visitors of all ages. A natural leaf garland or wreath is a beautiful accent to your door in the colors of the season. Place a hay bale on your porch upon which to display pumpkins or jack-o-lanterns. Consider the use of dried corn stalks and golden autumn flowers to accent your entryway. Use lanterns and flameless candles to illuminate your doorway for visitors.

Live – Laugh – Love – Travel

AJ