Happy (belated) St. Patrick's Day! I didn't spend the day drinking Guinness or making Irish Whiskey Brownies as I had planned. Who says I can only make those chocolatey boozy brownies one day of the year anyway? I'll make them later this week and they'll still be delicious.
Instead I spent part of the day making a miniature leprechaun hat to put in the leprechaun trap we set each year. The trapper upped the stakes this year when he lined the trap with aluminum foil as a "magic shield". He was convinced this was how the leprechaun was escaping each year, but not before leaving behind his pot of gold coins. (delicious chocolate gold coins)
I went into the project with an idea and no idea how it would turn out, but I seem to have a knack for creating wacky hats. That recently discovered skill came in handy during the Ascot Races last year when I made a huge teacup fascinator for an Ascot hat party. For this project I used green felt, black felt, hot glue, clothespins, shamrock stickers, a small piece of paper, and scissors. I was lucky to find stiffened green felt at the fabric store. If I hadn't found stiff felt, I would have used fabric stiffener to create my own.
I chose two circle templates, one larger than the other to make sure there was a brim of the hat. A coffee mug and a child's plastic cup worked great. I didn't worry about perfect circle cutting. This is the sort of project that was forgiving of slight variations in circle sizes.
I cut a rectangle of green felt and stuck it into the hat brim. I made sure to leave plenty of overhang so I could hot glue it together. I left the hat brim on as I glued to make sure I kept the fit snug against the circle opening. A couple of clothespins held it together as the glue hardened. At this point I was also on the floor of the living room because I was deep into a Downton Abbey viewing marathon! What an addictive television program. I love it now.
When the seam of the hat was set, I took one clothes pin off and pushed the brim down to the edge, leaving a little lip. It was against that lip I applied a thick layer of hot glue that would hold the two pieces of the hat together.
I knew it would be ugly, so I had already cut another brim "donut" to glue to the bottom of the hat. This made a cleaner looking hat bottom.
I ran a line of hot glue just inside the top of the hat, slightly raised and held the top circle of felt on it until I felt it was secure. There was overhang since it wasn't a perfect match for the top opening. But that was simple to trim away until it was a clean edge. Looks like a hat now, doesn't it?
...but a rather plain hat. Would the keeper of a wee Irish fortune of gold have such a plain hat? No. I stuck a shamrock sticker on a piece of paper and cut it out, leaving a long tail on the end of the stem. This would allow me to later stick into the trim of the hat.
Speaking of trim: a quick cut of some soft black felt and a little hot glue. And a little shamrock embellishment...
And there you have it. PROOF that your leprechaun trap was successful. The law of the traps is that if you catch the wee fellow, he must leave behind his gold as payment for his freedom. Apparently this year he was almost held captive by the magic shield, but managed to escape, losing his hat in the process.
There are many ways to make leprechaun traps and Pinterest may be full of too-cute ideas, but we find the Amazon box and Tinkertoy method is always a success. Stick with what you know and stay in your lane, boo.
And if you need a wee party hat for an adult party, use florist wire to secure the top hat to a headband. Add a little more shamrock flair, and you'll be the lass of the ball.
I hope you had a fun day and feel inspired to catch your own Leprechaun fortune next year.