Saint Patrick's Fun

Today I decided to make something fun for Saint Patrick's Day. I have a crop coming up and need some little gifts and this will be great for the Challenge on the Cricut Circle Blog.

I have a "knack" for finding four leaf clovers. "Lucky" is a word that many use when they see me reach down and pick one up. I have always been able to walk through a patch of clovers and find a four leaf without even trying. I started collecting a long time ago and had 100s pressed in an old dictionary. I finally got tired of them and tossed them. I regret it now, but there is nothing for it but to start all over.

So I decided to put this ability to the test and challenged myself to make something with it. I had bought a bag of bottle caps several months ago intending to make magnets for the Ohio Meetup, and changed my design. These caps have been sitting on a shelf since then, lonesome and collecting dust.

My initial though was to collect four leaf clovers, press them and make bookmarks or pins of some kind; However, once I saw the pressed clovers I threw that out the window. They just weren't pretty.
So I changed my idea.

Bottle caps
Four leaf clovers
Liquid Glass (CTMH)
White cardstock
Creative Memories Circle Punch


First, I punched out white circles and adhered them into the bottle caps with the liquid glass. Then I went hunting for clovers. As I found them, I would add a dab of liquid glass into the bottle cap and used a stickpin to arrange the petals. This I let dry so it would grab the clover and keep it in place, while I continued hunting. Once that was dry, I covered the entire center of the bottle cap with a thin layer of liquid glass, and repeated it once it was dry popping air bubbles as I went (I couldn't get them all).
Tuesday, I collected 7 clovers; Wednesday, I collected 17 clovers; Thursday I realized I messed up two and ran outside to find two more clovers.


Realizing that these are only okay looking on a necklace or as a charm, I decided to make them into pins and knew they needed "more". I had some animal striped ribbon from Walmart:


Using black thread, I folded the ribbon and slipped a quick stitch straight through all the folds. I pulled it tight and tied it off so it wouldn't fight me as I tried to glue.

I also stitched the two edges together so you wouldn't see the raw ends in the final product.Flip it over and this is what you would see:

Next, I used a low temp glue gun to attached a pin back to the back of the ribbon.
Then I used the glue gun to attach the bottle cap to the top of the ribbon. Smushing it down into the ribbon made it fit slightly better.I also added a touch of "Lime" Stickles around the edge of the bottle cap to give it a bit of a "pop."
This is the finished product:
Several of the finished pins:
Since these are crop goodies, I have placed them and some mint candies into a box made from George shapes with Elegant Edges for the sentiment frames. I used my Gypsy to weld and stretch as needed. Each participant will receive this as well as a pot of gold m&ms with rainbow streamers.
"Good Memories are like a Four Leaf Clover: Lucky to Have."


I hope you enjoying today's project. Good Luck finding your own Four Leaf Clovers!