St. Paddy’s Day 2011: AKA “Swiper, No Swiping!”

I never got around to posting photos of the Leprechaun Trap Gabe made for St. Patrick’s Day last spring, so I thought I’d share them along with a few others from St. Paddy’s Day 2011! We were inspired by this one we saw in Family Fun Magazine. Gabe added his own touch by drawing little leprechauns on the hat, and coloring a big rainbow to go above the trap. As I was looking through the photos below, I noticed a theme – little “swiper” hands! Can you see what I saw?

Gabe “made” the shamrock cookies himself – they’re the type you can literally just take from the package. plop them on a cookie sheet, and pop them in the oven (I did that last part)!

I just had to include all three of the photos above! We found the little “leprechaun” in our trap on St. Patrick’s Day morning, along with Hershey’s Kisses “gold”, but Julia couldn’t keep her little swiping hands still long enough for me to get even one photo! Hmm, who’s the real leprechaun, here?

I’m looking forward to making another leprechaun trap with the kids this year – should be fun :)!!!

For more St. Patrick’s Day ideas, see:

Shamrock Rice Krispies Treats!

Shamrock Rice Krispies Treats for St. Patrick’s Day

Looking for a fun snack idea for St. Patrick’s Day? Here’s a cute shamrock rice crispy treat I made for the kids the other day :)!

Shamrock Rice Krispies Treat Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows
- OR -
4 cups miniature marshmallows
6 cups Kellogg’s® Rice Krispies® cereal
Green food coloring (oopsie – forgot to show this in the pic)
Green and white confetti sprinkles (optional)

Following the directions on the Rice Krispies site (found here), I made a batch of Rice Krispies treats, adding a few drops of green food coloring and green and white confetti sprinkles before spreading the treats into a pan lined with waxed or parchment paper. After allowing the treats to cool, I used a small heart-shaped cookie-cutter to cut out three heart shapes for each shamrock treat. TIP: if you line the pan with waxed or parchment paper, it will be easier to “pop” the shapes out after cutting them out with the cookie cutter, by pressing up from under the paper. Lastly, I arranged the three green Rice Krispies treat “shamrock leaves” around a pretzel stick stem. Easy and fun!

Have you made any fun St. Paddy’s Day snacks? If so, please link up, I’d love to see them :)! For more great St. Patrick’s Day ideas, check out my St. Patrick’s Day pin board on Pinterest!

Photos from St. Patrick’s Day

Here are some pics from yesterday plus one of my dad and Julia from the day before. The kids and I have colds, so Julia is taking a long nap (for once) and I am letting Gabe veg out in front of the TV. Lazy morning!

From the flower show:

I got a close-up of a shamrock, but I got distracted and forgot to take one of the pretty flowers on the shamrock plant.

Julia and I went to eat at my folk’s house last night and I enjoyed a delicious meal of New England Boiled Dinner. This was before we ate.

I got home in time to get a pic of Gabe with this green shamrock pancake Chris made for him! I wanted to contribute to the fun, so I added the whipped cream and sprinkles.

This photo is from Tuesday. Julia loves her Papa (grandpa)!