You probably won’t be surprised that I found this fun wooden shamrock at Target’s Bullseye’s Playground. I can’t help it, they have great stuff! At first, I was going to do a rustic look like I did with the Rustic Button Valentine’s Heart, but decided I wanted to try something brighter, and brighter is exactly what you get with this Rainbow Shamrock Decoration! Well, except for the purple stripe. Every purple I had on hand was either too light or this. I may go get the perfect purple and redo that one stripe, but we’ll see. No promises. Luckily, the rest of it is so vibrant, it doesn’t look too dark.
As for my technique, I figured that since washi tape is essentially masking tape and is designed to not remove paint from surfaces, it would be the perfect tool to use to make my lines straight. I was right, it worked like a charm. I would like to add that my daughter was impressed with my straight lines considering I didn’t use any math—I just lined up the edges of the washi tape. As for the design, my family didn’t get why I chose a rainbow. Well, simply put, rainbows are pretty and a key component to the whole luck, shamrock, leprechaun, and pot of gold tradition that goes along with St. Patrick’s Day. That’s why the edges are gold. I thought about using white pom mom garland for the hanger (clouds), but it was too over the top.
Materials
- Wooden Shamrock
- White Acrylic Paint
- Paintbrush
- Washi Tape or Narrow Masking Tape
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple Acrylic Paint
- Gold Paint
- Gold Ribbon
- Clear Tacky Glue
Instructions
Step 1: Paint the front and sides of the wooden shamrock white. One coat should suffice. Let it dry completely. I mean super completely. The washi tape will pull it off otherwise.
Step 2: Use the pencil and ruler to draw a line vertically down the center of the shamrock.
Step 3: Stick the washi tape to the shamrock, starting at the center line and angling down to make on half of a chevron. I placed my washi equal distances apart, based on the width of the washi tape so all the stripes would be the same width.
Step 4: Repeat for the other side of the chevron.
Step 5: The colors of the rainbow, in order, are: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple (violet). Use your pencil to write the first letter of each color on the appropriate stripe, starting at the top with red, writing on exposed white and washi tape, both. Repeat colors in that order as needed.
Step 6: Paint each exposed stripes on both sides the assigned colors. Paint additional coats if needed. Let them dry completely, then carefully pull off the washi tape.
Step 7: If you are a steady painter, you can skip this step and carefully paint in the exposed stripes. If not, you will place washi tape over the painted stripes.
Step 8: Paint the remaining stripes their assigned colors. Paint additional coats if needed. Let them dry completely then carefully pull off the washi tape.
Step 9: Paint the entire edge of the shamrock with gold paint. I painted two coats. Let it dry completely.
Step 10: Measure enough gold ribbon to go around the outside edge of the shamrock. Since my ribbon is narrow, I cut two lengths.
Step 11: Glue the ribbon to the edge of the Rainbow Shamrock with the clear tacky glue. Let it dry completely.
Step 12: Cut an 18-inch length of gold ribbon, feed each end through the holes at the top, and knot the two ends off together making a loop.
That’s it! The real skill in this craft is either being able to apply tape straight or paint straight. Either way, this Rainbow Shamrock Decoration makes for a fun and bright addition to my St. Patrick’s Day collection.
Be sure to check out our Luck Shamrock Decoration and follow our St. Patrick’s Day Inspiration board on Pinterest!
Be Inspired!