I was thinking about taking a walk back through my younger years.
Just as many teachers now include crafts as part of their curriculum, my teachers did as well.
Most of those crafts were related to holidays or events and I thought it would be fun to revisit one of those projects.
I must say that I have a tendency to change things to make them my own, so I have modified this project to suit my style.
The project I choose was a shamrock bookmark in honour of the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day. I have changed it from cutting out a bright green shamrock with a paper stem to this.
- Cut out a three-inch (7.62-cm) circle from an olive green (or green) card stock.
- Fold the circle in half.
- Fold in half again.
- In half one more time
- From the folded side, trim to the shape of half a heart.
- Unfold
- Trim one of the heart-shaped sections as shown and punch a small hole at the base of the shamrock.
- Cut a chenille stem (in a matching color) in half and make a 45-degree small bend at the top.
- Insert the small bended end through shamrock from front to back and squeeze flat. I rubbed some fine grit sandpaper on all the folds to give it a rustic look.
I hope this project reminds you of some of the projects that you may have made in school, Sunday school or maybe at grammy’s house.
My grandma was a huge influence on my crafting growing up.
She was blind and thus there were challenges with her teaching me but we muddle through. I remember when it was time to clear out her house, there were little projects all over, from a macaroni covered can sprayed gold to crocheted hot mats that I made with her.
She had even kept all the cards my brother and I had made as well as the ashtray my brother had made my grandpa out of salt dough. Oh the memories that have come flooding into my heart, Grandma I miss you.
– Darlainea Redlack has taught a variety of crafting courses across the Boundary and is circulation co-ordinator for the Grand Forks Gazette.