An Irish Bracelet (and Ways to Celebrate)

Once again, I’m showing off something someone else made for me.  Doesn’t that just make you want to send me a gift I can showcase?  Okay, maybe not. It was worth a try.

Anyway, my sister-in-law made this memory wire bracelet for me almost ten years ago, when my favorite GI Joe was deployed, we were still waiting to become parents through adoption, and my day-to-day life just wasn’t the greatest. Although it was better than the hubs’s daily life in the sandbox. She sent me lots of little care packages which always seemed to arrive just when I needed a bright spot.  I think these were a MOPS project, or maybe a church group for one of her kids.  In any event, I sure am glad she sent it, way back when memory wire was a novelty and I was amazed at its “memory.”

Annes-Bracelet-2

If you’ve not worked with memory wire, it’s a jewelry maker’s dream because you don’t need a clasp of any sort.  All you do is make a small loop at one end, to keep the beads from sliding off, then just string your beads.  At the other end, make another loop and attach a cool charm. As you can see, it’s lost none of its shape over the years (although those silver beads could stand a little polishing…but I like the antique look the tarnish gives it!).

As you might imagine, with our very Irish last name (and my family came over from the Emerald Isle, as well), St. Patrick’s is a ginormous event in our home.  Here are a few ways that you can up the Irish in your house, too, if you’d like.

1. The hooligans always build a leprechaun trap.  It never works, of course.0311-Leprechaun-Trap-2

2. The leprechaun plays all sorts of tricks.  He turns the milk and orange green, as well as the toilet water. Last year he built a pyramid of our kitchen chairs, and hung rainbow windcatchers all over some tree branches on the porch. 0312-Leprechaun-Tree

3.  He makes a mess of the trap, and drops a few small toys and chocolate coins as he escapes out the door.Leprechaun-Trap-3

4. He leaves green rubber snakes (St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland) in random and surprising places in the house.

5. We always have Lucky Charms for breakfast on St. Pat’s and, of course, corned beef and cabbage with Irish soda bread for dinner. You can see the recipes here, in a post from last March. We made these little cups of Lucky Charms for the kindergarten snack last year.  Kindergarten-St-Pats-Snack-

I know, it’s still a few weeks away, but I want you to have time to stock up on Lucky Charms, corned beef, and green food coloring before the stores are sold out…it could happen. And then you’d be sad, now wouldn’t you?

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About Megan

My various hats: mom to three crazy teens and one quirky dog, wife of 27 years to my retired GI Joe, and high school math teacher. After my husband's retirement from the Army, we've settled in the Pacific Northwest. Crafting, cooking, photography, and reading keep me sane (that's a relative term!) and I hope you'll enjoy following along as I navigate the chaos of life!
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3 Responses to An Irish Bracelet (and Ways to Celebrate)

  1. Kathy V. says:

    I want to come play at your house. A leprechaun trap–how fun is that! Oh, yeah, I’m part Irish too! Does that help? (love the braclet by the way. What a neat sister-in-law.)

    • Megan says:

      I keep telling you, be careful what you wish for…and savor the serenity of the neighborhood for a few more months! Loved the card you sent…you are so stinkin’ artistic!

  2. Dania says:

    Pretty bracelet! Makes me want to get my memory wire out and play. I love the rainbow spinners in the tree!

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