St. Patrick’s Day $3 Wreath

One way that extend my budget for decor is by trying to re-use items each season, but add something to make it feel fresh and updated. This is especially true for items that can get expensive fairly quickly if you’re changing them out for season/holidays, such as wreaths, table runners, etc. For the wreath on the front door, I keep a grapevine wreath from Hobby Lobby up almost year-round, but update it to reflect the time of year. I have a cute door hanger for 4th of July that I add, and last spring, I did some green and blue plaid ribbon with some florals. I do use a real pine wreath for Christmas, but the grapevine wreath went back on the door in January, with some berry garland.

I realized that I didn’t have a door hanger for St. Patrick’s (I used to, but it vanished after so many moves!) and wanted to keep the grapevine wreath up so set about finding something that would work. Of course, the Target $3 dollar section had the perfect item – a wood shamrock that already had a twine hanger.

My first step was to lightly sand, and then I did a coat of dark walnut stain, and wiped off the excess. I didn’t want to piece to be too dark, but was going for a warm, rustic feel.

After the stain dried, I used a “M” stencil in a bright green and ended up painting around the edge as well. Two more coats of craft paint and it was looking good! I lightly sanded the M down and then coated the entire thing in 3 coats of Minwax polycrylic. We don’t have a portico or porch overhang to the protect the whatever is on the front door from rain, so whatever is out there is going to get wet and the polycrylic will hopefully help protect the shamrock so I can use it again next year.

I left the burlap ribbon and bow (see here for a bow tutorial) from the winter wreath, and hung the shamrock using some floral wire. Thanks to Target, I now have an easy St. Patrick’s Day $3 wreath! I had everything else on hand so this was a very wallet-friendly way to update for the holiday.

How do you decorate for St. Patrick’s day?