Paper Strip Shamrocks

a tutorial on Paper Strip Shamrocks - yeah, you probably saw this coming....

because I had Paper Strip Ornaments hanging all through the holidays, then I went with Paper Strip Hearts, and when they came down it felt empty - like I needed something hanging over my dining room table.  And I got to thinking how shamrocks are just a few hearts put together  - - so, start with hearts using the Paper Strip Heart Tutorial - this time around I let the center part extend down through the heart but you could do either way.  So make 3 like this (we got together and made a bunch at playgroup while the kiddos played):

 Then you can see how when they push together they make a shamrock.  I trimmed the stem part of the hearts as close to the staple as I could (of course I did that after this picture was taken):

 Then to hold them all together I just squirted a big old blob of hot glue in the middle of the 3 heart ends and then held them all together as the glue cooled.  I also folded a strip and shoved it into the hot glue to make a stem:

I think I've mentioned before how tricky these are to take pictures of - my table has a mirror by it, plus I take pictures right when I hang them so they're still spinning...and now you can see me and my empty bed spring that needs decorated....

 Eventually I gave up and grabbed one to hold it still for a photo opp:

I feel like this is a craft even for the noncrafter - you can do this! Grab some colored paper and a stapler and go for it!