Erin FoxThese homemade rosettes take only a few minutes to make
Saint Patrick, our patron saint brought Christianity into Ireland. He explained the Holy Trinity with a shamrock he plucked from the ground. Since then the shamrock has been a widely recognised emblem not only for St Patrick's Day, but for Ireland too. It is customary to wear a small bunch of shamrocks pinned to our coats on the feast day but badges and rosettes are also worn to celebrate the occasion.
These homemade rosettes take only a few minutes to make. Make your own and a whole bunch for the family to wear with pride this St Patrick's day.
You will need: coloured card in green and orange, green, orange and white ribbon, scissors, ruler, glue, safety pin, pencil and compass.
Take two sheets of green card, each measuring 3.5 inches by 7 inches and fold them concertina style. Take one of the concertinas and fold in half, gluing the ends together. Repeat with the other concertina and then glue each of them together so you now have a circle.
Orange card
Take a sheet of orange card and using a compass, draw a circle measuring 2.4 inches. Cut this out and leave to one side. Take another sheet of green card and draw a shamrock on this. You can draw a circle the same size as the orange card and draw the shamrock inside this to ensure when you cut it out that it will fit. Glue the shamrock to the orange card and then glue this to the green rosette.
Draw another circle with the same measurements as the orange on the back of some cereal card. Cut this out and glue to the back of the rosette. Glue a safety pin on top of this. Take three lengths of ribbon in green, orange and white. Hold the tops of these together and then fan them out. Glue this to the back of the rosette. Once the glue is completely dry you can pin it to your jumper. Instead of cutting out a shamrock from card, press a real shamrock and then glue this on to the rosette instead. You can stick other images onto the rosette instead of a shamrock, such as a leprechaun, a pot of gold or a harp. Use green patterned card to give each rosette its own unique look.