Spending so much more time on Instagram this last year I thought I would use that as the platform to shource some of my favourite St Patrick’s Day recipes and party inspiration.
I hope these ideas help you put a little pzazz into your St Patrick’s Day festivities.
My frield Lia Griffith has outdone herself again with some lovely craft ideas on her blog.
Decorate your home with a paper shamrock garland – check out the free template.
Check out the free cupcake wrappers and toppers.
Why not give a small gift to your young gusts with these printable bags and stickers – find the templates here.
As we know leprechauns are elusive so you could always make a trap to capture one so they then have to grant you three wishes in return for their release – here is how you can make one.
Or check out this visual guide.
If you are planning on using balloons at your party what about this idea to decorate your ice bucket as a balloon station.
And what about using balloons to mark the end of your St Patrick’s Day treasure hunt – check out this DIY tutorial.
If your style is more rustic, why not decorate some wooden blocks in white and green with a shamrock thrown in for good measure.
If you are looking for a decorating idea for a large celebration cake check out this wonderful cake decorated with a fondant rainbow ribbon.
My youngest daughter loves making cupcakes so we will be trying this recipe for rainbow cupcakes – check out the free printable cupcake topper.
If you do not want to make your own cupcakes you could always decorate some with some green fondant icing shaped like a shamrock.
If you are feeling more ambitious you can see this guide for decorating your cupcakes with fondant for St Patrick’s Day.
Decorate sugar cookies with fun St Patrick’s Day designs.
If you prefer donuts or cronuts you could decorate them with coloured and flavoured icing.
Have fun dressing up with these St Patrick’s Day free printables – great for your selfies and family photographs
Have fun with a St Patrick’s Day treasure hunt and award prozes of sweets decorated with fun bag toppers – find the details here including links to the free printables.
I should also add that the Google Doodle for St Patrick’s Day 2015 is by an Irish animator as I referenced here on Twitter. It was an animation of shamrocks doing an Irish jig and playing the fiddle. For information on previous Google Doodles for St Patrick’s Day you can read my previous article here.
And finally I wrap this St Patrick’s Day post up with a recipe from Siucra Ireland for St Patrick’s Day shamrock cookies.
Ingredients
200g Siúcra Caster Sugar
200g softened butter
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
400g plain flour
1 packet Siúcra Instant Royal Icing
1 packet Siúcra Roll Out Icing
4 tablespoons Siúcra Icing Sugar
Green gel food colouring
Small piping bag with nozzle
Method
1. Preheat oven to 150˚C and while you are doing that, cream the butter and caster sugar together. Beat in the egg and vanilla essence until well combined.
2. Sieve the flour and add to the mixture. Flatten slightly, wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3. Sprinkle a little flour on to a work surface, roll out the cookie dough to an even thickness (approx 1/2 inch). Cut out shapes with a Shamrock cookie cutter and carefully put them on a lined baking tray. Return the cookies to the fridge for another 30 minutes.
4. Bake the cookies at 150˚C for 20-25 minutes until the cookies are golden brown. Allow them to cool on the tray for 10 minutes, then transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
Decorating The Cookies
1. Sieve the Siúcra Royal Icing Sugar into a bowl and follow the directions on the packet to make it. Divide the royal icing between two bowls.
2. Colour with the green food colouring.
3. Fill a small piping bag with the coloured icing and pipe around the edge of the cookie and inside of the cookie.
Alternatively you can decorate the cookies with Siúcra Roll Out Icing – just dust your work surface with Siúcra Icing Sugar. Lightly knead the Siúcra Roll Out Icing Sugar for 2 minutes. Sprinkle a little Siúcra Icing Sugar on a work surface and roll out the icing to ¼ inch thick. Use the same shape cookie cutter as used for the cookies and cut out the icing. Spread a thin layer of Siúcra Instant Royal Icing onto the cookies then stick the roll out icing on top. The Siúcra Roll Out Icing can also be coloured with the green food colouring.
Hope you have a great St Patrick’s Day.
Remember you can curate this article to Pinterest to refer to in future years – and you can follow me here on Pinterest.
Photo credit for the lead image in this article is ni59las_mcc on Instagram.
