Posted on by Pamela Layton McMurtry

Make your own leprechaun cottage


LEPRECHAUN COTTAGE

This country cottage is just the right size for a leprechaun’s hiding place for gold coins (chocolate-covered from See’s candy). Make it with your family or crafting group for a fun project.

You will need:
A medium-size unfinished wooden birdhouse ($4.99 @ Michael’s craft store)
White gesso or tempera paint
Burnt umber acrylic paint
Light green acrylic paint
Large and small paintbrushes
A handful of large and small pebbles
Dry green moss
Twigs
A hot glue gun and glue sticks or thick craft glue
Shamrock or decoration if desired

  • Whitewash the birdhouse with 3 – 4 coats of gesso, allow to dry between each coat. 
  • Paint the door and base green and the eaves and doorknobs brown.
  • Hot glue small pebbles around the door and larger ones around base of the house, filling in with the tiniest ones.
  • Glue the twigs along the front and back of the roof edges and over the window. Glue moss to the roof and tops of the pebbles.
  • Add an ornament if desired. Hide a few gold foil-covered coins inside the cottage.

LEPRECHAUN GARDEN
Decorate your St. Patrick’s Day dinner table with a leprechaun garden crudités that does double-duty as an appetizer and a centerpiece. 

It’s easy to create; just set the leprechaun cottage on a tray or in a shallow basket. Trim off the stem ends of a four-pack of washed mini lettuce heads or a bunch of kale and place in a bowl of water to rinse and refresh like you do with a bouquet of cut fresh flowers After you shake off excess water and drain upside down for a few minutes, place around the cottage for the garden base.. Prepare small vegetables as directed and place them in the lettuce heads in rows or bunches. Serve with your favorite garden or ranch dip, tinted green, in a hollowed bell pepper.
TINY VEGETABLES
Bite-size potatoes; wash, lightly coat with canola or olive oil and bake for about 30 minutes at 425 degrees, or until soft. (I bought these at Sprouts in Salt Lake City)
Blanch the following vegetables for the leprechaun garden. Boil 3-4 quarts of water in a large pot. Add vegetables, blanch for the recommended time, remove with a slotted spoon then immerse in cold water, drain on towels until you assemble the crudités.
Asparagus: wash and break off stem ends, boil for 3 – 5 minutes, cool, cut in half
Broccoli: wash and cut into individual branches, blanch for 3 minutes
Brussels sprouts: remove outer leaves, wash and boil for 8 minutes
Snow peas, trim off ends and remove strings, blanch for 30 seconds
  • Wash and cut the following vegetables into bite-size servings:
Mini carrots, mushrooms, cucumbers, celery, bell pepper

IRISH SODA BREAD
This is a mild-tasting bread that is delicious with butter and jam.
3 ½ C all-purpose flour + extra for rolling out the dough
2 TBSP sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 C buttermilk
¾ C cream
½ C dried cranberries or raisins (optional)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil, lightly butter and set aside. Sift together flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. Make a crater in the center, add buttermilk and cream. Using your fingers or a large fork, stir the dough until it just holds together. Flour the work surface and gently mold the dough into a 6 inch round loaf. Dust the bread with flour and cut a cross into the top, place on the baking pan. Bake for 42 – 45 minutes until hollow-sounding when tapped. Remove from pan, serve immediately with butter and strawberry or blueberry jam.


Be sure to join Kim Power Stilson and me for a magical 

St. Patrick’s Day program

 on BYU SiriusXM Radio 143 

Thursday, March 17th @ 3 p.m. Eastern/1 p.m. Mountain. 

or listen online: 

https://byuradio.org/


Erin go braugh!