St. Patrick’s Day (or St. Paddy’s Day as the real Irish gals call it) is such a fun holiday!  As the kick-off to spring, it’s full of bursts of color that we’re all craving after winter.  From St. Paddy’s Day brunch to St. Paddy’s Day crafts for kids to refreshing your outdoor decor, there are so many fun ideas I want to share with you!

View the NBC Chicago Today segment here

Before we jump into all of the details, I want to say a big thank you to the team at NBC Chicago Today for having me on the show to discuss all of these ideas.  They were so wonderful to work with, and I can’t wait to join them again soon.  If you’d like to catch the viewing, you can find it at NBC Chicago Today or click here.

Easy St. Paddy’s Day Brunch

Did someone say green pancakes for St. Patrick’s Day?  St. Paddy’s Day is such a fun holiday, and it’s so easy to make it exciting for your kids!!  You can easily create a super cool brunch with just a few tweaks to your everyday items.

Set the table

share in Wilmette has super cute St. Paddy’s Day items for St. Paddy’s Day brunch.  When it comes to kids and entertaining, I like to use paper plates and plastic forks for easy clean-up.  Whenever you’re setting a table for an event, it takes time and energy.  Between that, making food, hosting, and cleaning up can be a lot.  Simplify it by using disposable products for easy clean-up!  You can easily shop the napkins here, pancake toppers here, and cups here.

Pick a fun table centerpiece.  For the NBC Today Chicago segment, we featured a colorful paper rainbow with a gold pot made by the talented, local Chicago business Made by Ilyssa.  She is my go-to for all custom paper goods and has done some really fun projects for other parties like Caroline’s Donut Party, Henry’s First Birthday, and Baby Face Cake Toppers.  She can really do it all!

Plan the menu

What do you normally make for brunch?  I’m a pancake kinda gal and love Kodiak Cakes.  They’re the best.  You can easily make green pancakes by making your favorite pancake recipe and add 6 drops of green food dye. Props to Get Your Holiday On because this idea is brilliant for St. Paddy’s Day brunch.  The pancakes look so fun with whipped cream & lucky charms!  Her photo below is just so fun!

I love the idea of using the fruitloop necklaces as a placecard for tiny guests.  They can even make your own if you’re having friends over.  To make it super fun, try this green juice!

Thoughtfully Simple created this idea above and I put my own spin on it.  You can use icing or whipped cream to hold the fruity pebbles to the glass.  If you’re not looking to get your kids crazy hyped-up on sugar, create your favorite smoothie and toss some spinach into it to make it green.  You can easily skip the fruity pebbles and just add a fun straw instead!  Sugar crisis averted for your St. Paddy’s Day brunch!

Fun St. Paddy’s Day Crafts for Toddlers

I must admit, I had the most fun with the St. Paddy’s Day crafts.  Crafts for toddlers are kinda my jam ha!  In fact, I’ve planned tons of crafts for toddlers, which you can find here.  Every craft I made took no more than 10 minutes to prep and about 20 minutes to do with my toddler.  Obviously, time always depends on their attention span, but these were winners!

Fruitloop Necklace

I love this Fruitloop necklace craft for toddlers.  This is a really great craft to work on fine motor skills for kids 2.5 years and older.  I think 4 years old would be the sweet spot.  Instead of making my own shamrocks, I bought some from Party City and hole punched a hole in the center.  It was way easier!

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Leprechaun Lookers

I think these are brilliant!!  I found the idea for leprechaun lookers here.  The photo above is by love our littles as well.  They’re so easy to make and perfect for the neighborhood walk for the decorating contest on Chicago’s south side this year.  To make the leprechaun lookers, all you need is 1 paper towel roll or 2 toilet paper rolls, construction paper, glue, poms, string, and pipe cleaners.  If you’ve had a little one at home this year, I bet you have all of these!  For more instructions, take a peek here.

Fruitloop Rainbow

This one is SO easy for St. Patrick’s Day!  Honestly, the easiest St. Paddy’s Day craft to do.  All you need is glue, construction paper, Fruitloops, and marshmallows.  Emmie LOVED this craft and made three of them in a row.  Plus, it’s a great craft to do around snack time because kids can sneak a few fruitloops, too!

Rainbow Handprint

I found this idea on Pinterest, too!  I wish I could properly credit the photo, but this is all I can find.  It’s a really cute print that I think would also be good for a child’s playroom.  I love crafts for toddlers that can double as room decor.

Want to outsource?  Use Art Beat Box!

OK, I LOVE Art Beat Box.  She’s a local owner from Glencoe, IL, and ships nationwide.  If you haven’t heard of Art Beat Box it’s a service where you can order a craft for kids (toddler through tween) complete with all supplies and instructions.  It’s literally hitting the easy button for hands-on parenting.  Plus, it makes for a great gift.  For St. Paddy’s Day, Art Beat Box is offering fun DIY soap kits with charms inside as well as a DIY gnome.  Both are so cute!!  Be sure to check them out.

Outdoor Decor

What about decorating for outside?  Normally, this isn’t as much of a thing, but thanks to the pandemic, we need to get creative.  This year, Chicago’s south side will hold a neighborhood decorating contest.  I’m sure other neighborhoods will be doing something simiilar.  There have been lots of “treasure hunts” this year to keep kids busy.  If you want some ideas, I highly recommend these as they were so easy!

Rainbow Window Display

Rainbow window displays were all the rage last year when the pandemic first started.  I like the idea of using them for St. Patrick’s Day, but also giving a nod to the fact that we’ve made it a year.  You can find my easy instructions on how to create your own in under an hour with construction paper and tape here.

St. Patrick’s Day Pots

I’m not going to lie – I impressed myself with how easy this craft was.  All you need is old clay pots, green paint, black ribbon, and some glitter paper.  I had everything on hand except for the glitter paper.  Paint the pots green and let them dry.  Then, cut your ribbon, which I used Elmer’s glue to secure down.  The ribbon won’t be perfect because it’s not a perfect circle — that’s ok!  As long as it’s centered in the front, it’ll look fine.  Once the ribbon dries, you can add the glitter buckle, which is just cutting out a square within a square.  Seriously, anyone can do it!

I hope you love these St. Paddy’s Day brunch ideas, St. Paddy’s Day crafts for toddlers, and outdoor decor ideas.  No matter your plans, have a fun St. Patrick’s Day!  For more tips, subscribe to my weekly email or follow me on Instagram.