Welcome Button Shamrock

Welcome guests to your home with a festive welcome button shamrock, an easy Saint Patrick's Day craft to make with your button stash from Amanda Formaro.

Materials:

• 4 paper mache hearts
• assortment of colorful buttons
• acrylic paint in green, black and white
• scissors
• hot glue gun
• old toothbrush
• acrylic sealer spray, matte finish

Instructions:

1. On work surface, position the four paper mache hearts into a clover design. Hot glue them together. Use scissors to trim off the hangers from the hearts, leaving one on to hang the clover by.
    
2. Paint clover completely with green acrylic paint. Repeat if needed.
    
3. Dip the bristle tips of a toothbrush into some black paint that has been lightly thinned with a drop or two of water. Test your splattering ability on a piece of scrap paper before doing this on your clover. Hold toothbrush horizontally and drag your finger across the bristles, causing the paint to splatter spots wherever you aim it. When you are comfortable with this method, go ahead and splatter the entire surface of the clover with black paint. Clean out toothbrush and repeat this method with white paint. Spray entire surface with acrylic sealer spray and let dry.
    
4. When dry, use hot glue to add buttons around the outer edge of the clover. Alternate the colors so that there are not too many of one color together. If you prefer, you can use gold and/or silver buttons in place of colorful buttons.
    
5. Find one button to go in the center of the clover, preferably larger than the other buttons that you used around the edge.Hot glue to the center.
    
6. Hang on your door!