Hey, fellow crafters! Meet the latest contributor from our creative community — Julianne G.! She’s new to Hallmark and we’re excited to have her sharing all her crafting brilliance with us here. With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, we asked Julianne G. to share a quick and easy way to dress up your green gathering with these potato-stamped coasters.

I’m crazy about hosting friends at my home for any reason and it’s fun to create cute decorations to fit the theme of whatever party I’m throwing. I’m all about those little details. Being part Irish, I especially love everything about celebrating St. Patrick’s Day and these cute shamrock coasters are super simple and fun to make. And best of all – they’re inexpensive!

You can make these yourself or share the fun by getting your friends together for a little pre St. Patrick’s Day coaster making party! This also makes a great craft you and your kids can do together. Whoever and however, it’s a ton of fun, so let’s get started!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Potatoes (of course!)
• Paring knife
• Large knife (to cut potato)
• X-Acto knife (optional – could also just use the paring knife)
• Pen
• Acrylic Paint (we recommend green, yellow, or white)
• Paint brushes
• Cork coasters (can purchase at most local craft stores)

Begin by cutting the potato widthwise into two halves. Then take each one of those halves and cut in half lengthwise. You should now have 4 potato wedges.

Take one of the triangle shaped wedges, and with your pen, draw a heart using the point of the wedge as the point of your heart. The heart shape will form one leaf of your four-leaf clover! Trace the line of the heart you just drew with an X-Acto knife to start your cut. Once you’ve made the cut, I like to wipe off my pen marks with a towel so I can make sure my cut looks good before I start cutting away the rest of the potato.

Now that you have a guide, take your paring knife and make deeper vertical cuts about ¼” deep along your guide lines. Then make horizontal cuts to break away the pieces of potato from your shape. Continue until your heart shape is completely cut out and sticking up at least ¼” from the rest of the potato.

Now, it’s time for my favorite part! Put a little bit of paint on your brush and lightly paint an even coat of color onto your stamp. Be careful not to apply too much paint to your stamp because any excess will squeeze out when pressure is applied, making your image look splotchy. Try a couple of test runs on a piece of paper before you move onto your cork coaster. This way you can get your application process down pat.

It’s important to stamp your first heart shape in the top center of the coaster. This way, once you have added your additional hearts, the four-leaf clover will be located in the middle of your coaster. When placing the stamp on the coaster, apply even pressure and make sure not to move the stamp once it’s in place. Then gently lift the stamp straight up to see the cute little heart you just created. Apply more paint to your stamp and repeat three more times to create the additional leaves for your four-leaf clover. As you apply each new heart shape, match the points of the heart to one another so they are all touching and meet in the middle of the coaster.

If there are gaps or light spots where the paint didn’t quite get onto the coaster after stamping the hearts, don’t fret! Just put a little paint on your brush and fill in the empty spaces. No one will ever know and it will still look super cute. To add the stem of the shamrock, simply paint it on using your brush. Repeat and create as many coasters as your heart desires!

You can stop here or jazz up your coasters with additional elements. It can be as simple as painting a dot pattern around the edges. Once you’ve learned how to easily create a Shamrock using a potato stamp you can try your hand at other St. Patrick’s Day icons such as a pot-of-gold or a top hat.

So, now that you have a cute little set of coasters to enhance your St. Patrick’s Day décor, put on your favorite green outfit and invite some friends over to celebrate! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Share your crafty St. Patrick’s Day creations with us on Instagram @Think.Make.Share! And if you’re looking for something to put on those coasters, check out John’s St. Patty’s day-after cocktail. Want more ideas? Visit the St. Patrick’s Day Ideas section at Hallmark.com!

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— Julianne G.