My dad’s name is Patrick Leonard Kelly. He was born on March 17th (St. Patrick’s Day); to say my family is a little Irish may be an understatement. 🙂 My grandmother’s maiden name is McNamara, and all my siblings have Irish first and middle names. If you’re wondering if we grew up eating potatoes with every meal, then the answer is yes – yes, we did.
My second son was almost a St. Patty’s Day baby, but after a thirty-three hour labor, he was coming out on the 16th no matter how much my dad protested. That said, when my son’s first birthday rolled around the following year, I knew I would be throwing him a St. Patrick’s Day-themed party. So, off to Pinterest I went! I now know there is a small minority of people that throw parties featuring green shamrocks, leprechauns, and rainbows – and that many of these parties are geared toward children!
My biggest challenge in planning this party was coming up with fun food to make. I know that most of you will not be throwing a party (birthday, or otherwise) for St. Patricks’s Day, but rather just want one or two fun goodies to make to celebrate the day. With that in mind, here are some creative treats – ones that don’t require corned beef or cabbage – that your kids will enjoy:
Place paper liners in thirty-two standard muffin cups, then fill each halfway with the batter. For each cupcake, roll three balls of foil and insert them evenly around the perimeter between the liner and the tin; this pushes in the sides to form the clover shape. Bake ’til a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool and then cover each with green frosting. Use a toothpick to draw leaf veins, and insert a two-inch-long piece of green licorice for a stem.
This link will provide you with directions to make your own pudding from scratch, but I just used boxed vanilla pudding and added the food coloring (which is going to kill us all, depending on who you ask). If you want the colors to be darker, I recommend using the gel coloring versus the liquid drops. Also, I found some free printables to use for the flags; a simple Google or Pinterest search will yield you a variety of options. Once you find what you’re looking for, just print them, cut them out and then hot glue them to toothpicks.
I use this recipe for several different holidays, with easy variations which you can make to suit your needs. For instance, we switch these up for Christmas by using circle pretzels, Hershey’s Hugs, and red M&M’s. If you’re looking for a treat that the kids can help with (or make themselves, depending on their age), then this is the perfect one for you! My boys unwrap the Hershey’s candies and press the M&M’s on after the chocolate melts. Just make sure the oven is at a low temperature and that you keep checking as they cook to see if the chocolate has melted. It only takes about two minutes! Over-cooking can make the chocolate hard.
Rainbow Fruit Tray
In addition to the fruit arrangement, I made a dip out of cream cheese and marshmallow fluff. As I was preparing for the party, I also saw creative ideas such as having a small bowl of mini marshmallows (as clouds) or gold-wrapped chocolates (as a pot of gold) at the bottom of both sides of the rainbow. Colorful toothpicks were also a fun addition to the center of the tray.
This is another great treat for letting the kids get involved! It was a little tricky for me to get the treat to stay on the sticks because I had them standing in a vase – but even with the occasional shamrock dropping to the table, I would definitely make these again. So easy!
So, go for it! Forget the leprechaun traps this year and win your family over with one of these fun and delicious St. Patrick’s Day treats.
