How to Make a Bleach Bottle Leprechaun

Craft: Sean The Lucky Leprachaun

This is a fun and challenging project. But I think you will agree that the results are well worth it. Sean the Leprechaun is made to sit on a table or to hang on your door or wall. He is my adaptation of the Santa heads that were so popular a couple of years back. I tried to use materials that were easy for anyone to get or that were recycled. That being said his parts can be any thing you have already around your house. The only things I bought at the Walmart were the felt and the goggle eyes. I had the ribbon left over from Christmas and also the chenille sticks.

Time to complete: 4 hours

Tools

• scissors
• spray glue
• hot glue gun
• assorted plates and saucers
• Sharpie marker
• 1 CD case
• 1 DVD case

Materials

• yarn - I bought 1 Super Saver skein of yarn color was carrot
• green and pink felt
• 1 bleach or gallon size container shaped like a bleach bottle cut in half
• 1 Country Crock butter container
• cardboard
• scrap of red felt for mouth
• 1 set of goggle eyes
• 1 clear or pink flat gem for nose
• 1 package of chenille stems - Color does not really matter as the yarn covers in up.
• 1 foamy shamrock
• some wide gold ribbon
• some thin gold ribbon

Instructions

Cut your bleach bottle or gallon container in half. When you cut the bottle in half, you want to cut it so that you have one side without a handle and a side with a handle. We will be using the side without a handle. Wash in hot water and soap especially if you are using a bottle that some other chemical came out of. The bottle I used was one for windshield wiper fluid so I made sure when it was cut in half I washed it really well.

In the area of the bottle where the label would be, cut a piece of felt and cover this area. Using the CD cover as if you were going to open it, wrap the yarn around it 30 times. Slide off and wrap the center with a piece of a chenille stick. This is a yarn pouf. You will want to make 7 poufs of these to go across the front of the bottle. With scissors, poke holes in the bottle, push the two ends of the chenille stick in and open them up on the back. Use the CD case again, but this time the long way, wrap 6 poufs for each side of the face. Then using the DVD case, wrap 8 poufs for the beard putting these on the bottom part of the bottle. Using the CD case again long ways, make 7 more poufs to go above the row of the beard. Make one more with the long way CD case for the mustache, centering this above the second row of the beard. Glue on google eyes above the mustache and glue one flat gem on the mustache as a nose. Glue red scrap of felt under mustache for mouth.

For the brim of the hat: On corrugated cardboard, draw a half circle that is the circumference of the bottle. Go out one inch from that line and make another half circle. This is the brim that you will cover with green felt. Go in one inch from the circumference line and draw another half circle. Cut around the line that is the brim line around the half circle. Now cut from the first line inward toward the circumference line so that you have tabs that can be bent up and glued to the bottle. Cover rim part of half circle with green felt. Cover bottom of the Country Crock margarine container with a circle of green felt. Cover sides of the margarine container, making sure to have a 2 inches longer that the container. Hot glue the margarine container to the bottle. Stretch the extra two inches down and glue to the brim of the hat. This will cover the tabs that you used to glue on the brim of the hat. Decorate hat rim with gold braid to cover the edge of the cardboard. With wide gold braid, make hat band and hot glue to hat. Decorate with foamy a shamrock.