St. Pat’s Gifts for Your Sweetie
Just because it’s St. Patrick’s Day next Saturday doesn’t mean you get to go around pinching people. I don’t know how that tradition got started but it’s one of the dumbest ones I can think of—like an extremely watered down version of, say, decapitating someone because they’re not the same religion as you are. But celebrating your Irish heritage, drinking good beer, and wearing green are all things that many of us can definitely get behind.
What about gifts? St. Patrick’s Day isn’t usually a time of gift-giving but you can still provide a fun token of your affection if you want to. Stores have plenty of things, from white and green striped hats to chocolate coins (I already bought some of those for my daughter) to little shamrock beads you can wear. Most of these are pretty cheap—I bought mine at Target for a buck—so you could easily do that as a pre-date gesture.
But you could also spend a little bit of time making things for your date for little to no money, if you feel like it. You could make…
A blarney stone. This symbol of good luck could be painted with a shamrock, the Irish flag, or anything else that you’d like to have on it. Your date could then carry it in a pocket for good luck. Make a few of them and give them to friends if you want, too.
Gold nuggets. You could also paint rocks with gold paint and create little gold nuggets to give away. Say you got them from a leprechaun and—well, you can make any innuendo you like here. Or make a fun scavenger hunt for your date, leaving them at his or her work, car, etc.
A leprechaun beard. This gag gift would be particularly funny if your date loves A. gingers or B. beards. It’s super easy to make and if you already have red or orange construction paper, it would be completely free, too.
Leprechaun pie. We had this at the library the other day; it was a combination of vanilla pudding cups, swirls of green food coloring, a full Oreo cookie, and whipped cream topping. Of course, you could make any kind of leprechaun dessert—from a seasonally appropriate green eggs and ham (you could even go to see The Lorax on your date with this one) or the traditional green beer and popcorn. You could also design a date during which you simply try to see what happens to any food you add green food coloring to.