Top ‘o the mornin’ to ya! This coming Saturday is St. Patrick’s Day, a festive time to don your green and wish for the luck of the Irish. If you’re visiting Walt Disney World between March 15 and 17, you’ll find lots of St. Paddy’s festivities going on at Downtown Disney. Get your fill of delicious Irish food and enjoy live Celtic music and dancing at and around Raglan Road in the Pleasure Island district. Face painting and stilt walkers will round out the celebration, and if you don’t want a pinch, you’d better grab some emerald beads, boas or bowler hats available at various kiosks and shops.

Not at a Disney Park this week? You can still find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow…or make an edible one yourself! Check out this great recipe from Disney Family Fun.

Rainbow cupcakes from Disney Family Fun

You will need:

• White cake mix (we used an 18-1/4-ounce box)
• Food coloring (red, blue, green, and yellow)
• Baking cups
• Whipped cream (optional)
• Gold foil-wrapped chocolate coin candy

What to do:

1. Prepare your favorite white cake mix, then divide the batter evenly among six small bowls. Following the chart below, dye each bowl of batter a rainbow color.

2. Line 16 muffin pan wells with baking cups. Evenly distribute the purple batter among the cups, then the blue, and so on, following the order shown. As you go, gently spread each layer of batter with the back of a spoon to cover the color underneath.
3. Bake the cupcakes according to your recipe directions. Before serving, remove the paper wrapping, and if you like, top each cupcake with a whipped-cream cloud.
4. Serve with a handful of gold foil-wrapped chocolate coin treasure.

[I have made this recipe into a layer cake before. Use the same method above, but add colors alternately into baking pans instead of muffin cups and follow baking directions.]

Now, to get you properly attired, I think these Mickey and Minnie ears headbands should do the trick.

You will need:

• Template for Mickey and Minnie St. Patrick’s Day Headband
• Scissors
• Stiff black felt for the ears
• Regular felt scraps (yellow and two shades of green – self adhesive works well for this part)
• Low temperature hot glue gun
• Small piece of thin cardboard or cardstock (for the Mickey headband)
• Green pipe cleaner (for the Minnie headband)
• Thin black headband(s)

What to do:

1. Print template and cut out felt shapes.
2. Working with one ear piece at a time, apply a line of glue across the center of the connecting band (see template). Stick the glued portion to the underside of the headband, positioning it about 1½ inches left of the center point of the band. Now glue the two round ear flaps together as shown. Repeat for second ear, leaving about 2½ inches between the two ears.
3. For Mickey’s hat, first sandwich a small rectangle of cardboard between the two pieces, then glue them together. (This will make the hat stand upright once it is attached to the band.) Fold and glue the hatband into place. Adhere buckle to the center of the hatband.
4. To attach Mickey’s hat to the headband, glue the left edge of the brim to the left ear. Then glue the center of the brim to the headband. Do not attach the hat to the right ear — otherwise, the hat will buckle each time your child puts on the headband.
5. For Minnie’s shamrock bow, glue a 3-inch pipe cleaner stem to one of the felt shamrocks, as shown. Next, glue a 2-inch length across the lower leaves. Glue the matching shamrock piece on top.
6. Bend the leaves slightly forward to make the completed shamrock look more dimensional. Then glue it to the base of one ear.

Now go practice your Irish brogue, learn to dance a jig, and ye’ll be right fit fer a St. Paddy’s party!

For more holiday crafts and activities, visit Disney Family Fun.

Related articles

• St. Patrick’s Day at Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen in Disneyland Resort (disneyfoodblog.com)
• St. Patrick’s Day Festivities Invite ‘Wearin’ of the Green’ at Downtown Disney Pleasure Island March 15-17 (chipandco.com)