St. Patrick’s Day Inspiration

Finding artistic inspiration for your projects can be daunting, especially if you don’t have personal experience in the subject. The remedy is fairly easy. Do some research! Learn something new, then put your own spin on it! Below is a brief history on St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in America followed by some of the products created with our St. Patrick’s Day themed clip art!

St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations in America

Saint Patrick’s Day is a cultural and religious celebration held on March 17 every year. Also known as the Feast of Saint Patrick, or St. Paddy’s Day is the traditional death day of Saint Patrick (c. AD 385-461), the foremost Patron Saint and national apostle of the Irish people. It was made an official Christian celebration day in the early 17th century, commemorating St. Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. The day also celebrates the culture and heritage of the Irish in general.

The celebrations began to get serious attention and participation increased in places like Boston and New York sometime during the early 19th century. As Irish-Americans became politically powerful in big cities, cities themselves begin to back St. Patrick’s day celebrations, gaining popularity amongst non-Irish Americans during the late 20th century.

Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day is serious business. It involves parades, festivals, wearing green (or risk getting pinched!!), drinking green beer, and decorating with shamrocks, pots of gold, rainbows, and more! It also wouldn’t be a proper St. Patrick’s Day without eating Irish food and partaking in beer crawls across the city!

Popular St. Patrick’s Day Symbols

  • Shamrock – The Shamrock is the most common symbol of Saint Patrick’s day. The shamrock is the leaf of the clover plant and a symbol for Holy Trinity because it leaves are divided into three leaflets.
  • Horseshoes – Horseshoes are believed to be associated with good luck and chasing away the devil.
  • Green Rivers – On this day the rivers are dyed green. The tradition started in Chicago in 1962 completely by accident when the dye meant for sourcing illegal pollutants were used. It was later found to harm the river so now vegetable dye is used to create a harmless green glow.
  • Parades – The first St. Patrick’s Day parade happened in St. Augustin, Florida in 1601. Peoples parade down the street in honor of the Irish saint.
  • Corned beef and cabbage – Most Irish-Americans go crazy for corned beef. Around the same time when Irish immigrants came to the US, pork was a very expensive meat in Ireland. But the close proximity of the Irish to the Jewish quarter in New York meant corned beef was never far away! It was the next best thing to bacon due to its texture and hence became a traditional meal for Irish-Americans every year.
  • Singing ‘Irish Eyes Are Smiling’ – The song is believed to be a popular Irish song, but it was actually written by three lads from New York. Amongst the three, only one had Irish history, yet the song was believed to be of Irish origin. The song was covered by Bing Crosby in 1939 and was a popular song used in movies about Ireland in the 1930s and 40s.

Though Saint Paddy’s day originated in Ireland, wearing green, dyeing the rivers green, and the parades are purely an American celebration of Irish-American pride.

What can you do with St. Patrick’s Day Clip Art?

Party Favor Gift Tags!

From Etsy shop JADED ORCHID STUDIO. These party favor gift tags come in an editable format that can be personalized by you, right in your browser after purchasing, using Corjl!
From Etsy shop CREATIFBELLE. The adorable St. Patrick’s Day truck printable is so cute and perfect for framing! Digital download in 300dpi High Resolution JPG and PNG
ready for A4 8 1/2 x 11 inch printing
From Etsy shop Lazy Fox Paper Co. ECLP March Calendar Kit – Monthly Planning Kit. Printed on Premium Matte Paper, 3 page kit with the basics for monthly planning

All clip art sets come with a limited commercial license *and* print-on-demand license for up to 750 products!

Find The Perfect Clip Art For Your Project Now

Welcome!

AffordableClipArt.com is your one stop shop for inexpensive gorgeous, hand drawn and hand painted clip art by me, Yvonne de Salle. Commercial and Print-on-Demand licenses included! You may even score a couple freebies here and there!

In fact, you go on and get yourself a freebie right now in celebration of the blog officially launching!

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More about me, the artist!

  • My name is Yvonne de Salle. In a past life I was an singer-actor but now I devote most of my time raising my family. I went to art scam school and then dropped out and then that art scam school went out of business. Coincidence? I think not! *haha*
  • My husband and I have two little girls, epic firecrackers. My eldest is the funniest kid I know and has the WILDEST imagination. My youngest has a set of vocal cords that, as a parent, drive me crazy. But as a vocalist, I’m super jealous. I don’t think the notes she can hit are even on the piano.
  • I’ve been watching/listening to Parks and Rec almost every single day since my first child was born. It’s just on all the time. Literally…the soundtrack to my life.
  • I love coffee. I drink it like it’s going out of style.
  • I love to cook. My mother-in-law gave me a cast iron pan for Christmas and it is the GREATEST THING EVER.
  • I miss singing so much. So much. One day I will return to it, but for now, I am content where I am.
  • Wanna know more? Visit my personal blog at www.singathomemom.com – though there’s not much there at the moment.

Keep tabs on this blog! There will be more to come and more freebies to follow! In the meantime, check out the SHOP!