We love making paper flowers, and this spring I decided to try my hand at making paper clovers. I couldn't find any paper clover tutorials that were quite what I wanted, so I came up with a technique to make wired clovers that are easy to make and easy to decorate with. And I put a whole bunch of them together to make an adorable St. Patrick's Day wreath that's perfect for celebrating the luck of the Irish.

The supplies needed are quite simple: various shades of green cardstock, a large heart paper punch, some thin floral wire, and a glue gun.

To create the clovers, I started by punching out a bunch of heart shapes with a large heart paper punch. I used a 1" punch, but you could you use a smaller or larger punch for a different size finished clover.

Next, I folded each heart down the middle. You can do this with a straight edge and bone folder, but for something so numerous and tiny, I like to use a different trick that I came up with instead. Using a tabletop with a nice square edge (not rounded), I line up the heart on the edge, then press down with my thumb to crease the paper.

When I pick it up, the crease is set and perfectly straight! To reinforce the crease, I give each one a quick fold by hand. This is such a fast and easy way to get a perfect fold without having to mess with tools, especially when you're dealing with hundreds of tiny pieces like this project requires.

Once all the hearts were folded, I got started on making the clovers. Each one needs three hearts (unless you decide to make four-leafed clovers!) and three pieces of thin green floral wire. Be sure to choose a wire that's thin enough to twist easily (I used 20 gauge).

I used my Arrow mini glue gun to put a little dab of hot glue on the back of each heart...

...then I added a piece of wire, and held it a few seconds til it set up.

When three petals were done and the glue cooled, they were ready to assemble.

To make the clover, I stacked the three petals together, nesting them into the creases.

While holding the hearts firmly, I twisted the wires together, forming a single strand.

With the three thin wires twisted together, the clover now had a good sturdy stem. This is why it's so important to use thin wire to start off — thick wire would be hard to twist and would make too bulky of a stem.

Now the fun part! I pulled each petal out, forming them into the perfect clover shape.

These little wired paper clovers are so adorable. And the wire lets you position each petal exactly how you want it, with natural, subtle twists.

I made about 50 clovers in all, in four different shades of green.

All these cute clovers were destined for a wreath, so I grabbed a 12" polystyrene craft foam wreath. It was a stark white color and I didn't want that to show through, so I quickly spray-painted it a bright green to match the lightest clover color.

To attach the clovers, I first trimmed the wires to about 2" long.

Then I just stuck them into the wreath. The polystyrene held them securely without a need for glue, but if you use a different type of wreath form, you might need to add a dab of hot glue.

I worked with one color at a time, spacing them out evenly across the wreath.

It was so fun to tuck the clovers into the open spots, and the wire made it really easy to adjust entire clovers or individual petals as needed.

The result was a charming paper clover wreath that is perfect St. Patrick's Day decor on the wall or on a door. I love it so much!