Can lucky charms really help you win more sweepstakes? Whether or not you believe that you can influence your luck, having a lucky charm can help you have a more positive attitude -- and a positive attitude can change your luck. So I've gathered some fun lucky craft projects from around the About.com network to help you come up with your own lucky charm.
1. Draw Yourself a Lucky Leprechaun Charm
Drawn by Sandra Grauschopf from instructions by Shawn Encarnacion, licensed to About.com.
If you enjoy drawing, this leprechaun would make an adorable lucky charm. Who wouldn't feel luckier when looking at this little guy and his pot of gold? Helen South, About.com's Guide to Drawing and Sketching, commissioned this how-to from Shawn Encarnacion.
2. Stitch a Coins in the Fountain Lucky Charm
Image © Cheryl C. Fall, used with permission.
Throwing coins in a fountain is a traditional way to become luckier, and Cheryl Fall, About.com's Guide to Needlepoint, has come up with a beautiful pattern to represent this ancient lucky tradition. This piece would look beautiful hanging over your computer or in a picture frame on your desk!
3. Lucky Cell Phone Charm
Image © Tammy Powley, Used with Permission.
Tammy Powley, About.com's Guide to Jewelry Making, has come up with this really cute lucky charm that you can take with you everywhere you go. You could also adapt this pattern to hang from your computer monitor, so that you'll see luck every time you go to enter sweepstakes.
4. Grow a Lucky Charm with Lucky Bamboo
Image © Arsel Özgürdal at Stock.Xchng
Jon VanZile, About.com's Guide to Houseplants, helps you grow a living lucky charm, the popular house and office plant 'lucky bamboo.' This is just the kind of houseplant for me, because it's easy to grow and hard to kill. Plus, it's great for feng shui, which many people use to improve their luck.
5. Lucky Four-Leafed Clover Needlepoint Charm
Image © Cheryl. C. Fall, used with permission.
Cheryl Fall, About.com's Guide to Needlepoint, has a gorgeous pattern that you can use to stitch yourself a four-leafed clover lucky charm. You can use this pattern to stitch a single clover, or to create a quartet for even more luck.
6. Lucky Ladybird Cross Stitch Charm
Image © Connie G. Barwick, used with permission.
Connie Barwick, About.com's Guide to Cross Stitch, has created this fun pattern to stitch a lucky ladybird. Cross stitching is one of my favorite hobbies, and this pattern is simple enough for beginners. You can stitch this pattern and put it in a small frame on your computer desk, stitch it into a favorite article of clothing, or make it into a card that you can give to someone who could use some luck.
7. Wear these Lucky Charm Earrings
Image © Tammy Powley, Used with Permission.
Tammy Powley, About.com's Guide to Jewelry Making, can help you make a lucky charm that you can wear with these cute four-leafed clover earrings. Feel luckier with every swing of these cute earrings.
8. Lucky Decorated Mint Tin to Hold Your Luck
Image © Lesley Shepherd, Used with Permission
Lesley Shepherd, About.com's Guide to Miniatures, has come up with a really cute way to turn old mint tins into an adorable container. You can follow Lesley's directions exactly, or customize them to create a mint container that reflects your own favorite lucky symbols. When you're done, you can use this container to hold lucky charms or just as a decoration to make you feel luckier.
9. Make a Charm from this Good Luck Post Card
Image © Barbara Crews, About.com's Guide to Collectibles. Used with permission.
Barb Crews, About.com's Guide to Collectibles, has a beautiful vintage Good Luck postcard. Print it out and send it to a friend, or take Barb's suggestion to put it "in a deep frame with embellishments added such as a rabbit foot, small horseshoe charm, a few sprigs of artificial clover" to make a beautiful lucky charm for your computer room or wherever else you could use some extra luck.
