April Showers Bring May Flowers--May Day Basket Ideas

New Design Team
"made with love (and paper)" Design Team
made with love consists of a group of gals that love paper-crafting! Each month we challenge ourselves to complete projects with specific requirements. We are a new group to the craft world in internet land. This is our second assignment. Please stop by and join us!! You are welcome to submit your creation to the challenge.

This month our small group at "made with love (and paper)" Design Team we are sharing our ideas for May Day. We hope that by posting way ahead of this unofficial holiday that we will inspire you to engage in this festive celebration.

May Day
There is such a diverse history of May Day. From honoring labourers, celebrating spring and summer and worshiping pagan gods. There are also secular traditions that have taken hold (in America). May Day was celebrated by some early European settlers of the American continent. In some parts of the United States, May Baskets are made. These baskets are small and usually filled with flowers or treats and left at someone's doorstep. The basket giver would ring the bell and run away. The person receiving the basket would try to catch the fleeing giver. If they caught the person, a kiss was to be exchanged. This is what I think about when May Day is approaching. Every year my kid and I make baskets and leave them at the doors of neighbors and friends. After 12 years, most of them have caught on to us. And a few have literally caught us!! We always make 1 extra basket and leave it on our own step. That way, when "interrogated" we simply reply, "Oh, we got one too! I do not know what is going on!"

Sometimes we use real flowers or plants, sometimes we make flowers and sometimes we use artificial flowers. We always include a poem that explains a bit about May Day. Each year we add new friends to our list of recipients and they may not know about May Day! It is so fun!!

Today I present 3 ideas to inspire you to partake in the joy of treating (and fooling) your friends and neighbors on this Day of Brotherly Fun and Love! I have 2 projects that you can do with your kids and one for adult crafters. I have made a video tutorial for each project. If you need more instruction, I am happy to communicate with you.

Seed Packet Pocket, Kid CraftThis is a simple scalloped circle folded to make pockets. Use patterned paper or plain and have the kids decorate it. The video shows a pattern for a 5-pocket packet by folding the half-circle in to thirds. You can easily make a 7-pocket packet by folding the half-circle in to fourths. You can use this creation in a variety of ways. You can use it for gift cards, party favors, love notes, even photos! View the Video Tutorial.