DIY May Day Baskets

Spring looks like it is finally here! The trees are green, there are flowers everywhere and my garden is starting to bloom at last. It was a lovely weekend again, and we enjoyed the outdoors a whole bunch.

Our Lilac bush is finally ready to bloom this week.

Vibrant clusters of flowers on my Bleeding Heart.

The first pink tulip made its appearance this week.

May Day is tomorrow, and I'm excited for the chance to celebrate springtime. May Day isn't a very big holiday in the United States, but I love it nonetheless. It is a holiday which stems from ancient pagan festivals of springtime, and it's full of dancing, singing, flowers and fun. May Day festivals in Europe are much more prevalent than in the United States, but some of the traditions did make it stateside. Dancing and singing around the maypole, leaving May Day baskets on neighbors doorknobs and choosing the May queen are a few of the traditions that prevailed in American celebrations of the holiday.

How bright and fun is this maypole?

When I was a kid my small school used to celebrate May Day by decorating berry baskets and filling them with treats or flowers and taking them to our "neighbors" in the other classrooms. We would hang long lengths of ribbon from the tether-ball poles to make maypoles and we would make crowns out of greenery (we were all May royalty). It is a lovely little memory. It made me want to celebrate May Day with Lucas, so I decided to make my own May Day baskets for him and the daycare kids.

I attached some old holiday ribbon to a small green paper cup and filled it with faux flowers. Then I made the paper flower, glued a cut out photo in the middle and attached that to a Popsicle stick. The result was super cute and super easy. I'm going to let the kids decorate their cups with stickers, but here is the prototype:

Lucas loves carrying his May Day basket around the house.

Pretty cute, huh? If you are looking for some more elaborate May Day crafts Design Mom has posted a lovely DIY with three sweet basket designs. You could always make your own maypole too. I just might try to make one myself if the hubby has any spare maypoles lying around the garage. With such nice weather, a dance around the maypole would be a great way to start out the week.