May Day is Just Around the Corner

When I was a kid, we used to make May Day baskets filled with flowers. Really they were just paper cones that we filled with flowers from our yard and hung a little paper handle on them. We usually used Elmer's Glue but in a pinch we'd use a staple to hold them together. Then we'd stealthily sneak around the neighborhood and hang the baskets on doorknobs and wait...

We'd watch to see what would happen when people opened their doors and found a basket of flowers hanging on their door.

It was fun and no one ever seemed to mind finding flowers on their doorstep...but I wondered where that tradition came from.

So, I looked on Wikipedia:

"The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian times, with the festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, and the Walpurgis Night celebrations of the Germanic countries."

It's a shame that we are losing this tradition today.

May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii

May 1 is May Day here in Oregon but it is Lei Day in Hawaii.

I love the idea of celebrating spring in lots of different way. All these celebrations are symbolized with color, parties and flowers.

Lei Day began in 1928 with a flower festival of wreaths that people could wear - or Leis.

I love flowers and festivals so Lei Day sounds like a perfect way to celebrate.

May Day is on its Way - Here's How to Make a May Basket

When I was little, we used to make May Day baskets out of paper and fill them with flowers. We'd hang them on the neighbors' doors, ring the bell and run off. Then we'd hide in the bushes and watch the door swing open to see the surprised expressions on our neighbor's faces.

Then when my kids were little, I helped them make the same paper baskets and hang them on the neighbor's doors.

May 1st is May Day and it's just around the corner. So, if you want to get ready, you might want to start making your baskets now. Here's how:

1) First I start with some pretty papers (these could be leftover gift wrapping paper).

I can also mix papers and adhere them to one another with spray-on adhesive.

2) Then I cover them in contact paper (I keep a roll around the house)

3) I roll the paper into a cone

4) I staple the edges and tape them down.
5) I punch a hole on either side

6) Then I string a ribbon through the holes

7) And stuff some flower foam down inside.
8) I use a little water holder that I can wedge into the foam and stick a bouquet into the water.

On May Day I'll fill these up and hang them on the doors.

I'll pick the flowers from my yard to make my bouquets.


May Day has traditionally been a day of celebration which involves dancing around a May pole and delivering May baskets filled with flowers onto the doors of houses.

Some people might call May day a celebration of spring and a flower festival.

In many countries, May Day is a celebration of International Workers' Day, or Labor Day, a day of political demonstrations and celebrations organized by the unions.

Traditional English May Day includes dancing, crowning a May Queen and celebrations involving a Maypole. The Maypole is adorned with ribbons that kids hold on to as they dance around the pole. This creates a beautiful multi-colored pole.