May Day!

At Washington Avenue Elementary School in the early 60's, May Day was kind of a big deal. We would make cones from brightly colored construction paper, attach pipe cleaners for handles, and fill them with flowers to be hung from door knobs on May 1st. We would carefully bring them home to our moms, who would ooh and ah and proudly display them for the neighborhood to admire. What a sweet way to cheer someone up - so why don't we take the time to do those simple things after we're all grown up?
I decided this year to bring back that tradition. I happen to collect old sheet music, so I thought I'd use that instead of construction paper, and I used French wired ribbon instead of the pipe cleaners. Here are all the materials I used, but of course you may use whatever you wish....

First I made a pattern by wrapping a large piece of scrap paper around a styrofoam cone and trimmed it to fit. Place this pattern on a sheet of old music, wrapping paper, an old map, or anything else that strikes your fancy - trace around it and cut it out. I drew a line from the left top point to the right, and scored it for folding over. This just gives the cone a little more stability. Wrap your paper into a cone shape, adjust to fit, and tape it in place. I punched a couple of holes at the top point for the ribbon, using a tiny heart punch I had in my junk drawer. I then took a scrap of wired ribbon, fed it through the holes, and tied it into a bow. I looped a narrow piece of ribbon through the bow for hanging, but you could just tie the bow around the door knob. Now for the flowers...

Up where I live in Idaho, it's a challenge to find much in bloom this early. The only color in my yard right now is the daffodils that Dennis planted in the fall - see how cheerful they are under my church bird feeder? (more to come about that...stay tuned!) So I cut a few of the pretty cream-colored daffodils, snipped a couple of sprigs of evergreens (life!) and wrapped them up in a wet paper towel. I placed my little bouquet into a small zip-loc baggie, tucked it down into my cone, and hung it on my front door. Think of how happy you would make someone if you quietly snuck over to their house and slipped a May Day bouquet onto their front door knob!

I am sending my May Day greeting through cyberspace this year - to Yvonne in California who needs a lift. You have been through so much these past several weeks, and I hope this makes you smile.

Thanks for stopping by....

PammyJ