How-To: May Day Flower Holder

How many of you celebrate May Day? My family has always celebrated May Day by surprising our neighbors with a small bouquet of flowers at their front doors early in the morning on May 1. There are a lot of traditions associated with the first of May around the world – ours involved making our own versions of May baskets. We took paper plates, decorated them on one side, folded them in half with flowers in the center, and added a ribbon. My brother and I each took a next-door neighbor, hung the bouquet on the front door, rang the doorbell and sprinted back to our house to enjoy the surprises.

I’d like to think I’m bit more advanced with my crafting skills these days (?!), so a paper plate just won’t cut it. I made a whole new take on our May baskets, thanks to my sewing machine, that you can make today and deliver tomorrow. By adding plastic to the inside of your holder, the piece can withstand wet flower stems as they wait to be delivered.

SUPPLIES

Start out by cutting a 4×20″ piece of both your fabric and the plastic. With your ric-rac or ribbon, cut an 8-inch piece (modify this if you need it be bigger or smaller for your recipient’s door handle).

Place your fabric right-side up on your work surface. Fold your ric-rac in half and lay on top and then place your plastic piece on top of that. Clip in place to hold all the pieces together as you start to sew.

Sew a quarter-inch seam all the way around the group, leaving a few inches open for turning. It’s important to leave enough open – removing stitches to give you more room can result in the plastic ripping due to it being so lightweight.

Turn the piece inside out, making sure your four corners are nice and crisp. With an iron set to the lowest setting possible, give the fabric side a quick press to help reduce any wrinkles that might have developed during turning.

Fold the holder in half with the fabric side facing out. Cut a piece of bias tape for each side of the holder and sew each side shut. You’re done!

Cut a small bouquet of flowers to size. Get a paper towel as wet as possible and wrap around the bottom of your cut flowers. Add a piece of aluminum foil to hold the moisture in. Hang on your neighbor’s or friend’s front door.

Happy May Day!

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