Handing out May Day baskets is a charming and gentle
activity for children and adults. It's a tradition that Louisa
May Alcott wrote of in "Jack and Jill" (Chapter 18):
"The job now in hand was May baskets, for it was the
custom of the children to hang them on the doors of
their friends the night before May-day; and the girls
had agreed to supply baskets if the boys would hunt
for flowers, much the harder task of the two. Jill had
more leisure as well as taste and skill than the other
girls, so she amused herself with making a goodly
store of pretty baskets of all shapes, sizes, and colors,
quite confident that they would be filled, though not a
flower had shown its head except a few hardy
dandelions, and here and there a small cluster of
saxifrage." (a type of herb called Greater Burnet).
May baskets can be given to friends and family, as
well as taken to elderly neighbors or nursing homes.
While fresh flowers and candy treats are usually
left in the baskets, you can put other things as well.
I think fresh flowers, a few tea bags and some little
tea cookies would be wonderful!
We made a May Basket today with recycled items
that really turned out pretty. We used:
An empty Tuna Helper Box (a cake box would work)
Leftover wall paper border-prepasted
hole punch or very large needle
ribbon
leftover filler from a gift we had been given
Gifts for your basket
Cut the box in half-ours ended up being about 5
inches high. Moisten the prepasted border piece
after you've measured it to fit around the box with a
little leftover. Smooth it down-lining up the edge of
the border with bottom edge of the box. Whatever
is left at the top simply fold over the edge of the box
so it's inside. We let this sit and dry for a little while,
and smoothed it down once more as it was drying.
When it was dry I poked a hole in each side near the
top and put in a length of ribbon long enough so we
could tie a bow after threading it through the hole.
We then added the filler and our treats and flowers.
This craft could easily be used for a group of children to
make a few of them. It was easy, and the materials
were recycled or scraps I had saved. You could use any
recycled boxes or bags for the basket and cover it with
various papers or paint. You could also add paper doilies,
lace, more ribbons and other decorative scraps.
The second
picture listed on the page is a basket we made
from a thrift store find. This
type of basket would work really well for giving to
Seniors. We lined it with a white cloth napkin I had
also gotten at a thrift store and filled it with flowers
and bath products.
About the Author
Brenda Hyde is editor of Old Fashioned Living, a wife
and mom to three children, living in the Midwest United States.
