May Day 2012

April 30th is a busy day in our household.  There is a lot of crafting going on...  making paper flowers and baskets all to prepare for the next day - MAY DAY!! 

This year, we made the same paper baskets as last year, three types of paper flowers, and some of the standard cone-shaped baskets. 

For the first type of flower, we dyed coffee filters in water tinted with food coloring.  HINT - not a lot of water is needed - the more concentrated, the deeper the color on the flower.  Ours were pretty light colored this year, but it was a great lesson learned.  Before you dip it, you want to quarter the coffee filter and only dip the tip in the dye.  Then quickly turn it upright and watch the color spread - it's pretty cool!  Next, let the filters dry.  Then, bunch up the filter and tape it to a straw or popsicle stick to make it into a lovely flower. 

The second type of flower that the kids made also used coffee filters.  First the kids colored with markers all over the filters.  Then, you put the filter on a paper towel and spray lightly with a spray bottle.  The colors all spread and blend together.  Again, let dry, and then bunch up and attach to a straw or popsicle stick to make a flower. 

We loved our handprint lilies so much from last year, so we chose them as our third flower.  It is extra special making those in our house after our own "Lily", who actually curled all of them!  She's such a crafty little girl!

All 18 baskets turned out lovely!  What do you think?? 

I guess I did throw in a couple artificial flowers that I had from a few years ago when I made flower pens.  They had been sitting up in a closet collecting dust for quite some time, so I figured I'd pass them on and spruce up the baskets some.  The brown paper bag baskets went to families with little ones, so we also threw in some snacky stuff - fruit snacks, mini-Oreos, mini-Chips Ahoy, and mini-Nutter Butters.  In the cone-shaped baskets,  we threw in some Hershey's Kisses and Tootsie Rolls too.  Just a special treat for all our special neighbors, family and friends. 
  
And, now for the official day of "ding and dash"....  (note the umbrellas, wet kids and RAIN!) 

we had to "waterproof" some of the bouquets if the porches were not covered

What a wonderful, wet, memorable day it was again this year.  Thank you God for memories like this one!!