|
May Baskets
by Heather Harden
One of my best childhood memories is of making May Baskets with my grandmother. She made exquisite crepe paper roses that were nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. We would make lots of crepe paper roses and glue them on paper cups we had covered with crepe paper.
I barely remember what we filled them with – probably home baked treats or bits of inexpensive candy and then hung them on the doors of her friends in the neighborhood.
Early settlers in this country celebrated May Day by leaving small baskets filled with flowers and treats at the doorstep of someone secretly or not so secretly admired. The person giving the basket would ring the bell and run away. The person receiving the basket would try to catch the giver. If the giver of the basket was caught, a kiss was forfeited.
We will be making simple May Baskets from colorful card stock and crepe paper. These can be given to friends and family to welcome the spring season or use the baskets to present small Mother’s Day gifts!
Tools:
• Scissors
• Wire cutters
• Stapler
• Pencil
• Colored pencils, markers or crayons
• Several large paper clips or spring type cloths pins to secure the basket while the glue dries
• Small round bamboo skewer toothpick
Materials:
• Floral wire – 22 gauge pre-cut stems – available at most craft stores that sell floral arranging supplies
• Green Floral Tape – available at most craft stores that sell floral arranging supplies
• Crepe Paper – assorted colors. The 20” size works better for the flowers and the streamers work fine for the stems & leaves. Yellow is important for realistic flower centers.
• Card stock – This is available in the scrapbooking section of most craft stores. You will need an 8 ½ x 11” sheet for each May Basket. Make sure the card stock is compatible with your printer. Many craft stores sell packets of card stock in assorted sizes and colors, this is an economical way to get a variety of paper to decorate the basket.
• Glue stick – Available in most craft or office supply stores (the kind shaped like a lipstick tube)
• 12” Chenille stems – assorted colors to match your card stock. You will need 3 stems per basket
• Basket Template – download from this article.
Making the Basket
Select the color you wish to make your May Basket and print the basket template. Cut out the square. Make a fold on each of the dotted lines. Make the folds so that the lines of the template are on the inside of the basket. Cut the inner solid lines to free the flaps marked “A”.
One at a time, apply glue to the reverse side of the flaps and attach them to the center flaps. Use large paper clips or cloths pins to secure the flaps while the glue dries. Set basket aside to allow the glue to dry.
Making the Flowers
Roses
Large sheets of crepe paper are packaged by folding the eight foot length over and over. These folds are roughly five inches apart. Cut a piece that is about 10” wide or 2 folds.
This piece will be folded several times so you can cut all the petals for a single rose at once. Notice the crepe paper has a texture that runs up and down the length of the paper; this will be referred to as the grain. The first fold is at the existing fold from the packaging. Next fold this in half lengthwise, across the grain of the paper.
Fold this in thirds, again across the grain. The final fold is in half widthwise, with the grain. Draw a petal shape on the crepe paper and cut through all the layers. The grain should run vertically through the petals.
Separate the petals, by cutting the fold along the bottoms of some of the petals. If petals are not all the same size, reserve the smaller ones for the inside of the flower. The shape of the petals does not have to be exact. The petal will be gathered and shaped as the flower is made.
To shape the petals, take a small round toothpick or skewer and tightly wrap about a ½” of the top of the petals around the skewer, remove the skewer. Place both thumbs in the center of the petal. Firmly, but GENTLY press both thumbs outward. This gives the petal a realistic appearance.
To make the center of the rose, cut a piece of yellow crepe paper about 5” x 3”. The grain should run parallel to the 3” side. Fold the paper across the grain. It should now be 5” x 1 ½”. Make a series of snips across the fold about a ½” apart.
Roll the paper, so it resembles the center of a flower and wrap the unsnipped edge with a piece of the 22 gauge wire.
Wrap the floral tape around the wire a couple of times. Take prepared petals and place them around the flower center, overlapping the petals by about a third as you work your way around the flower. Wrap the base of the petals with the floral tape as they are placed. Gather the base of the petals a bit as you place them around the flower.
Continue this process until the flower is as full as you would like. When you are happy with the size of the flower, wrap the floral tape around the base of the flower several times to secure the petals.
To give the stems a finished look, apply a bit of glue to the base of the flower and wrap green crepe paper around the base of the flower at least 1 ½ times.
Angle the paper slightly and continue wrapping the wire stem. Trim off any excess wire and secure the crepe paper with a bit of glue. Adjust petals as necessary.
You can make many other kinds of flowers by varying the size and shape of the petals. For example, a crocus has petals that are long and narrow. Don’t feel you have to make flowers botanically correct. The point of the May Basket is to have fun celebrating Spring!
Finshing the Basket
To make the handle of the May Basket, braid three of the chenille stems together. Using the hole punch or the point of a scissors blade, punch a hole in the center of two of top edge of the sides with the overlapping flaps. Insert an end of the braided chenille stems in each of the holes and bend about a ½” of the stem to secure it to the basket.
Arrange the flowers around the basket, when you are pleased with the arrangement carefully staple the flowers to the basket. Use green crepe paper in the shape of leaves to cover the staples. An alternative to stapling the flowers would be to use a hot glue gun to affix them to the basket. Run a small bead of glue along the stems and firmly press onto the basket.
Use markers or colored pencils to further embellish the baskets.
Fill the baskets with small gifts or candy and hang them on the doors of your friends and family.
More Fun
Another way to decorate the baskets is to make flowers or other decorations with construction paper or card stock. Use colored pencils, markers or crayons to decorate the flowers before gluing them to the basket.
These baskets would a special way to present a small Mother’s Day gift or make one with each guest’s name for a place card at a Mother’s Day celebration.
It has been an honor and a pleasure to share my crafts with you each month. I hope the crafts that have been part of my family have in some small way enriched your families. I will be contributing to Spirit Passages new e-newsletter. So stay tuned!
With love & gratitude,
Heather
P.S. Miss P. just had to make one more appearance
****************************************************************************************
Heather Harden has been an avid crafter for all of her life who is fortunate to have had her parents and her grandmother as wonderful creative influences. She learned about process and detail through her work in the business world as a Programmer Analyst at Bath Iron Works. As the mom to a developmentally disabled adult daughter she honed her patience and creativity. She is currently pursing the fiber arts, as a dyer and a beginning quilter.
|
