washi wednesday–may day baskets

May Day baskets are a tradition of simpler times. People would gather all the flowers that the April showers brought and arrange them in pretty baskets, and then hang them on the doors of friends and neighbors as a way of welcoming the warmer weather.

Of course, May Day is not celebrated by many people these days. That doesn’t mean that we can’t surprise our friends with a beautiful bouquet on the first day of May!

And it couldn’t be simpler to create a “basket” than with these handy supplies…

brown kraft bag
washi tape
scissors
flowers
card stock
mini clothespin

First, create a handle by tracing the top part of a round lid.

Then extend the lines straight down from the rounded part.

Using scissors, cut out the area that was traced and drawn.

Now the fun part…decorate the bag with washi tape. I chose four coordinating patterns and colors, and adhered strips to the bottom of the bag.

Now that the “basket” is ready, it’s time to fill it with flowers. It is best to trim the flower stems to the correct length so that they peek out of the open area of the bag.