Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Happy May Day! A little history lesson today.

The Celts of the British Isles believed May 1 to be the most important day of the year when the festival of Beltane was held. When the Romans took over the British Isles, they brought with them their five-day celebration known as Floralia, devoted to the worship of the goddess of flowers, Flora. Taking place between April 20 and May 2. Through the centuries these celebrations have changed and taken on new meanings. Some cultures had Maypole dances. I remember learning about this in elementary school and we made cones of paper and filled them with flowers, we tied crepe paper to a flagpole and learned to dance around the pole weaving in and out with our streamers in hand. May Basket Day was celebrated across the country in the early 19th and 20th centuries where baskets were created with flowers, candies, and other treats and hung on the doors of friends, neighbors and loved ones on May 1.
What a fun activity to just celebrate spring and friends and neighbors I think this fits really well with Stamping Up's Statement of the heart. 
Isn't this cute. I made my own old-fashion May Day cone with an 8 x 8 inch of DSP. I adhered paper doilies to the edge, filled it with Reddie Shreddie and created daisies the daisy punch. I used the adhesive-backed sequins that are sadly retiring for my centers. I punched some leaves with the leaf punch and glued to the back of the flower. Made a little tag and done! Oh yeah, you have to have a bow! You know I love my ribbon! This is headed to a friends house shortly!
Here is a close up of the flowers. I used a sponge dauber to add a little color to the edges and a bone folder to curl them a bit. I'm thankful this punch and stamp set is not retiring!



The last picture is a close-up of the tag. I love this saying out of the Picnic with You set. It was perfect for this project. 


I hope you enjoyed our little history lesson and my May Day projects. Have a great first of May, be blessed and be a blessing to those around you. There is a lot of new things coming! Stay tuned to Stamping in Dixie for updates and specials. If you don't have a demonstrator and need a new 2018-2019 annual catalog let me know, I'll get one to you. You can visit my online store anytime to purchase Stampin' Up products you see here.

                               Love Stamping in Dixie,
                                         Cindy

3 comments:

Unknown said...

How adorable. Thanks for all the techniques you teach us.

Lynne Laton said...

Cute! I remember there being a May pole event at college. I think they stopped that tradition while I was there - replaced it with a day earlier in the spring to encourage high school students to come check out the school.

Alabama Debbie said...

I love your blog - especially this one! Love to learn stuff, and also remember good things. I remember doing a Maypole when I was young. It was really fun!! Thank you Cindy for all you do for us and for all you teach us!!