Why not make a woven paper heart basket for May Day?
Woven paper heart basket
A dear friend of mine–an EC teacher who, like many of us, isn’t in school right now–told me she was making these heart baskets for the children in her class. She’s going to put a tea bag in each one and an invitation to a virtual tea party. She plans to deliver them to the children’s houses. What a lovely surprise!
She inspired me to share a tutorial and pattern to make a woven heart basket.
Since I’m moving in 2 days, most of my house is packed up. So after some thought and a few experiments, I came up with a pattern and made a tutorial.
The tutorial
The pattern
Here’s a pdf that you can download and print to make the basket. You can make the heart out of the printed paper. That’s what I did. First I colored the side without the pattern printed on it, then I folded the paper on the fold line, cut it out, and wove it. You can also use it as a pattern and use other papers, just make sure you fold the paper in half and place the pattern against the fold. If you use the larger size and want to make it from the paper you print, you’ll need to print out two.
I recommend using medium weight paper–like printer paper or construction–so it won’t rip, but is flexible enough to weave.
I usually made these for the children. They’re easy, but a little fidgety to make. The little ones could certainly color the paper–and you could try doing them with the kiddos and see how it goes. It’s just a sheet of paper after all.
Here’s the pattern for the woven paper heart basket:
What will you put in your basket
What will you put in your heart basket? Flowers are traditional for May Day. You can hang them on a neighbor’s door–or on a bedroom door at home. Maybe wrap them in a bit of damp paper towel and some plastic wrap or a baggy. I used to put chocolate hearts in my baskets for Valentine’s day. But anything that’s small enough to fit and light enough not to rip the paper is great!
Other May Day projects and posts:
A couple of years ago, I did a whole series of Mayday posts. Here are links to them, in case you’re interested:
Some background on May Day
A couple of May Day songs
A super-simple DIY Maypole using a floor lamp, tree, or post
Happy May Day to you–and many happy days to come!
Thanks for stopping by!
xoxo