May Day is tomorrow, and, as promised, here is how you can make your very own Maypole. And it is super simple. The children can help with this one!
Once you have your Maypole, put on your flower crowns and sing your May Day songs and dance!A
For more about May Day, you can read this post.
Materials Needed
Mine is made out of a yoga strap and some ribbon. I wrapped it around a slender tree in the park. And I also tried wrapping it around a light pole. They both worked fine. You could wrap it around anything that is thin enough to wrap it around–and dance around. The great thing about a tree, aside from the fact that it’s a tree, is that it’s attached to the ground and won’t tip over. Same with a light pole. But you could use it inside around a sturdy lamp or coat rack–but someone will probably have to hold the pole up so it doesn’t tip over while you dance around it.
I used a yoga strap because I had one handy (and wasn’t using, but that’s another story), but you could use a piece of sturdy ribbon, some twine or rope or anything that is long enough to tie around your selected Maypole.
When I made my Maypole, I used ribbons that were 5 yards long, but they weren’t really long enough to use doubled like I did them. I would recommend using ribbons at least twice that long so they are long enough to dance with. You could also just tie one end of the ribbon onto the yoga strap or whatever.
And that’s it–have one thing to attach ribbons to and enough ribbons for everyone to have one (or two) to hold onto while dancing. You can use any kind of ribbon you have around, although it will be easier to hold onto if it’s at least an inch wide. You could also use strips of fabric or even extra thick yarn or a finger-knitted rope. There are a few different ways to finger knit–and I will post a video on it soon–but here is one way you can do it. It is more fun if whatever you use is colorful!
How To
Here are some photos of how to attach your double yarn to the holder yarn:
And if you’re tying the end, it will hold better if you use a square knot–right over left and under, left over right and under–that’s how I learned to do it in the girl scouts:
Also, if you are carrying it around, you might want to bundle up the ribbons so they don’t get all tangled up.
Go out into the May sunshine–
tie or strap your ribbons to a tree or whatever you find to attach it to.
Have fun dancing around the Maypole–and happy May Day!
Thanks for stopping by!
XOXO