May Day Basket Ideas (With A Marian Twist)

May Day is the first day of May. It’s a celebration of May flowers and springtime. It is traditionally celebrated with May baskets, May pole dancing, and also crowning a “queen of May”. Since the month of Mary is dedicated to Mary, this can make it an extra fun day to have a May crowning! And since we are crowning Mary as the queen of May, why not celebrate with some good ‘ol fashioned May baskets? Let’s take a look at some Marian inspired May basket ideas. 

May Basket Basics

  • It used to be very popular to make “May baskets” for your friends, neighbors, and even your sweetheart.
  • They can be made from paper and shaped like cones, or they can be any kind of basket
  • They have a string for hanging on a door knob
  • May baskets are full of flowers
  • May baskets are left on a doorknob anonymously. You can ring the bell and shout “May day basket!” and run away!
  • For Catholics, the May baskets can be themed around Mary

You can read more about the traditions of the old fashioned May basket here.

How To Make A May Basket

You just need a small container that can hold some flowers and possibly other small “goodies”. Let’s take a look at exactly how to put together a May basket. 

What To Make Your May Basket Out Of:

  • Printable May day baskets (This is the free printable May day basket we used from Glenda’s World, then I added some Mary stickers to ours.)
  • An empty can (like from canned food) wrapped in pretty paper
  • A cone of paper (with the flowers wrapped in a moist paper towel and then foil to keep the moisture off your paper cone)
  • A doily (using same flower technique as above)
  • A disposable water bottle upside down with the bottom cut off decorated on the outside
  • A disposable cup
  • Paper lunch sacs
  • A paper plate that is decorated, rolled in a tube, and fixed with tape or staples

Put Together Your May Basket:

Punch 2 holes in your May basket. Tie a string to each side, making a loop at the top. Fill with flowers and other small trinkets such as candy. This could be a great opportunity to get rid of some leftover Easter candy! Make a tag that says “Happy May Day!” and attach it to the basket. Voila!

Embellish Your May Basket:

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You can decorate your May baskets with an assortment of supplies! Here are some ideas to get you started.

  • colored paper
  • washi tape
  • stickers (like our Mary stickers)
  • lace or trimmings
  • cupcake liners (to add a “ruffle” to the top)
  • paint
  • glitter

How To Make Your May Basket “Mary” Themed:

  • Utilize the color blue
  • Include an image of Mary (like a holy card or a printed image)
  • Include a prayer or even a rosary!

Mary And Christian Themed May Baskets

Let’s take a look at what some amazing women have put together for May day! I just love seeing what others have done and be inspired. 

Jeanne from Inspiring Ideas never disappoints. I love the little
tag on this one- “Blessings to you this May Day” 🙂

 

Cottage Blessings made some georgeous Marian May baskets!
St. Joseph the Worker also has his feast on May 1, so they
made some baskets for him as well 🙂
SO MANY cute ideas here! Don’t miss this one!!!
 
Here are some more May Day Posts from Cottage Blessings.
Her ideas are amazing. Don’t miss this post either! It gives
tips on making the cones with kids.

 

I love the idea at Lord Make Me a Saint to include flower seeds.
 
Go East, They Said has the cutest idea for May baskets
that includes plantable flowers! Cute and easy- I love it!
I love the inclusion of these religious home made bookmarks
from Pondered in My Heart.
 
Also at Skip to my Lou, this template for the cone and

tag for the basket are free to print! 🙂

 
This is so fun! I hope your family enjoys this May basket tradition!
 

If you’re looking for more ideas, check out my other resources on how to honor Mary with kids.

Comments

  1. Thank you Lacy. These are beautiful. Im definately feeling more motivated.

  2. I just have to share this – it's SO funny!

    I had your homepage open, but had other tabs/windows open as well. My son came to sit next to me and when I clicked back over to Catholic Icing, all of sudden, he very excitedly said, "OOOOHHHHHHH" (think oo like in food).

    It's just such a "pretty" website – it draws you in, even if you're a 6 year old boy! 😉

    Now we will definitely be using some of the May Day ideas here!

  3. jeanne @ Inspiring Ideas says

    Thank you, Lacy! 🙂
    Jeanne

  4. My boys made some May Day baskets using ideas from here and ideas I found elsewhere. Check them out on my blog 🙂

    http://through-my-is.blogspot.com/2010/05/may-day-baskets.html