Making old-fashioned nosegays (and a paper cone basket to contain them) is a simple craft children have enjoyed for generations. Now that all these April showers have flooded the North Bay with Spring flowers, why not let the children craft a handful for family, friends and neighbors?
Plenty of elders still fondly remember finding a ragged little bouquet hanging from the front door knob or tucked into the mailbox on May Day morning. Gifting those we care for with a tiny taste of Spring is a rewarding, inexpensive and easy project for children as young as 4 years.
Traditionally, May baskets were a sneaky affair, hung anonymously on door knobs in the wee hours of the morning. Your family can reinterpret the classic May Day surprise by making May baskets the night before and getting up early to hang them on interior doors around the house. Or, walk with your child to neighbors that you know to deliver them on May Day.
What's a garden-free family to do? Of course, you can buy flowers at the grocery store to make your May Day baskets. If you do, remember that May Day bouquets are meant to be very small -- no bigger than a child's fist. One commercial bouquet should be all the kids need. Mixed flowers are usually the best value. Also bring home a big bunch of baby's breath or foliage from the market.
Oliver's Market (Cotati) and Pacific Market (formerly Fiesta Market, Sebastopol) have good selections (and their flowers are fairly fresh as grocery stores go). G & G Market (Santa Rosa & Petaluma) has good choicesand very reasonable prices. Find 40 paper doilies for one dollar at The Dollar Tree (and some party supply stores).
How to do it
You'll need: one 12" paper doily for each posie, white construction paper, an assortment of small flowers and foliage from the garden, florist tape, scissors, and transparent tape.
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Give each child a jar that holds some flowers and greenery.
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Select one large flower, a small bunch of greenery, and a small bunch of smaller flowers or buds
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Fiddle with the stems until the flowers are bunched at the top. Show children how to pull off leaves or flowers growing along the stem.
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Wrap the stems fairly tightly with florist tape, starting just under the flowers. Wrap about 4 inches down the stems. Children 7 and up can usually manage this part on their own. Younger kids will need your help (or let them use familiar transparent tape).
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Cut off the extra stem lengths below the tape to yield a bouquet that looks like a tiny topiary tree.
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Fold a doily in half, with the finished sides out. Place the posie on the doily, stems toward the fold. Roll the doily into a cone shape around the posie. Secure at the bottom with transparent tape.
- Cut a 6" x 2" strip of white construction paper. Pull out the posie, tape the ends inside the cone to form a basket handle that arcs over the posie, and nestle the posie back inside. If the posie falls down inside the cone when you hang it, the child can reach in from the top and gently tug it back up, then fold the point of the cone over (to make it shorter) and tape it.
