Fun Day Sunday: May Basket Craft, 5/20/12 Gratiana Lovelace (Post #189)

One thing you need to know about me is that I am a hopeful crafter.  I don’t
say artist, because that would be hubris.

But I love to make things with my hands—for years sewing, needlepointing, cross stitching, and then a bit of quilting were my “go to” craft projects.  I have also made candles, rolled rocks to make into jewelry, and made jewelry from beads, etc.  I literally have five to ten projects that were started years ago in my double wide “projects” closet.  Think of it as my woman cave.  Ha!

When I taught Sunday School for 8 years, I would always have some kind of art project involved with our lessons.  Dare I mention the gold glitter ark of the covenant drawings that sprinkled glitter in the sanctuary when we walked in after class?  I did not endear myself to our church’s janitor with that one.  Ha!  But helping the kids make Valentine’s day cards with paper lace doilies, folded pink  or red card stock paper, ribbon, and heart shaped  foil stickers  were a snap!  And something handmade received as a gift is always more precious than something store bought—especially from little ones.

So today–a Sunday in May–I thought it might be nice to make paper May baskets like I have made for many years.  There are variations on size and style, but the templates  I created below offer the basics.  Then you can adapt from there.  Maintain the folded edge of your paper and then cut out the basic shapes—also cutting apart the tabs.  [Tip: I have found that cutting the two tab lines a little wide (making the tabs a tiny bit thinner) makes for easier weaving.]  Then you weave the folded tabs:  row 1) outside inside outside, row 2) inside outside inside, and row 3) outside inside outside—for all three tabs.  When you open the now heart shape, you  have a little basket.  You can then use a ribbon or more paper for the basket’s handle.

The key in making the templates  is using perfect squares and circles—these are 3 by3 inch squares (and circles) with three tabs.  Another version would be 4 by 4 inch squares (and circles) with four tabs—the weaving there would be inside outside inside outside, etc.   And if you make templates and use stiffened fabric, then you might have some permanence for your baskets.

These paper May baskets don’t hold much or anything very heavy but candies or flowers as love offerings from the giver.  But then, it is the thought that counts.  And thoughtfulness is priceless!

So, I hope that you enjoy this Fun Day Sunday craft project.  Be sure to let me know how your May basket turns out.

Cheers!   Gratiana

Something About Love      (www.gratianads90.wordpress.com)

P.S. And for those who like one stop shopping, here is the information from above provided for you below in an easy to download jpeg.  Just enlarge the image to suit your needs