Erin Fox
May Day is nearly here, officially marking the arrival of summer. The first thing to do for the celebration is to set up a mini grotto with a small statue or portrait of Mary, surrounded by May flowers.
After setting up your mini grotto, you can take part in the May traditions celebrated in some parts of Ireland. Years ago the holiday was celebrated with bonfires, dancing, flowers and placing maypoles in the centre of the town or village. Children would then grab a ribbon each and dance around the maypole.
Another custom was to have a May bush outside the house or in the centre of the neighbourhood. This was decorated in ribbons, flowers and eggshells left over from Easter. A May bough was sometimes decorated too; this was a small tree decorated in the same way as the May bush. Traditionally wild flowers were picked the night before May Day. These were then fashioned into a garland, a cross or a crown. The May flowers were also placed in windowsills as a symbol of luck and protection against the home.
Make your own floral cross to place in your window or to add to your mini grotto.
Willow branches
For the floral cross you will need willow branches or any kind of small bendy branches, twine or string, scissors and fresh flowers.
Bunch the branches together and lay flat on your work surface. Take a shorter stack of the branches and lay these horizontally across the first stack. Place the rest of the long branches vertically on top of this and then finish with the remaining shorter branches. Tie everything together with some twine.
Pick some fresh flowers, trim the stems and attach them to the cross, twisting the stems in between the branches. Add some greenery such as fern leaves or a bit of moss. You can cover the cross entirely with dozens of flowers and cut the stems very short.
Continue to change the flowers regularly with fresh ones and replace them with different types each time. Just before the flowers need changing, take the best ones and press them for decorating cards and frames another time. Next year, you can use the pressed flowers to decorate a plain frame with a picture of Mary. Instead of fresh flowers, you can use artificial ones or craft your own out of crepe paper so the cross will keep longer.