How To Make May Day Wreaths with Recycled Materials

As many of you may or may not know tomorrow is May Day.  It is the traditional celebration of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere.  It is also the International Worker's Day in celebration of workers and the working classes, which is celebrated in September in North America. 

But today we are going to talk the flowery kind of May Day. Here in Greece, Tradition dictates that we go out into the fields and pick flowers.  We then make a wreath and hang it on our doors.  

Last year shared my May Day wreath. That happens to be my favorite wreath ever!  I knew that there was no way to try and top myself so this year I gave myself a new challenge.  I wanted to incorporate something into the wreath that we all have at home. And help the earth while I was at it. 

I'll be sharing with you how to make May Day Wreaths with recycled materials. 

The idea behind this custom is that we get ourselves out of the cities and towns and go out into nature.  This gives us an opportunity to relax and enjoy the surrounding greenery. Of course no proper Greek festival is without food, so we also bring along a picnic blanket and lots of food. Maybe too much. "wink"

Materials Used

• branches or vines from nature
• wildflowers
• a piece of wire, or a wire hanger
• a mesh bag, 
• a ribbon

This year I went to the farm a few days early to gather some vines.
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The How - To

Take a piece of wire and shape it into a circle. My wire was very thin so I wrapped it around itself to make it a bit thicker. But if you use a wire hanger I'm sure it will be fine. 

Take the vines or branches, whichever you have and wrap those around the wire.
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​ I just kept wrapping until it became a thick wreath. 
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And here is where I show you my secret material. We all have these mesh plastic bags that the potatoes or onions are packaged in. I took one and cut it into two pieces, removing the ends where the clips were.
 

Beginning at the top, you can wrap each piece of the plastic mesh until the two meet at the bottom. And then tuck them behind. 
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And now for the fun part.  Just add flowers.  I had found these lovely yellow daises on the side of the road and bought them home. I simply tucked them into the mesh and the vines. 
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Aren't they just full of life and vibrancy?  Of course you can use whatever flowers you want.  Or go out to your garden and pick some flowers. 
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The last step is to add an embellishment of some sort.  Of course this is optional.  I chose a red ribbon with embroidery.  It was in my stash so why not. I love the way it complements the plastic mesh and at the same time makes a nice contrast to the yellow flowers. 

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The tradition is that we go out to the country side and collect wildflowers.  Now who am I to break with tradition?  I love what nature has to offer. 
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Of course this beauty will dry up after a few days. You can see what it looks like after 3 days by scrolling up to the first photo.  But I think of it as a work in progress, so I'll be adding some more yellow flowers as they come my way and make it a bit fuller. 
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We certainly don't need to have May Day as an official holiday to celebrate the beauty of Spring and the bounty of Mother Nature.

I hope you have all enjoyed my simple tutorial of a May Day Wreath made with recycled materials.  

​This wreath will cost you nothing to make. No running to the dollar store or anywhere.  Let's all look to mother nature to give us her beauty and we can give back by reusing items such as that mesh bag.

What recycled item will you add to your wreath?

​If you'd like  to see more of my wreaths click here.  

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More wreaths:

Celebrating May Day

The Lopsided Summer Wreath

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This blog is for entertainment purposes only; my DIY tutorials are not professional advice. Read my full disclaimer here.​

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