Bittersweet and the little soap company

Happy May!

May Poem

by Jill

My favorite month is here, and I'm shouting a huge cheer

For with her comes flowers in bloom, and after that, a Junie Moon

Her smiley face follows me wherever I go, and I'm taken by her mojo

In honor of her special day, a posy of daisies I gathered from the bay

I dream about the days to come while I travel to and from

A happy face I'll carry, as I frolic in the May of Merry

Here are some things I've been creating in honor of Miss May and hoping for a Happy Springy Saturday Studio May Day.

Enjoy caring and sharing May Days.

Happily,

Jill 00 (Two hugs are better than one)

May Day Pouch

I began constructing the vellum origami pouches that I'm giving my guests during the May day celebration at Bittersweet.

I had some reserve 8x8 sheets my friend Ramona had given me from her print shop. The vellum will work perfect, and be water resistant, just in case I want to tuck in a few real flowers.

The picture is a bit different than the actual prototype. Rather than a bow, I inserted ribbon for hanging on each side of the pouch and then tied knots in each side so that it wouldn't slide out of the hole. By the time I got around to taking the picture, I had lost daylight, and the picture came out too dark.

I'm tucking in a small amount of excelsior, some millinery flowers, a tulle filled pouch of organic lavender, and the cookie recipe, so that my guests can bake the Spring cookies too.

These little origami pouches are the perfect size for creating darling May Day baskets.

You can redesign them using vintage wallpaper or pretty hand made paper. You can have your children share their art work, by drawing pictures on the front, before hanging on your neighbors door knobs.

 

Enjoy caring and sharing days.

Happily,

Jill 00 (Two hugs are better than one)

May Day at Bittersweet

 

With May Day around the Spring corner, and the need for a boost of my psyche during our extended winter weather, I began pondering some more thoughts of May Day.

This is a letter I received from my Aunt referencing her sweet memories of May Day.

Here is how your mom and I made the May Baskets at Aunt Enid's urging.  Use it however you will.  (The Russian government used to celebrate May Day during the Cold War, so I think that's why America stopped.  I'm glad you're reviving it.)  We used:

    - construction paper, any color folded like a paper drinking cup, pipe cleaners for handles, and these blossoms:  pink and white clover, wild violets, snippets of snow balls and lilacs, wild ox-eyed daisies, and if in bloom, the blossoms from apricot or plum tree, although of course apple or peach or pear would do fine.  So I'm not sure what your mom may have used, but sometimes the snow balls were in bloom too, and I definitely recall the lilacs and wild violets!   Your blog is wonderful!  Have fun.

Happy May Day,

Aunt Glenna

Personally, May Day sets a top most of the other holidays for me, with the exception of Christmas. My admiration for this day, and the reasons, are almost too many to count.

I'm certainly fond of the sweet gesture of leaving flower blossoms at neighbors doors and the caring and sharing act of affection. The happy memories of doing this when I was little far exceed a lot of other child hood memories I have or don't have.

I think about May Day and I think of setting on the lawn sipping pink lemonade and nibbling on short bread cookies sprinkled with lavender, and cupcakes iced with fluffy white frosting adorned with sugared violets. I think about wearing pastel colored sweaters matched with a new twirly skirt.

May Day is the induction to Spring.

Everything in my little town comes to life. Splashes of color start to appear and replace the ashy hues of winter, and festivals Spring into action, and fresh home grown produce begins to line the Saturday downtown streets at our local market on the square. The sound of doves cooing outside my kitchen window, I love that sound!

Those are my personal thoughts of May day.

Bittersweet's Lavender Cookie Recipe

Here are some pictures of past Bittersweet May Day celebrations.

    

I'm working on the May Day favors for the Bittersweet May Day celebration on May 3rd, and I'l be sharing the instructions for making the simplest, but cutest little May Day baskets so that you can make them too.

Enjoy caring and sharing Spring Days.

Happily,

Jill 00 (Two hugs are better than one)

May Day Celebration

Bittersweet's "May Day Celebration" was so much fun....!!

Even though it was rainy and cool, we had a lot of fun indoors.

The lavender cookies were a big hit and the cupcakes were as pretty as a picture as you can see..

Thanks to everyone that helped..

Lori you did a great job!! You did an outstanding job! I am impressed considering you had only two whole minutes of training.

Sandy, the little room was breathtaking!

I have the most wonderful customers/friends, thank you for your continued support.

Happily,

Jill 00

May Day Treats and Lavender

Some of you are familiar with Bittersweet's "May Day Celebration". For those of you that aren't, it is truly a fun extraordinary day.

I mentioned in another post about the Lavender cookies we make and the fancy cupcakes iced with fluffy pastel icing adorned with sugar flowers.

The maypole is coming  along nicely. White Shasta daisies top the pole. I can't wait to get some pictures up, Coming Soon.

Lavender is a favorite at Bittersweet. When the boutique door is open, its aromatic sweet  scent strolls  down to the end of the street. Customers stop by, poke their head in and say, "it smells so good!" 

Talk to you soon..

Happily,

Jilloo