Hello my darlings and welcome.
In this video I will craft a miniature maypole to decorate my altar for Beltane.
Let’s do some magical crafting.
To begin this project, I am using a four inch unfinished wooden disk as a base, a quarter
inch thick wooden dowel as the pole, and a large wooden bead as the topper.
I have painted the bead a pale green color, and am hot gluing it to the top of the pole.
I am also painting the base and the pole the same pale green color.
May Day is a celebration of the return of spring.
The observance originated as ancient Greek and Roman agricultural rituals that were intended
to ensure fertility for crops.
More modern celebrations vary widely, and include the gathering of wildflowers and green
branches, the weaving of floral garlands, the crowning of a May king and queen, and
the setting up of a decorated May tree, or Maypole, around which people dance.
The next step is to cut several lengths of ribbon, slightly longer than the pole.
Originally I was going to use a bunch of different rainbow colors, but ultimately I settled on
green and pink only.
I wanted to echo those colors in the moss and flowers on the base and topper.
I glued the ribbon to the top ball, alternating colors.
Then I covered the top ball with moss.
The final result looks a bit like a topiary.
Then I covered the base with moss as well.
This is how you get your pole to stand up straight, by packing the moss all around it
and forming a little hill to support the pole.
Make sure to squeeze a lot of hot glue into the center and allow the whole thing to cool
and harden.
The next step is to add some paper flowers on the base and top moss.
I decided to add adhesive rhinestones to the center of each flower.
Then I glued them on the base in a scattered pattern.
Then I glued some paper flowers to the moss covered topper.
I had twisted the ribbon around the pole very loosely and lightly tacked a few of them down
with glue so they would look natural.
You can leave your ribbon loose and flowing if you prefer that look.
And here is a quick look at my Beltane altar.
The May pole is at the top flanked by two floral hummingbird statues, designed by an
artist named Jim Shore.
Next to that I have placed my shrine to the Greek Goddess Gaia.
I created this shrine during an Art Witch Wednesday live stream and I will leave a link
to the video replay below.
Below that is my Beltane wreath, which I am using as a candle holder for a large blue
pillar candle.
I will link to the Beltane Wreath craft video below as well.
I hope this video inspires you to try this may pole craft project and I am sending you
all of the blessings of May Day and springtime.