Mini May Day Trophy Cups

Happy May Day, everyone! I hope you're all having a wonderful spring. Here in Mississippi we've been having one of the nicest seasons I can remember. Gorgeous weather that's perfect for working in the garden.

Where I grew up in Oregon, our elementary school had an annual May Day celebration. It was a huge ordeal - we spent weeks working on decorations and practicing our singing and dancing routines. We had a May Day court, with a Queen and Prime Minister (why not a King? No idea.), and a princess from each grade. When I was in the first grade, I came home from school and announced to my mom that I was the princess of the school! She had no idea what I was talking about...I'm pretty sure I thought I was the princess of quite a lot back then. I finally convinced her that it was a real thing and I had to have a special dress, gloves, and shoes. I was truly in heaven!

Each year the princesses carried a different flower arrangement. I can still remember mine - mostly because, even back then, I was taking things apart to figure out how they were made. It was a plastic doily (these were the 70s after all) that was folded in half, and then in half again, to make a pie-shaped basket. The handle was wire bent into a hook shape and wrapped with ribbon. I'm sure the basket must have been filled with plastic flowers. That part I don't remember. I was all about the structure.

To celebrate this May Day, I decided to alter some of Tim Holtz's adorable Trophy Cups using DecoArt Chalky Finish Paint and some sweet little flowers made with a die from Karen Burniston and a special technique using Wendy Vecchi's embossing powder. I thought they would make the most adorable little spring gifts to give my friends. Here's how I put them together.

Begin by painting all the cups with Lace Chalky Finish Paint. It make take several coats to cover the metallic finish.

When the cups are dry, paint with various colors of chalk paint. Color various photos from Tim Holtz's Photobooth cards, lightly sand edges, and add rub-ons.

Next, we'll make some tiny flowers. I have some vintage flowers I really love. They are adorable, but I didn't have enough for this project, plus they are so sweet, I hate to part with them. Fortunately, I had some felt and a tiny flower die from Karen Burniston, so I decided to try to duplicate them. I think I came pretty darn close, and they cost next to nothing!

To make the flowers, use the tiny flower die from Karen Burniston's Butterfly Pivot Card die set to cut several flowers from pink felt. Use a large hole punch to punch circles from a piece of crinoline. Tammy Tutterow introduced me to this wonderful fabric that is the perfect stiffness for flowers and other crafty uses.

Next, use a paintbrush to lightly pounce the flowers with paint.

Using a heat gun in a well-ventilated room, very carefully heat the flowers for just a few seconds. Since the felt is synthetic, it will melt. You want just a tiny bit of puckering on the edges.

To make stamens for the flowers, ink the end of a piece of paper wrapped floral wire with embossing ink. Dip the end into Wendy Vecchi's Tree Branch embossing powder and briefly heat (if you heat it for too long the paper will burn). While the ep is still hot, dip the end back into the powder and heat again. Repeat several times, building up the end to form a smooth tip as shown.

To assemble the flowers, glue the round crinoline circles to the flowers. Punch a hole through them with a piercing tool and insert the stamen. Add a dab of glue and you're done!

To assemble the trophy cups, hot glue a piece of styrofoam in the cup and cover with moss. Insert a photo into a memo pin and tie with ribbon. Insert memo pin into cup and add flowers. Cut the bird, butterfly, and banner from Graphic 45's Botanical Tea papers and glue into place.

All the supplies I used can be found at Simon Says Stamp and Amazon via the links below. These are affiliate links and I do earn a small commission when you shop. I greatly appreciate when you do - it helps offset the cost of running a blog and lets me continue to bring you lots of great projects and tutorials!

Tim Holtz Idea-ology 2015 TROPHY CUPS TH93217 *Tim Holtz Idea-ology MEMO PINS Split Ring Metal Embellishment Tim Holtz Idea-ology CRINKLE RIBBON TH93020 *Tim Holtz Tonic CRAFT PICK Retractable Needle Tool Tim Holtz Idea-ology 2015 PHOTOBOOTH Vintage Photos TH93207 Ranger Wendy Vecchi Embossing Powder TREE BRANCH WEP43928 Graphic 45 BOTANICAL TEA 8 x 8 Paper Pad 4500888 *Graphic 45 BOTANICAL TEA 12 x 12 Paper Pad 4500889 EK Success CUTTER BEE Scissors EKCB01 Deco Art Americana Chalky Finish Paint, 8-Ounce, Lace Deco Art Americana Chalky Finish Paint, 8-Ounce, Enchanted Deco Art Americana Chalky Finish Paint, 8-Ounce, Serene Deco Art Americana Chalky Finish Paint, 8-Ounce, Innocence

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Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you have an absolutely gorgeous weekend!