April 29 // May Day Baskets, Next Month's Preview, and Zentangle Voting!
Some amazing Zentangles, printable May Day cards, & more!
Hello! I hope you had a restful week full of rich reflection. We’ve got some lovely things for you today as we look forward to next month and vote on last month’s contest! You’ll be in awe of some of these Zentangles submitted by the Family Scripts community. But first, a thoughtful tradition for May 1st:
May Day Baskets
In Europe and North America, many people celebrate the coming of spring and summer on May 1st. The grey days are over, and everything is becoming full of life and joy! One tradition for May Day is to drop off baskets of flowers and treats to brighten someone’s day. Ring the doorbell then dash away, leaving behind a sweet surprise.
You can see our reel of how we made these on Instagram later today, but it’s very simple!
You can use little baskets (DIY paper baskets here), make a paper cone like we did, leave a mason jar, etc! Here’s a printable for you in a couple different sizes:
Or you can print out a little Justin Timberlake (if you know, you know.)
Hole-punch the tops of your cone, string a ribbon through (and you can add a hole-punched card if you’d like) and tie it on the insides. Stuff with non-meltable treats, maybe a nice note, and flowers! I recommend signing your name somewhere so people can feel loved by who was thinking of them!
Then hang the little baskets on the doorknobs of your friends and neighbors, knock on the door, and dash away! It’s a super fun activity for kids and great early training in thoughtfulness.
Here’s one for millennial friends who enjoy a little more silliness 😉
Next Month’s Preview
As a review, here are the personal growth themes we’ve focused on so far:
January: Purpose + Productivity
February: Generosity + Simplicity
March: Attentiveness
April: Peacefulness + Awe
In May, we’ll be talking about Creativity. You’ve probably noticed by now that we care deeply about empowering everyone with the confidence that comes from making beautiful things.
The grownup book club choice is Rembrandt is in the Wind by Russ Ramsey. I hesitated to choose this one because we write this newsletter for people of all faiths and this book is written from a Christian perspective, but, well, it’s just amazing. It’s packed with art history and applicable wisdom. I was nearly in tears just reading the introduction.
The older kids’ book club pick is Kid Artists by David Stabler. It tells us what various famous artists were like as kids. My 8-year-old devoured the book then gathered her paints and announced, “I’m going to the front yard to make a masterpiece.” She painted for hours. I asked her what made her so interested in painting and she said, “I’m inspired by other artists. It’s also in my instincts to make art.” (She has a flair for the dramatic.) All that to say, it’s an inspiring book.
This month’s planned activities include making foraged art, poetry teatime, an at-home art camp (with tons of ideas), and more. As usual, we try to choose activities that utilize natural materials and don’t require a lot of supplies. It’s a good creative limitation 😊
I look forward to growing together next month! Please let us know what you want to see in this newsletter!
Zentangle Contest Voting
We received some lovely entries for this contest and saw some people who normally wouldn’t consider themselves artists find themselves proud of what they created. (I saw this with my preteen son and it was beautiful.)
We will add up votes vote here in the comments and on Instagram stories. Some people didn’t provide names, so some pieces are titled with numbers instead. Also, there’s a chance not everything fit in the email, so you might need to use the website to see all of them 😔 Feel free to forward this email to friends or share on Instagram so you can get more votes. We highly prefer to expand our audience by spending money on contests instead of ads 😉
7 and Under
Ellie ⬇️
8-12
Entry #2 ⬇️
Stephen ⬇️
Entry #4 ⬇️
Charlie ⬇️
Entry #6 ⬇️
Teens and Grownups
Elena ⬇️
Shawna ⬇️
Kris ⬇️
Raygen (Today We Go RV Family) ⬇️
Chloé ⬇️
Haley ⬇️
Wow, these entries just blew me away! Leave a comment for your favorites! (You can vote for more than one! We’ll just add up the totals.) Thanks again to everyone who entered. You make this newsletter better 🙌
See you with some inspiring emails and beautiful ideas next week!
Warmly,
Hope and the Family Scripts team
The Zentangles all look great but if I HAVE to choose, I vote for Stephen and Chloé.
If it’s not too late, I vote for Stephen and Elena!! I really wanted to enter, but we’ve been so busy. Kind of the whole purpose, right?! I need a do-over April. Lol! But as I was cleaning today, I was really thinking on how we can make a day of rest happen for my family. So thanks for all the thoughtfulness you put into each month.