Did you know yesterday was Summer Solstice? Also commonly referred to as Midsummer, this day marks the longest day of the year. Every day from now on out becomes shorter until winter solstice in December. For those of us in the United States, this doesn’t seem that big of a deal. However, in Scandinavia, Midsummer celebrations rival Christmas in their magnitude! Given Scandinavia’s long, dark winters, it’s no wonder they want to celebrate a day commemorating endless light, sunshine, flowers, and warm weather. In Sweden, the celebration is centered on a large maypole, or midsummer pole, made of greenery and flowers. People sing and dance around the maypole, make flower crowns, grill and party all day and night long. It is a holiday to glorify all the best parts of summer!
In the past, we’ve thrown our own midsummer parties and they are pure magic! This weekend is Midsummer, so to celebrate on a much smaller scale, we’ve created a midsummer pole cake topper! It may not be as grand as the celebrations in Sweden, but we’d encourage you to make it as a reminder to enjoy every ounce of summer this weekend! Glad Midsommar!
See how to make your own midsummer pole cake topper!
Midsummer Pole Cake Topper
Materials:
- 18 gauge wire
- Wire cutters
- Crepe paper in green, peach, pink, red, and yellow
- scissors and pinking sheers
- hot glue gun
Instructions:
- Form the frame for the midsummer pole using the wire and wire cutters. The basic form is a pole with a triangle on top and two circles at each corner of the base of the triangle.
- Cut 3 pieces of green crepe paper 1-inch by 12-inches. Fringe each piece of crepe paper on both edges.
- Wrap the fringed crepe paper around the entire maypole until it is completely covered in greenery. Secure with hot glue at the start and finish of each piece.
- To make the flowers, cut strips of the colored paper into 1/2-inch by 12-inch strips. Fringe and/or pink (using pinking sheers) one long edge of each strip.
- Begin wrapping the crepe paper tightly into a small bud, using about 2-3 inches of paper for each flower.
- Fluff out the edges to make it look like a little flower bloom.
- Hot glue the flowers onto the maypole.
- Stick on top of a cake and adorn with crepe paper grass and a few extra flowers!
Glad Midsommar!
Photography by Anna Killian | Crafting by Rebecca Hansen
