As the weather turns warm, we are starting to think of all things quintessential summer. One of those things is the Strawberry! And because there is a holiday for everything, it is fitting that today is National Strawberry Picking Day. Going to a farm to pick your own strawberries isn’t an option right now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate all things strawberry from the comfort and safety of our own homes.
Strawberries really are one of the most versatile things! They can be decadent, light, sweet, sour, savory, juicy, lush, or even crisp. Not to mention that they are ripe with symbolism. The strawberry is a symbol for Venus, the Goddess of Love, because of its heart shape and red color. Additionally, they symbolize perfection and righteousness. Because of this, Medieval stone masons carved strawberry designs on altars and around the tops of pillars in churches and cathedrals. Literature is covered in strawberries and their symbolism and metaphors.
Because we can’t go pick strawberries, we are going to make a strawberry of our very own. We can pick (see what I did there?) the words or images to go inside our strawberry mini book. Do you want to use it to house a poem about strawberries, as a recipe card for your famous strawberry shortcake, for your paintings of strawberries? The choice is yours!
Here’s what you’ll need:
- One sheet of Red Paper
- One sheet of Green Paper
- One sheet of paper in whatever color you want (not red or green)
- Scissors
- Black marker or pen
- pencil
- Glue (whatever type you have is fine)
*NOTE: If you don’t have colored paper, any paper will work. You can always color it when you’re done with the design.*
Directions:
Fold red paper in hamburger dog style
Cut red paper in half where you folded it
Put your red paper halves together and fold in half again, but this time hot dog style
Trace a half heart on your folded red paper.
Cut out your hearts. You can edit while you cut until you’re happy with the shape.
Seperate your two hearts but keep them folded
Put your folded hearts onto a piece of paper (color of your choice) with the flat edges touching to form a heart.
Glue down the halves of the hearts touching the paper. You’re going to want to glue it with more room on the top of the paper than the bottom so you have room for your stem.
Using the red paper scrap that you cut your heart out of, trace the top of your heart in pencil on the green paper.
Connect the top of your green heart to round the top. Draw your strawberry leaf pattern and add a stem. It’s helpful to do this in pencil so you can erase any unwanted lines.
Cut out your strawberry top.
Fit your green top to your strawberry base. You may need to trim the green points to fit. Once it fits how you like, glue it on.
Using your black marker or pen, add seeds to your strawberry on the first and last page. Leaving the four middle pages blank.
Write your own poem about strawberries or your favorite strawberry recipe on the middle pages.
Share your strawberries with us!
