Daffy-Down-Dilly has come up to town,
In a yellow petticoat and a green gown
Happy St. David’s Day to our favorite Welsh Barista — Lisa Davis!
If you are not familiar with St. David, he is the patron saint of Wales and it is a tradition to wear a daffodil and/or a leek on this day. I’m not sure about the whole leek thing but I love daffodils. Much of my time in Wales was spent enjoying the beautiful countryside and wondering if Welsh Scrabble comes with extra set of the letters Y, L, D and W (gazing at undulating hills for hours did crazy things to my mind.)
Even if you don’t celebrate St. David’s Day, celebrate spring by making these easy, charming daffodils that you can pin on the lapel of your coat , clip in your hair or clip many to a headband.
Here is what you will need:
- Yellow and orange felt
- Brooch pins of plain hair clips
- Pinking sheers (optional)
- Scissors
- Hot glue
- A yellow or green headband (optional)
Step One: FOR THE MEDIUM DAFFODIL – Cut out 6 petals from yellow felt 2″ long for the medium daffodil, Now cut out a 1″ x 3″ strip from both yellow and orange felt and trim the orange strip so it is slightly shorter than the yellow both length and width. Trim one long side of each with a pinking sheers. Cut out a round yellow circle 1 1/2″ in diameter and a yellow heart about the same size.
Step Two: Put a small amount of glue in the middle of the bottom of each petal about 1/4″ up. Now pinch together until it dries. TIP: If using white glue you may want to use paper clips or clothes pins to secure in place until the glue dries. Now trim the glued end off about 1/4″.
Step Three: Glue petals to the round piece of felt so the ends are all touching in the middle.
Step Four: Put a line of glue along either of the short ends of orange strip. Now curl the felt around your little finger and press non-glued end over the other. Do the same with the yellow strip but wrap it around the orange piece. TIP: To make your daffodil more realistic pull the pinked jagged end out and stretch it to give it a fluted look. This may take a bit of tugging.
Step Five: Glue the top onto the petals.
Step Six: Take the barrette or pin (open) and put it under one side of your felt heart and glue (the front-side for the barrette and the back-side down) to the back of the daffodil. Leave the barrette or pin open until the glue dries. Click here for a an image. TIP:If you use a bird’s beak styled hair clip, you can clip the flowers to clothing or in hair.
For Large Daffodil: Cut the petals to 2 3/4″ with rounded tips. Instead of a double layered flute cut a small circle of felt the same size at the bottom of your fluted piece. Glue it in the center of the petals before gluing down the fluted piece.
For Small Daffodil: Cut out petals 1 1/4″ long. Use a single layer of orange for the fluted piece and like for the large daffodil cut out a small orange circle and glue in the middle of the daffodil.
Dydd Gwŷl Dewi Sant Hapus to all who celebrate! (please don’t ask me to say this or you will be covered in spit)
Questions? Just Ask Holly!
You can celebrate like a native by making Lisa Davies’ Welsh Cakes. Click here for her recipe for the little buttery hotcakes.
Diolch yn fawr Holly (that’s thank you very much)! No-one is really sure about the leek thing. It is said that back in the 5th century St David ordered his Welsh soldiers to wear leeks in their helmets in battle against the despised Saxons and that the leeks won them victory. And to this day the Royal Welch Fusiliers uphold the tradition of eating raw leeks on 1 March. The Welsh words for leek and daffodil are also similar – leek is Cenhinen and daffodil is Cenhinen Pedr (literally “Peter’s leek”).
Bala Cynwyd, Gwynedd, LLewllyn (thohose are just towns and the best that I can do).
I was so inspired by the day nursery I saw In Cardiff Castle that I decorated the nursery in our old house inspired from the images on the postcards and pictures I took (sans the bloody images of beheaded giants.
I am now feeling inspired to recreate the “Invisible Prince” somewhere in my home.