Last week, I wrote a quick history of ancient Mother's Day celebrations and how Mother's Day came to be in the United States. Mother's Day is not just a U.S. holiday, however - most countries around the world have a day set aside to celebrate mothers. Many, especially countries with strong European ties, celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May. This week, I thought I'd highlight a few Mother's Day celebrations around the world with a short description:
Carved bone leaf and Dzi etched brown eye agate necklace handmade by Kat of KatsAllThat
* In Nepal, the Hindu tradition of Mother's Day is called "Mata Tirtha Aunsi" or "Mother Pilgrimage New Moon" and has been celebrated for centuries. The holiday is held according to the lunar calendar, on the new moon in the month of Baishakh which falls in April-May (in 2013 it occurred on May 9). Small gifts are given to mothers and remembrances are paid to mothers who are no longer alive.
* In Australia, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. It was started by Janet Heyden of Sydney in 1924. She visited a patient in the Newington State Home for Women where she met many lonely, forgotten mothers. To cheer them up, she was able to get local businesses to donate gifts and school children to bring them to the women. Due to increasing support for the project, the day morphed into Mother's Day. Traditionally, chrysanthemums are given to mothers since it ends in "mum", an affectionate term for "mother" in Australia.
Yellow and hot pink pear pincushion with embroidered flowers and leaves by Kathi of kathisewnsew
* In France, Mother's Day is usually on the last Sunday in May, but is moved to the first Sunday of June if it falls on the same day as Pentecost. The origins are believed to have started in 1806 when Napoleon announced a special day for mothers of large families. In 1950, a special law dedicated Mother's Day to all mothers.
* In Indonesia, Hari Ibu (Mother's Day) is celebrated on December 22. The day, which was formalized by Presidential Decree in 1953, originally sought to celebrate the spirit of Indonesian women and improve the condition of the nation. Today people express love and gratitude to mothers by presenting gifts, holding parties and pampering mom.
Pastel colored, diagonal-striped peyote stitch beadwoven cuff bracelet handmade by Jigisha of jrpdesigns
* In Israel, Mother's Day is celebrated on Shevat 30 of the Jewish calendar, which falls between January 30 and March 1. To honor her, the date was set on the same date that Henrietta Szold died. Henrietta had no children herself but was the "Mother" of all the children her organization, Youth Aliyah, rescued from Nazi Germany and provided for them.
* In the United Kingdom, Mothering Sunday, today increasingly called Mother's Day, falls on the 4th Sunday of Lent. During the 16th century, people historically returned to their mother church, the main church or cathedral in the area, for a service held on Laetare Sunday. Anyone who did this was said to have gone "a-mothering". In later times, Mothering Sunday became a day when domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother church, usually with their own mothers and other family members, often the only time the whole family could get together. Children and young people often would pick wildflowers along the way to place in the church or give to their own mothers. Eventually the religious tradition evolved into the secular tradition of giving gifts to mothers.
Swarovski coral crystal pearls flat spiral bracelet handmade by Julie, Nicole and Linda of jnldesigns
* In Mexico, Dia de los Madres is held on May 10, the date it was first celebrated in Mexico in 1922. Dia de los Madres has taken many guises since 1922, depending on the influence of the government in power at the time (liberal vs. conservative) and the power of the Catholic Church.
* In the Czech Republic, Mother's Day is celebrated every second Sunday in May. Promoted by Alice Masarykova, it became a holiday in the former Czechoslovakia in 1923. After WWII, the Communist regime replaces Mother's Day with International Woman's Day, celebrated by all Soviet bloc countries. After the split of the country in 1993, the Czech republic began celebrating Mother's Day again on the original date.
Seabreeze teal and green lampwork and glass beaded bangle bracelet by Nancy of jazzitupwithdesignsbynancy
* In Argentina, Mother's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of October. It was originally celebrated on October 11, the old liturgical date for the celebration of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. But after the Second Vatican Council moved the Virgin Mary celebration to January 1, Argentina returned to the third Sunday of October to honor mothers due to popular tradition.
* In Belgium, Moederdag, Moederkesdag and Fete des Meres (Mother" Day) is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. During the week leading up to Mother's Day, school children make gifts for their mothers. Typically the father will buy croissants and other sweet breads for a breakfast in bed. However, many people in Belgium. especially people living around Antwerp, celebrate the "classical" Mother's Day on August 15, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, and view the May observance an invention for commercial reasons.
Hand knit beautiful bodacious burgundy "Mom" dishcloth or washcloth handmade by Sharon of hollyknittercreations
I hope you enjoyed the short descriptions of how Mother's Day came about in some countries and how it is celebrated. Most of the above information came from Wikipedia, Mother's Day. Many more countries are highlighted - I just chose a few that piqued my interest.
Animal print glass beaded bracelet and earrings set with sterling silver handmade by Diane of dianesdangles
On to the Countdown . . . The Countdown to Mother's Day 2014 collection that Julie and Blu (of BlueMorningExpressions) host on their blog, The Blu Print, comes in so handy: you can shop for Mom without leaving home. Many, many wonderful handmade and vintage items for so many wonderful Moms can be found on the Countdown. Seventy-nine items were shared this week.
You can participate in the Countdown if you have a studio/shop on ArtFire, Zibbet, SupaDupa, Etsy, stand alone websites and the like, you are invited to share up to three Mother's Day gift items between Friday around noon MST until sometime the following Sunday night. Then a new collection of gift ideas will start the next Friday, and so on, until the nine weeks are up and Mother's Day is here! The items shared need to be G-rated.
Ivory and black dotted lampwork glass art bracelet slider handmade by Charlotte of Covergirlbeads
When you participate in the Countdown to Mother's Day 2014, important back links that we know and want are provided back to your items. This will help make you more easily found by the Google gods. If you share items, you MUST promote each item in the countdown collection. That is only fair. Pinterest and/or Wanelo are preferred since everyone can see the items and it is easy to save off of them. Twitter, Facebook and G+ just do not provide the ability to find items easily to share again. It would be great if you would provide your links in the comment section on Julie's blog or on the ArtFire thread.
Orange and red lampwork bead earrings with swirled silver daisy bead caps handmade by Julie of BlueMorningExpressions
In addition to saving all the items shared in the Countdown onto my Mother's Day Pinterest board and Wanelo collection, as in Countdown's past, I decided to share one item from each of the ArtFire artists who participated. I also share the blog post to numerous other social media sites, such as Google+, Facebook and Amazine. I'll try to do a blog post for each week, but when I have shows coming up, I might miss. I hope not!
This will be a perfect time to pull out a sheet of paper and a pen or pencil (or get your computer bookmarks ready) and begin your shopping list. Above all, however, have fun!
Here are the rest of this week's perfect picks:
Amy Butler fabric in a green honeycomb design wristlet key chain / key fob handmade by Bits of bitspeaces
Teabag favors with green trees design for wedding, baby shower or party handmade by Nat of adorebynat
"Scout Mom" rhinestone bling t-shirt by LilBitOLove
"Love's Tribute" antique McLaughlin Brothers 1900-1097 postcard by Colleen of PostcardsInTheAttic
Pewter Koru spiral pendant necklace with mookaite jasper handmade by Mary of PrettyGonzo
Easter puppies over-the-collar reversible dog bandana, large or x-large handmade by Donna of SewAmazin
Gold Hamsa hand and spiral earrings with amethyst purple Swarovski crystals handmade by Barbara of SolanaKaiDesigns
Hand beaded silver fan and blue Swarovski crystal earrings handmade by Kathy of specialtivity
Amethyst beaded earrings with rootbeer, lavender and silver seed beads handmade by Maria of TheGemmedGiraffe
Dressy bright pink Swarovski crystal and sterling silver necklace handmade by Connie of Thesingingbeader
Reversible orange and yellow fabric coaster with beads handmade by Mary Beth of TheTwistedRedhead
"Bubbles of Love" fused dichroic glass heart pendant handmade by Jo of Umeboshi
Egyptian scarab polymer clay bead and knotted macrame unisex bracelet handmade by Nancy of Wyverndesigns
"Arbol de la Vida" Tree of Life pendant necklace with rustic turquoise magnesite handmade by Catherine of ShadowDogDesigns
This is but a small sampling of all the creations shared in the collection. Be sure to click out this link: Countdown to Mother's Day 2014 to see all 70 handmade and vintage items that were shared this week. Hopefully one (or more!) of the items will make its way to your Mum on this Mother's Day (:
Thank you to Julie and Blu of BlueMorningExpressions for all their hard work in putting together the Countdown and for providing a place where we could promote each other and ourselves! THANK YOU!!!
If you would like to make my day and the day of the artist's featured, please leave a comment. Any and all promotion you can do for this blog post will be benefit us all and will be greatly appreciated.