International Women's Day has many names. "(International) Women's Day", "Frauenkampftag" or English "International Women's Day".
When is International Women's Day celebrated?
No matter what you call it, International Women's Day is celebrated every year on March 8th. The German women's rights activist Clara Zetkin initiated International Women's Day. It wasn't just about equality, but about women's right to vote. Because at the beginning of the 20th century, women were not allowed to vote in almost any country in the world.
On March 19, 1911, the first International Women's Day was celebrated in Germany, Denmark, Austria-Hungary and Switzerland. In the following ten years, due to various circumstances, there was no fixed date until International Women's Day was then set on March 8th as an international day of remembrance by the International Conference of Communist Women in Moscow in 1921. This was done in honour of the women of the February Revolution, when the poor residents, workers, wives of soldiers and peasant women of St. Petersburg took to the streets together.
After International Women's Day was banned again by the National Socialist regime in 1933, it fell into oblivion. It was only at the end of the 1960s that women's day came into focus again due to the women's movement.
So far, this day has mostly been a day of remembrance, but there are already countries where International Women's Day is even a public holiday. For example in Angola, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia and Uganda. In the People's Republic of China, Madagascar and Nepal, this holiday applies only to women. International Women's Day has been a public holiday in Germany in the federal state of Berlin since 2019. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania also wants to follow in 2023.
Why the red carnation as a symbol for International Women's Day?
On the first International Women's Day in 1911, women took to the streets with red carnations in their lapels to demonstrate with them as a symbol of their right to vote.
The red carnation as a symbol of equality and its connection to socialism, whose political ideology went well with women's demands.
Today, men still like to give the red carnation as a gift to their wives, girlfriends or colleagues on International Women's Day. As a symbol of gratitude and appreciation.
A special DIY gift with red carnations - the symbol of International Women's Day
No more opportunity to buy carnations? Then just laser some!
This is no problem with the Mr Beam. This makes your gift extra special and lasts forever.
- Kraftplex
- moss
- Glass bell with wooden base
- LED light chain with 10 - 20 lights, depending on the size of the glass bell
- spray paint
- acrylic pens
- poplar plywood
- wood glue or glue
- Optional wire and a hot glue gun
Such filigree elements require Kraftplex
The file for the carnations is purchased. Due to the size of the carnations resulting from the height of the glass bell, you use Kraftplex. Wood would simply break.
Kraftplex is ideal for this. Super stable, somewhat flexible and even very filigree things are simply lasered out by the Mr Beam laser machine. Nothing breaks when tinkering, painting etc. Load the file into your design library, choose your material and let Mr Beam cut it.
The symbol of International Women's Day is red carnations. So your carnations cut from Kraftplex are still missing some color.
KRAFTPLEX ST 1.0mm / 1.5mm, Pack of 5
Sale price
From € 21,90 EUR
KRAFTPLEX Sample package, 15-pack (0.5, 1.0 & 1.5mm)
Sale price
€ 59,90 EUR
KRAFTPLEX CL 0.5mm, Pack of 5
Sale price
€ 17,90 EUR
If you want to varnish or paint with the Mr Beam before lasering, please check the Mr Beam support page to see which materials can be lasered.
In the first step you tape off the flowers and paint the stems green, and in the second step you tape off the stems again and paint the flowers. The colour may bleed slightly under the masking tape due to the structure of the Kraftplex. This effect even looks good, since there are no clear, smooth colour edges.
- Be sure to prepare the spray paint according to the instructions, otherwise unsightly results can occur when painting.
- Always paint on a base.
- Remove masking tape quickly after spraying, otherwise you may pull paint off the Kraftplex with it.
- Allow to dry thoroughly before taping again.
Use acrylic pencils to colour in the cut, filigree contours of the flowers. To underline the 3D effect, choose lighter or darker shades.
When everything has dried well - I recommend overnight - you glue the contours to the flowers. Wood glue also works well with Kraftplex, and many of these dry clear. Recommended for such filigree parts. But of course, you can also use any other glue. It is advisable to drip some glue on a piece of paper or something similar.
Hold the flower outlines with tweezers and pick up some glue with them. Position them on the flower and press firmly.
Assembling the decoration for International Women's Day
Cut or pluck a suitable piece of moss for the wooden base of the glass bell jar. Larger pieces of moss can be easily trimmed with a sharp knife or scalpel. Simply stick your carnations into the moss in any way you like.
Alternatively, measure the diameter of the base and have Mr Beam cut out a smaller circle of Kraftplex onto which you glue your red carnations. You can also glue the carnations directly to the wooden base, but the recipient can no longer use the glass bell for decoration later.
The message as a gift tag
What fits better than poplar plywood with a nice "thank you" engraving. I got the file for it from www.mamassachen.de.
In order for the Mr Beam laser engraving machine to engrave the heart and the text with different strengths, I coloured the heart light blue in my graphics program and the "THANK YOU" in black.
Spot on! - stage the red carnations
Now you can put your red carnations - the symbol of International Women's Day - in the limelight: With a small chain of LED lights. Bend the string of lights roughly like a spiral that fits under the bell jar and slip it over your carnations.
Glass bell above, light on: WOW! It doesn't matter if it's daylight or at night - it's so beautiful! Almost too good to give away, right?
And who are you making happy with it on International Women's Day ? If you want to recreate the idea with Mr Beam, don't forget to share your result with #madewithmrbeam on the well-known social media channels. We are happy about every creation!
