How to make lei (a garland of flowers)

Video: HOW TO MAKE FLOWER LIE OR GARLAND? | Paano Gumawa Ng Flower lei

Content

Method 2 of 3: Corrugated Paper Leis
Method 3 of 3: Lei from Money
Tips
Warnings
What do you need
Lei from fresh flowers
Corrugated paper leis
Lei from money

1 Take fresh flowers. Lei can be made from any fresh flowers. Plumeria, roses, daisies and carnations are often chosen for them, but you can opt for any flowers, leaves or ferns from your garden.

It is easier to make leis from medium-sized flowers with sturdy stems and sturdy petals. Flowers with delicate petals that fall off or wrinkle easily are not the best choice ..
For a lei in one row, 100 cm long, you will need about 50 flowers. Try to pick flowers closer to the base of the stem to avoid damaging the petals or stamens.

2 Cut off the stems of the flowers. Leave about 0.6-1.3 cm.

3 Cut the thread. Cut a piece of string or fishing line 2.5 m long.When you fold it in half, it will just be enough for a 100 cm lei, and you will tie the ends of 12-13 cm left on both sides together at the end of the work.

4 Thread the needle. Take a large needle, thread it and fold it in half. Tie the ends in a knot - it will have to hold the strung flowers.

When tying a knot, be sure to leave free the ends of the thread 10-13 cm long. They will be needed to tie the finished garland into a ring.
In Hawaii, a special steel needle from 30 to 45 cm long is used to string flower leis. It is unlikely that this will fall into your hands, so feel free to take any large needle.

5 String the first flower. Take the first flower and pierce it with a needle exactly in the center. Insert the needle into the center of the flower from above and thread it through. Then gently slide the flower along the thread to the knot.

You can also act the other way around - insert the needle from below, that is, into the stem, and bring it out through the core of the flower. Choose a method depending on what kind of flowers you are using.
Be very careful when moving a flower strung on a thread - excessive force can wrinkle it or even break it.

6 String the rest of the flowers. Continue stringing the flowers in the same way, piercing either from the core or from the stem.You can make them all face the same direction, or alternate to create a different pattern.

Some lei masters prefer to move the flowers towards the end of the thread in groups, for example, five at a time. This will speed up the process, but it will take some skill and even more care not to spoil the flowers.
If you make leis from flowers of different colors, it will be convenient for you to sort them right away by arranging them in bunches in the right order. This will work faster and you won't mix up the sequence of colors.
Continue stringing the flowers until the lei is about 1m long. Attach it to you like a necklace and look in the mirror to decide if there are enough flowers in the garland and if you have arranged them nicely.

7 Finish the lei. Once you have stringed all the flowers on, touch up the first and last flowers so they are closer together, and tie the ends of the thread in a secure knot.

Do not cut the ends of the thread at once. Do this just before giving the lei - until then, you can hold it by the string and not touch the flowers, so as not to disturb the beauty of the garland.
Cut off excess thread. If you wish, you can decorate the garland with an elegant ribbon. Now the lei is ready and you can present it as a gift!
Lei can be worn more than once. To keep your garland fresh, store it in the refrigerator in a plastic bag. Spray the flowers lightly with water to keep them moist.

Method 2 of 3: Corrugated Paper Leis

1 Prepare materials. To make a paper lei garland, you will need strips of colored corrugated paper 50 cm long and 5 cm wide. The number of strips depends on how long the necklace you want to make. You will also need a needle, thread, and scissors.
2 Fold the crepe paper. Take a strip of paper and fold it accordion-like along its entire length. Each fold should be about half a centimeter deep.
3 Insert the thread into the needle. Thread the thread through the eye of the needle, fold it in half, and tie a knot. You will need about 180 cm of thread - but again, it all depends on how long the garland you want to make.
4 Squeeze the folded strip of paper with your fingers so that the accordion does not unfold, and pierce with a needle in the middle. Slide the threaded strip towards the end of the thread.
5 Twist the paper strip. Unfold the folded accordion slightly, and then twist it clockwise - the result should resemble a flower. Try to curl the corrugated paper as tightly as possible to make the lei more fluffy.
6 Repeat the same steps for the different colored paper. Take the second strip of crepe paper. We suggest using a different color of paper, but if you like, they can be the same. Repeat the process: accordion fold, thread with a needle and twist. Continue to collect the paper strips in the same way until you have strung the whole thread.
7 Finish the lei. When you string the corrugated paper string all the way (this can take about an hour, depending on how tight you string it), thread the needle through the paper strip at the opposite end to close the lei into a ring, and tie a knot. Cut off excess thread.

Method 3 of 3: Lei from Money

1 Prepare materials. To make lei out of money, you will need 50 brand new crisp banknotes, lots of colorful beads, two pieces of string, 130 cm each, a glue stick, and 20 small stationery clips.
2 Fold the banknotes. Take a bill and fold it in half. Make sure that its edges match exactly.
- Place the folded bill on the table in front of you and fold back one of the edges. Flip the bill over and do the same on the other side.
- Continue folding each half of the note until you reach the middle. Try to make all the folds the same size and press them tightly so that the folds are clear.
3 Make flowers. A folded "accordion" banknote will look like a narrow rectangular strip. Fold it in half.
- Partially unfold the folded strip to form a V. Take a glue stick and apply a little glue to the inside of both sides of your V. Do not apply glue all the way down to the center - just the top half of each side.
- Press the glued sides of the V together and secure with a paper clip until the glue dries.
- Now pull the outer edges of the V down and towards each other. You should have an accordion-shaped circle that looks like a flower. Connect the edges with glue, without glueing them closer to the center of the flower, and fasten with a paper clip.
- Repeat this process for the remaining 49 notes. You will get flowers from money for a future garland.
4 Collect lei. When the glue on the flowers made of money dries up, the lei can be collected. Take two pieces of string and tie them at one end.
- String three beads (whatever color you like) on a double thread, then take one flower made from a banknote, remove the clip from it, and thread the threads through the unsealed middle.
- Continue in the same way: again three beads, again a flower, and so on, until you have used all the banknotes and the garland is ready. Tie the ends of the thread together to close the lei into a ring.

Tips

You can use waxed dental floss for lei - it is stronger than regular floss.
If you do not have natural flowers or are impractical to use them for some reason, you can collect leis from artificial ones.
If you are asked to wear lei, do not refuse. This is considered impolite and disrespectful.
If you carry a flower lei, never throw it in the trash bin! Instead, leave it somewhere in nature - let what grew on the earth return to the earth. Necessarily cut the thread so that no animal gets entangled in it.
According to Hawaiian tradition, when leaving the islands, guests should throw their lei into the ocean. If your garland is washed ashore, it means that someday you will return to Hawaii.
Lei from plumeria usually retain their appearance for about two days.
In Hawaii, the following types of flowers are traditionally taken for lei (for the most curious, we even give their Hawaiian names in brackets): chubushnik, in Russia often called jasmine (walahe'e haole), white ginger ('awapuhi ke'oke'o), hibiscus , which is the emblem of the state of Hawaii ('ilima), bougainvillea (kepalo), gardenia (kiele), tuberose (kupalo), rose (loke), stephanotis (male), delonix (' ohai ali'i), orchid ('okika), arabic jasmine (pikake) and the most famous flower for lei is plumeria (melia).
Different types of flowers are strung in different ways: in one case, the thread passes through the middle of the flower, in the other - under the flower, through its peduncle. In addition, there are other options, but the method described in our article is the simplest and most popular.

Warnings

Plumeria flowers contain a poisonous milky sap, so keep them outdoors for a while before using them for a necklace.
Plumeria lei should not be refrigerated. The cold will dry out the petals and they will quickly darken. If you need to keep them cool, spray them with water from time to time to retain moisture.