SUPER EASY Satin Ribbon Lei or Necklace

I shall apologize up front. I'm a little distracted. My husband and I have planned a trip to Guatemala for Monday. Why Guatemala you ask? Well, the short version of the long story is that I was a missionary for my church for a year and a half in Guatemala (please don't ask how long ago...suffice it to say it was over 10 years ago). Apart from religious teachings, we also were service missionaries and taught health/welfare classes, helped in orphanages, taught first aid and English classes. So, 6 months ago when a friend asked if I wanted to go back and help the less fortunate in my old areas...I was very excited.

I still am excited and a little stressed, what with all the volcanic ash, tropical storms, and sinkholes (you have to see this picture). I've seen many pictures of the devastation that is over there and it's hard to concentrate on anything else. But I knew I had to come up with and idea for today, next Wednesday and the next one, too...because I'll just be flying back (and it's my birthday that day).

So, this week and the next couple weeks for me will be short and sweet.

O.K. I have a lot of 3 inch double sided satin ribbon left over from a couple of other projects. So this week and next week I will show you what I came up with to make use of the ribbon.

This week I'm going to show you how to make a SUPER EASY ribbon lei.  I've gotten a lot of requests for other leis because it's graduation time. But for those of you not as familiar with leis, you can give them for whatever reason, birthday's, weddings, etc. (not giving them to the people...you wear them as part of your attire). Of course the best leis are flower leis, but sometimes we can't get them, can't afford them, and they don't last a long time.  This lei I'm going to show is so pretty, it can be used over and over.

To make this lei you will need:

8 yards of 3-inch satin ribbon

1 yard of 5/8 inch satin ribbon (can match or contrast)

4 Beads  (I used beads from an old Hawaiian Kukui nut Lei I didn't want anymore, but you can use anything)

Sewing Machine

Large Safety Pin

Lit candle

First, cut the 8 yards of 3 inch ribbon in half. Then tuck the ends inside and pin together (see below).

Then, sew down one side making sure you sew to the ends. And then sew down the other side. By doing this, you are just making a casing for your 5/8 ribbon.

Now your casing is sewn. Next take the large safety pin and poke it into the end of the 5/8 ribbon and thread the ribbon through the casing. When you get it through, pull enough of the 5/8 ribbon out so you can tie a bow and make a knot.

Then thread your ribbon through your beads. One way to make this easier is to take scotch tape and tape up the ends creating your own aglet (yep, that's what they're called). Then thread it through and make another knot to keep it in it's place.

Repeat so there are two beads on each side. Tie a bow and hang...it is then that it's easiest to straighten it out.

Look what happens when you squish it all together.

If you would like this look it will take 3-3.5 times more ribbon (so about 24 yards).  This lei is really beautiful, and heavy. NOTE: Don't sew all 12 yards in one casing. It makes it too hard to thread the 5/8 ribbon through. Break it up into 3 sections of 4 yards. Or you can do 4 sections of 3 yards and put the beads in between.

Also, if you want to make this a necklace, just make it shorter. I think this would make a really pretty choker. I'll have to try that soon.

I made this one to take with me to Guatemala and give it to my host family mom. They may never get to Hawaii, but I can bring a little of the Aloha spirit to them.

Click here to see the tutorial on coin money leis.

Click here to see the tutorial on candy/toy leis.

Mother's Day Gift Idea & a Candy Lei

Today is my son's birthday and I can't believe he's 9. He was due on Cinco de Mayo, but apparently wanted to be in the world before the celebration, which was fine by me because I was already on bed rest for 3 weeks. He was skinny and little and scaly and when they put him on my tummy after he was born, I thought..."Oh my gosh, he's not very cute!!" Then his bottom lip popped out (he was sucking on it) and he was VERY CUTE!

I remember holding him and crying after I came home from work on September 11th.  He was only 4.5 months old and I couldn't believe the world I brought him into. I remember coming home from work when he was about 9 months old, and he was in the garage with daddy and he was playing in a can of rusty nails...you can bet daddy heard a few strong words from me (and hasn't lived it down since). I remember when he was 2.5 and we moved into our new house, he decided to go out in the front and pee in the street. Nice first impression, huh? So we told him not to pee outside and the next day I found him standing in the house with the door open, peeing outside. Technically he was inside.

I could go on and on and that's one of the best things about being a mother...the memories. Soon, we will celebrate motherhood and my idea this week is a great Mother's Day Gift Idea for giving to someone else or giving it to yourself. It's simple and natural and fun to use.

Lime & Green Tea Sugar Scrub

This sugar scrub is great for relaxing in the tub as you exfoliate your body leaving your knees and elbows soft and supple (isn't that a gross word...I can't believe I typed it).

All you need is:

1 air tight container (I bought mine at the Dollar Tree...for a dollar)

1 cup sugar

3 Tbs. epsom salt (found at Walmart in the pharmacy section)

10 tsp. olive oil

2 tsp. honey

3 green tea bags

1 lime (or lemon) to zest

First, zest the lime. And set aside.

Then mix the sugar, epsom salt, and contents of the green tea bags.

Add olive oil and honey and stir till oil and honey are spread evenly. Then add the lime zest.

Place in airtight container. Then you can make your own labels, or tie a card to the outside or wrap your jar anyway you want. If you can find a small scoop, it would be great to put that in the jar. I made this for gifts and used the left over scrub in the bowl. My skin was soooo super soft. I love it. I think I'll be making myself a little mother's day gift this year.

Candy Lei or Toy Lei

Some of you asked for instructions on the Candy Lei or the Toy Lei. I used candy for this tutorial, but you'll see how you can easily substitute the candy for matchbox cars or lipgloss or other little toys.

First, cut strips of cellophane about 6 inches wide...wider if your toys are a little big.

You might need about 2 strips depending on the length of your cellophane roll. You will need about 6 inches more cellophane than the length you desire. So if you want a 36 inch lei, you'll need about 40-42 inches in strips.

You'll also need to cut curly ribbon about 8 inches long. Cut a bunch.

You can line up your candy or toys along the way or you can add it as you go. You need to at least lay down the first candy. Then you'll roll the cellophane around it.

Tie the first candy at the beginning of the cellophane and after the candy like this:

Then add some more candy in the "tube" you created and tie it off.

To join the two strips together, overlap them and tie them down.

When you are done, tie the two ends together with your curly ribbon and then curl all the ribbons.

You can add paper money to the lei like we did in the last post (click here if you didn't see that one)

Then you can give your graduate, your mother or your birthday boy a cute Candy Lei (or Toy Lei). Don't forget to give it with a kiss.

Happy Birthday Mika!!

Click here to see the tutorial on how to make candy/toy leis.
Click here to see the tutorial on how to make a SUPER EASY satin ribbon lei.

How to Make a Coin Money Lei

Graduation time is upon us and Mother's Day, too, so for the next couple of weeks, my posts will be centered on those two themes. Today, I'm going to show you how to make a money lei for your graduates. Now if you don't know what a lei is, it's necklace wreath traditionally made of flowers worn by Hawaiians (and pretty much anyone else) on all special occasions. Have you ever seen a Polynesian graduate? They are the ones with all the flower leis on and you can barely see their faces.

I love flower leis. I love the smell. To me they are quintessential Hawaii. (Unlike pineapple on Pizza...I mean really. I don't know many Hawaiians who actually eat "Hawaiian" Pizza. It's disgusting. And Hawaiian pizza has Canadian Bacon on it? Really...canadian? And that's definitely not bacon...You can click here to see my rant on mixing sweet and salty foods.)

Anyway, my cousin is graduating this week, so instead of just handing him a check and some card that I'm 99.9% sure he's just going to toss, I decided to make a money lei, like this....

Do you see all those coins? I chose this style because this was my favorite kind of money leis to receive when I graduated. It could be because the money was so hard to get out so that it hung in my room and was seriously my emergency money. Or it could be because I had an endless supply of quarters to do my laundry. But it was probably because it looked cool AND had money.

So here's what you will need.

For this lei I used $20 in quarters $10 in dollar coins and $45 in $5 bills. You can make yours as long or as short as you'd like and use nickels and dimes and little kids like pennies.

Coins

Cellophane

Ribbons

Scissors or rolling cutter

Mat (optional and helpful)

You also may need a heavy can of food or something else will weigh the lei down.

Start by cutting 5in x 5in squares. The rolling cutter was so much easier than scissors.

I needed 90 squares.

Then, cut 2 - 2.5 yard strips of ribbon

Tie the ends of the two ribbons together.

Use the can to weigh down the ribbon.

Place the coin in the square and twist a little.  

Then tie the wrapped coin to the ribbon.

Here's where a little video would be more helpful. Click here to see my short video of how to tie this. It's not a fun video...I don't even speak...all you hear is crinkling, but at least you can see that it's really easy.

When you are done, knot the end and tie the ends together.

Then, create a bow out of ribbon and tie it all together.

Now, you can leave it that way or add paper money for texture. This is also the easier way to give more money without the lei going all the way to the ground.

Fold up the paper money.

And then find the middle and tie a ribon.

 Then fan out half of it and tape it to keep it in place.

Then tie these little fans evenly throughout the lei. Tie them in between the coins.

And there you have it. You can make your money lei with any colored cellophane, add more curly ribbon, etc. It took me about a half an hour to tie the whole lei. Believe it or not, folding the money took a longer time. Next time I'm just going to use 20's. If you'd like, maybe I'll post how to make candy and toy lei's (great for party favors). [The post for the candy and toy lei's are here.]

I promise you'll love the Hawaiian tradition of wearing/giving leis. Remember, you always give the person a kiss (on the cheek is fine) when you put a lei around their neck. Although, I don't suggest doing that if you are handing them out as party favors for your child's birthday! Awwwwkward.
ALOHA!!

Click here to see the tutorial on how to make candy/toy leis.
Click here to see the tutorial on how to make a SUPER EASY satin ribbon lei.

NOTE: If you are interested in making all different types of leis, make sure to "Follow" our blog or "Like" us on Facebook because I will be blogging on all types of leis. Or send me an email about other types of leis and I'll post it on the blog.