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.

All Kinds of Fabulous for $2

I have a split personality as a mom. I think it stems from my childhood.

The house I grew up in was the last house on a dead-end street. This definitely came with street game perks. However, it had some flaws: like when your mom tells you to only play on the street and the only kids on the street your age are boys. Let’s just say I’m comfortable hanging with the guys. I grew up on Around the World, Ghostman Baseball, and Any-Eye-Over. That’s right…I’ve been known to huck a tennis ball over a house. But when the sun went down, or on Sunday afternoons, I loved my girlie things. I loved Barbies, dolls, and doing my sisters’ hair.

So I’m thrilled to be a mother of a boy. But, I’m just as happy to be girlie with my girls. And today, we’re going back to my girlie days… 80s style.

My parents live across the street from a woman who owns a girlie boutique. This means that when my mom comes to visit, she brings many wonderful girlie things from Heather. We have countless bows, headbands, hats, and shoes that squeak, but my fave right now have to be my Babylegs.

Yep! Lovingly known as leg warmers. My little girls wear a pair almost every day. It’s nice for diaper changes with the baby. Plus I’ve never been a fan of tights on an infant. The tight makers have never quite mastered the leg length and they just end up looking funny. So my baby girl even sports her leg warmers to church. It’s also been nice with my 2 y/o. She loves to wear dresses and skirts. When this Spring weather goes between hot and cold in one day, it doesn’t affect her. Plus, it’s made potty training very nice (no pants or tights to pull down when we’re in a quick dash for the toilet).

So imagine my excitement when I came across a quick and easy way to make more legwarmers for my girl. I ran to Target to see if it was true. In the women’s hosiery section is a basket of patterned knee socks for $2. That’s right! We’re making all kinds of fabulous for $2.

Here are the ingredients:

1 pair of women’s socks

scissors

needle and thread

1. Take your sharp, only for fabric, scissors and make a straight cut at the bottom of the sock, just above the ankle.

2. Turn the sock inside out.

3. Hem the sock using a whip stitch. (Don’t panic! It’s not as hard as it sounds. If you’re a visual learner, click to check out this video how to).

4. Turn the legwarmer back out and put it on those cute little legs.

Now she can twirl in style...with warm legs.

I think these would look especially cute

with this no sew tutu from Noreen:

Day Coop What??

de·cou·page [dey-koo-pahzh] verb: The act of cutting out paper designs and applying them to a surface to make an all-over collage.

I bet if you were to research the history of crafting, decoupage would be something that has lasted through the ages. Folks have been cutting and pasting for centuries. I'm not talking the right clicking kind of cutting pasting. I'm talking about good old fashioned scissors and glue!

I've had this letter "K" since my daughter was born. Just a boring white letter waiting on me to get some time and inspiration. Thanks to this blog the time has come! Let's do some decoupaging (is that even a word?!)

Because my letter is white, I wanted to paint it so if there is any surface peeking through it won't be so stark. So pull out your painting cookie sheet.... What? You don't have one of those? I retired this sheet from the cookie business when my son started doing art projects that involved paint, glue or water. Works pretty well!

While it dries, it's a good time to get started on the paper. I decided to go for a patchwork look so I picked out some cute scrapbook paper and started cutting small patches.

(The pink lemonade is a necessity when you're using pink paint!)

Don't worry your pretty, little head about making them perfect. They are going to be haphazardly glued.

So now I have my pile of patches and my letter is dry so it's time to start gluing.

Here's the great part. You don't need anything fancy for this project. All those expensive glues at the Hobby Lobby....save your money! You can do this with plain ol' Elmers! I took the messy route and just smeared the glue with my fingers on the back of each patch. If you're a little on the OCD side, feel free to use a sponge brush. Your goal is to make sure it goes on smooth with no bubbles. And if it's hanging over the edge, no worries. You can either trim it our smooth it over the edge when you drench it with your glaze.

Once all the pieces have been glued and smoothed out. It's time to make another pitcher of pink lemonade and go watch Ghost Hunters while it dries.

Now it's dry and it's time to apply the topcoat. I went into this project thinking I was going to use Modge Podge for this part but when I called my sister to see if she had any (I'm cheap.) She told me that I can make my own -- three parts Elmers, one part water. How great is that?! I googled it and sure enough....she's a genius! So I grabbed a sour cream container and mixed myself some Modge Podge!

This is the fun part! Paint to your heart's content and then go to bed.

In the morning I have a shiny, beautiful "K" waiting for me! Now I'm ready for the final step - A shiny polycrylic top coat. This stuff is potent so I took it outside (just beware of bugs and leaves sticking to your masterpiece!) For a small project like this it probably would have been easier to use the spray but I had a can leftover from a furniture project so I used that.

(Thank goodness I had just put this diaper box in the trash. I'm sure my husband would not appreciate a layer of shellac on the patio table!)

And now the big finish....

P.S. I got so caught up in the whole decoupage thing, I did a picture frame as well. Here's a peek.....

Happy cutting!

Making It Personal

I still imagine myself as one of those young married youthful woman and am occasionally shocked when I see that reflection in the mirror that shouts I am not. This is why it is hard for me to believe that my oldest baby is coming of age...baptism age. She will soon be the ripe old age of understanding the difference between right and wrong - what we call the age of accountability.

(My sweet MayMay)

This event gets my No-Guilt-Wanted-Mommy-Wheels spinning! This is a moment when traditions will be started and continued for each of my four children. And I'm going to try my darndest to not have my oldest child say at my youngest child's baptism, "But you didn't do that for me." I know it will come...I'm trying to avoid it. So I've spent the last few months in my Type A mind thinking of what I want to become the family traditions that we will continue with each of the children on their baptism day.

Today, I will share one. This is where we get personal...

We believe in baptism by immersion. This means that my little girl will get wet. What better way to wrap her up after this moment than with a white towel that has her name on it. It's personal. Something that she can use again (or save in her memory box) and reflect on the decision she made that day.

Now, I love my catalogues. I will often skim through them looking and dreaming. I've always been a fan of the personalized towels at Pottery Barn Kids. But let's be honest...that will cost you close to $30 for one towel.

So here's my secret. This towel was bought at Target. Their towels range from $4 to $11. I then took it to my local embroidery shop and had her name added. You'd be surprised if you did a Google search for embroidery and your local city how many people can do this. Plus, there's always those shops in the middle of the mall. If you live by me, give me a call and I'll tell you who I let handle this for me.

We have also started doing this as a gift for our cousins. This one was recently sent to my nephew in Utah who was baptized this weekend.

This could also be an every day idea for your kids. There are many beach towels on sale this time of year. I always love to get my kids a new towel for the summer. It would be fun to add their name to that towel.

And now for a little bit of organization to my chaos...

When you walk into my kitchen from the front room you are greeted by the side of my refrigerator. A looming wall of white. As you can imagine, that much clean surface area of a fridge screams for magnets. It yearns for artwork. It begs for cards, invitations and reminders. The desire was fulfilled and here is what it looks like now. It has become my office.

The problem with this setup is that as my family grows and schedules become a little more packed, so does the poor fridge. It's a little embarrassing. So I put my crafty mind to work and came up with a little somethin'.....

I had some great fabric my sister had left over from a project that matched my kitchen, a can of spray adhesive and sheets of magnets. So with the purchase of a package of four, 12 " cork squares I was ready to get to work!

(The candle is optional. I just like a little bit of ambiance when I craft.)

First thing is to CAREFULLY remove the cork tiles from the packaging. You may want to have a Dustbuster on hand. This stuff is crumbly! Next I used a pencil to trace the cork tile onto the backside of the fabric. I had four tiles and about a yard of each fabric so I was easily able to get two squares out of each yard.

When cutting, you need to decide if you want to bring the fabric down over the sides of the tile or just cover the top of the tile. If you are going to fold the fabric over the sides of the tile, you'll need to cut about a 1/2 inch out from the line you traced. I did two of each. I cut one fabric to fold over the sides and cut the others to cover just the surface of the tile.

Now it's time to get out the spray adhesive and get messy! Unroll your magnet sheet, spray the paper side with spray adhesive and stick it in the center of your cork tile. The sheets were rolled up so I got out the craft glue to help tack down the corners of my curly magnet sheets. It's also probably a good idea to go through your house and grab the biggest, heaviest books you own (you know...those college text books that you can't remember why you held onto but you refuse to get rid of them!) These will help weigh down those curly sheets after they have been glued.

Now go have dinner, go meditate, wash your car, floss your teeth.... You want to make sure these suckers get good and dry!

And you're back and the mess continues....

You'll want to make sure your fabric square is nice and smooth. I ironed mine since they had been folded up for so long. Place the fabric face down on your table and make sure the cork tile you'll affix it to is nearby and ready. Now spray! Get every inch of that fabric! Don't drench it but be liberal!

Next, grab the tile and press it onto your fabric with the magnet side up. Be sure to center it carefully. And if you're folding the fabric over the sides of the tile do it right away while the adhesive is still wet. I used a little craft glue to help hold down the corners of the fabric.

(No, I don't have man hands. That's my husband helping out.)

Once you've pressed on it for a minute or two, flip it over and there it is! Your first tile!

I'm fickle so I made two with the edges folded down over the tile (pictured above) and I did two with a frayed edge that I just glued to the top surface, no edges (see below).

Two more to go and then you have this:

Feels good to be a little more organized!

But that's not it....
If you're anything like me you have buttons reproducing in your sewing basket. I've had some of these buttons since 1992 and it's time I came up with a clever way to use some of them. So since I'm going to need tacks to attach things to my brand new fabric-covered-bulletin-board-refrigerator-magnets why not bedazzle those tacks with some buttons?

I found so many fun ideas when I was Googling and looking at other crafty bloggers for inspiration. This one is a must for my daughter's room in the future. The possibilities with this kind of project are endless!


Happy Friday!