Part 1 of 2: The Hawaiian Lei - Simple Hawaiian Costume for Kids On a Budget Against the Clock

So my Clever Daughter's school decides to have a fun dress up and learn kind of day called International Day.  The country designated to her year is China, but they can come dressed up as any country you like for a bit of variety.  The first words out of many moms' mouths were "I'll just get a Chinese dress off Amazon" and I don't blame them, that is usually me, but I can't imagine another use for a Chinese dress. I bought a witch outfit for Roald Dahl day, but that's Halloween taken care of too. I also bought a bat outfit for the Christmas play (don't ask) and that's...for...Halloween...too... Hmm.

I Will Do This Myself.

I considered a range of countries

• American Cowgirl - I would have to buy boots!
• Native American - I would have to buy boots and a skirt
• South African - All I have is a flag and I feel it might be a bit disrespectful to wear an actual flag a dress
• Hawaiian - I need a lei (the flower necklace) and a grass skirt.  But I did ponder just making the lei and dress her in shorts and a shirt for a modern surfer look.

Well for the purposes of not having to buy something expensive for a once-off event the Hawaiian girl was well in the lead. That Is Decided.

What I used for the lei:

• So I bought a pack of multi-coloured tissue paper from Poundworld (£1)
• I bought some embroidery thread (Poundworld £1)
• I also own a needle set with a tapestry needle, but let's assume you buy a pack of needles from your friend and mine, Poundworld (£1

Now to make a Hawaiian lei!  I googled a bit and found this gorgeous website Dream a Lil' Dream and her fab homemade lei tutorial.  Simple and clear with lovely photographs, I could not go wrong.

Except I had flimsy tissue paper instead of crepe paper which is thicker and more sturdy.

Keep On Going!

So my lei came out slightly differently but I am so proud of it and Jenny loved it. And the best part was that it only took about 30 minutes.

Here's how:

• My tissue paper pack was a sort of rainbow pack with each sheet a different colour.  I thought a rainbow effect would be pretty so I stacked the sheets together and then cut a 2 inch (approximately!) strip and ended up with about 11 colours which I then reshuffled into a rainbow-style colour graduation.  If you want a single colour then you will need to make multiple strips of the same width in the same colour.

• I measured the length that I wanted the lei to be by draping the embroidery cotton around my neck and shortening it for my daughter. Now you will need to double that amount of thread for strength. 
• Now thread the tapestry needle and take that to the centre point of the thread.
• Tie the two ends together in a strong, bulky knot. The knot has to withstand a bit of pressure as the tissue paper pushes against it and you don't want it to just tear through.
• Start stitching down the centre of your first strip of paper making stitches about 1cm long.
• As you go, start bunching the paper backward toward the knot. Sometimes the paper may fold in on itself or look a bit wonky, just give it a gentle tug as if you were straightening someone's bow tie. Keep twisting the paper gently so it spirals around the cotton, this makes the effect much fuller and prettier.

• As one piece of paper ends, start on the next in a continuous stream.

Keep going... almost there!

• Once you have filled the length of the thread check that you are happy with the density of your lei. If you feel it's too stuffed with paper, take a sheet off and spread the rest around, or if it's too loosely covered you will need to add more paper or consider making the lei shorter.

Finished threading, just need to tie a knot.

• Now snip off the needle and tie the two ends of the lei together as closely as you can so there isn't a noticeable gap. You want to achieve the appearance of an unending circle of flowers.

The completed lei.

Clever Daughter loved it and managed to wear it all day. Even now it is in the dress up box still looking pretty good, if a little squashed.

I am Tracey, and I know the secret to making a pretty Awesome Hawaiian lei.

**In my next post find out how I made a grass skirt.**