Orchids make excellent flowers for use in graduation leis.
Flowers and candy are two types of graduation leis students wear when moving on from high school or college. Flower leis are a Hawaiian tradition used to welcome visitors to the islands. Today, flower leis are given as a symbol of affection from one person to another and are therefore appropriate to give to graduates as a way of honoring their accomplishments and displaying the love and affection of family and friends. You can make your own lei with a few simple items.
Instructions
1. Select 50 medium-sized flower blossoms. You can choose whatever type of flower you want (carnations, roses, daises), but traditional Hawaiian leis are made from magenta/purple and white orchids.
2. Cut a 100-inch piece of cotton string and fold it in half. Tie a large knot near the end of the string, being careful to leave a few inches of slack string beyond the knot. The knot will stop your flowers as you slide them on the string. The slack string will be used to tie the lei off when you are finished adding flowers to it.
3. Thread your unknotted end of string through a large steel needle. Poke the needle's nose through the center of the flower's face all the way through the back of the flower. While you can use any size needle, including a regular sewing needle, a longer needle allows you to guide multiple flowers onto the string at once, minimizing risk of damage to the flowers. Gently guide the flower(s) down the string until it rests on the knot.
4. Repeat Step 3 until your lei measures about 40 inches long. Tie off the loose string ends and cut off any hanging string. Your lei is complete and ready to be given away.
5. Make a candy lei instead of a flower lei by laying out a long piece of plastic wrap. Arrange candy pieces in the order you want them to appear in the necklace. Use your or the recipient's favorite candies, but consider that bite sized candies like small Tootsie rolls work well. Fold the plastic wrap around the candies and tie a small piece of ribbon into a knot in between each candy to hold the pieces in place. The plastic wrap allows the colors of the candy wrappers to show through.
Tags: plastic wrap, graduation leis, slack string