Wili Lei

One of my passions is making leis, which is something i discovered in my childhood through wtching my uncle make wili leis, or what others call haku leis, late at night until early morning on our dinningroom table. He would have all of his ferns, buds, and fauna layed out meticulously and i was his assistant. However, I had never attempted to make my own lei until I was in highschool when I was required to. Learning any new skill in the beginning has its troughs, and lei making for me was no exception, but with guidance from seasoned lei makers and friends I quickly picked up the skill and now act as an assisstant to new lei makers! Lei giving is one of the coveted parts of Hawaian culture, so I take pride whenever I gift someone a lei that I was able to make myself and with materials that I went to find and gather. All of my mana is put into the product and the words to describe how gratifying it is is beyond my vocabulary.

Any lei maker starts by gathering and “cleaning” their materials. Then we typically use rafia or some sort of string / yarn to wrap the pattern of flowers and fern in a coil like fashion to fasten the lei until it reaches a length of about 21 - 23 inches. I also like to add a backing of fern so that the lei lays more gently on the persons head. To preserve the lei we spray the lei in a decent amount of water and wrap it up in damp newspaper or paper towel and keep it refrigerated in order for it to remain fresh.