Graduations are coming!!!

I'm so excited a couple important graduations are coming. Both lil sisters, one from junior high, and the other one from high school. It's an exciting way to start another fun summer.

I made ribbon leis for them & can't wait to give it to them...

Really simple & you can adjust your lei to be as fluffy & thick or thin as you want.

Here's how to make this one ...

For this particular design I did the following:

• 10 yards of pink...then a "flower"...
• 1 yard of green
• 3 yards of white
• 1 yard of green
• 20 yards of pink then a "flower" again..
• 1 yard of green
• 3 yards of white
• 1 yard of green
• 30 yards of pink then another "flower" again...
• 1 yard of green
• 3 yards of white
• 1 yard of green
• 20 yards of pink then last "flower"...
• 1 yard of green
• 3 yards of white
• 1 yard of green
• 10 yards of pink

Yes, that's a whole lot of ribbon. One-hundred & ten to be exact, but trust me it's a beautiful keepsake to commemorate the occasion for any graduation, and with the variety of ribbon out there you could totally play with it and customize it for the recipient. You could even add plastic flowers to compliment the lei. 
To do this find 3-4-5 (depending on size) of the flower you want to include. Pull them off the stems & sew them into a small tight circle & string where you want it to go on your lei. 

OTHER MATERIALS YOU WILL NEED:

• 3 strand nylon rope (found in most hardware stores)
• a large sharp metal yarn needle

Close up of the ribbons I used. 

The pink & white ribbons measured 3/8 inch wide. 

The green w/ the cute loops measured 3/16 inch wide. 

Now once you've collected all your ribbon, you're going to take a pen and lightly mark your ribbon at 2 inch intervals. I suggest doing this as you complete your project. Sitting there and measuring out 110 yards all at once would have drove me insane. I also did not sit & make this lei in one day. It took me several days to complete. I found time to sit and do it while I watched tv, mainly shows or movies I've already seen so it didn't require my absolute attention. Thanks to this project I was reminded what great movies  Zorro & The Patriot are.

Now take your nylon rope & measure out 36 inches. Don't worry! It's not going to be this long. Its just enough for you to have extra to work with..

Tie a double knot at one end, and string the needle at the other.

And now you're ready to start the lei...

You are going to sew in & out of the ribbon at each 2 inch mark. IN one... OUT the next... IN again.. OUT again..

On the needle it should look like this...

If you move the ribbon down off the needle and onto the nylon rope it should look like this if you straightened out the ribbon...

Like this.

Continue to do this & 110 yards later, fluff your ribbon up, making sure it's all spread out evenly. Use someone's neck to determine a good length.. Ask permission first, of course!

Then double square knot while including the original knot you made at the start of the project. 

 Cut off the excess nylon rope.. and there you have it! A finish lei!

Let me know if you have any questions! 

Aloha & Congrats to all the 2012 graduates! From Preschool all the the way to Grad School & beyond! Way to go!!! We are all very proud of you & your accomplishments! YAY! FOR YOU!! 

shen