Graduation Lei

I am home from my recent trip to the south, and preparing to go to Pullman for my second daughter’s graduation from WSU.

(Go Cougs!)

I thought it would be nice to get her a graduation lei. I think they are so special but I’ve never bought one for my kids graduating high school. I visited a couple florists and realized that they had to be ordered far ahead of time.

I’m a do-it-yourself-er, so I decided I would make one. I watched a couple you tube tutorials, following this one from the Mai Kai restaurant. I also really liked the tips from Jack Topus, but my husband nixed the idea of the money lei, so I stuck with the flowers.

I chose carnations in red and white to match WSU colors. It took about 3 dozen large carnations to string a 4 foot lei, leaving a bit for tying. It was the perfect length.

Since the graduation was 24 hours away and we were traveling I put the finished lei in an aluminum cake pan with lid, resting it on some moistened paper towels. When we traveled I put an icepack under the pan to keep it cool until it could go back into the fridge. I made the lei Thursday night and she will be wearing it on Saturday so I want it to still be fresh.

(I just added a photo to the top of this post of the finished product.)

-Lynnae