The Wong Ohana

The traditional Hawaiian Money Lei is something that is made and given to someone as a gift as opposed to using a money card, or a money tree. This can be for a shower gift, either Bridal or Baby, as a Birthday, Graduation, Anniversary, or anytime when a gift is appropriate, and is often times presented to the Bride and Groom as a wedding gift at the reception.

Sometimes when invitations are sent out, you can include phrasing such as “If you would like to contribute to the Money Lei, in lieu of a gift, please send checks to _____”. Whoever is in charge of collecting the money would then cash all checks and arrange to make the lei.

Keep in mind that it takes a fair amount of time to put together, so remember to allow for that. This can also be a fun “family or group” effort. You can have a Lei making party, which is a common thing to do when preparing for any big event. Serve snacks or refreshments, and have everyone get together and help in making and putting it together. This is not only fun, but also includes everyone in the gift giving process.
Also, don’t forget to make a list of “who donated how much” as the checks are collected so that they can use it to send out Thank You notes!

Depending on how many bills you have, this will determine the length of the finished lei. For a nice size lei you should have approx. 500-600 bills. If you fall short, you can add pieces of colored paper cut to size to match your ribbon color (Origami paper looks particularly pretty, and is the right thickness). Then just add them in intervals between the bills. You can also adjust the length of the lei by how tightly you push together the fans when adding them - so don’t fret too much on how many bills, or how long your lei will be, you can adjust it as you go.

You can figure out how many bills of each denomination you want to have by approximating how many bills you have to get started with. Of course, you will have the most $1 bills, then you can start adding in $5’s and $10’s, etc. appropriately to get the right number for your lei. If you have a lot of money, throw in a larger bill here and there for fun!

So let’s say you have cashed your checks into small-ish denomination bills, depending on how much money you have to use for your lei, and you’re ready to get started.

First, you’ll need to count how many individual bills you have, then cut equal amounts of colored 1/4 inch ribbon equal to the amount of bills you have.

If this is for a shower, wedding, or a party, you can match the colored ribbon to the color scheme picked for that event! Depending on how many people you have helping you, you can distribute handfulls or bowlfulls of bills and ribbons to each person.

Next take a long piece of ribbon, and measure around your neck how long you want your lei to be. Remember to add about 12 ” so you have enough at each end for tying it together. You’ll want it long enough to be able to easily slip over your head without having to untie it. And remember you can always cut off excess, but you can’t make it longer once you’ve cut it, so if you have to err, err on the side of longer, not shorter. Set this ribbon aside.
Now This is where your family and friends come in. Everyone should start folding all the bills (and origami paper if you are using this) accordian style down the length of the bill, in 1/4 inch folds until the entire bill is folded.

Once your bill is folded, take one of the cut ribbons and tie it around the middle in a double knot and drop it into a basket or bowl.

Once all the bills are tied up with ribbons, then you unfold each one on both sides, like little fans, and use the center ribbon to tie the fan to the long length of ribbon that you measured for your lei.

Now, you can either fold up all the bills in one process, then when done, attached all the bills, OR you can have a group of people folding bills and dropping them into a bowl, and have someone else pulling them out of the bowl and tying them to the ribbon thus building the lei as the bills are being folded. Its up to you, but either way, once the bills are fanned out, they are ready to attach to the long ribbon.

As you fan out and tie on each ribbon your lei is beginning to form. They will begin to twist and turn as you add them, which is a good thing, so don’t try to force how they lay on the ribbon, it will all work out just fine, and this will make your finished lei full. Also, don’t forget that if you are adding in colored papers as filler, you will want to evenly distribute them around the lei, so remember not to bunch them all up in one spot.

Once you have used up all your money, your lei is finished! Now tie the two ends together in a double knot, and cut the end ribbons the same length as the little ties.

Your lei is now ready to be presented to whomever you are giving it to!

I hope you enjoyed this little project. Its a lot of fun to do, and all you have to remember to do is call enough friends, and allow enough time to put it together!

Aloha!

A Hui Hou (until we meet again)
Margaret and Gilbert Wong
Married: April 18, 1998

Filed under: Crafts, Hawaiian Crafts on January 4th, 2007