Making Hawaiian Tei Leaf Bracelets

May is Asian American Heritage Month. We visited the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery for the Asian American Heritage Family Day. There were dance presentations, spoken word, lion dances, storytelling and a photo booth. In addition, there were tables of different crafts for the kids. They made fortune cookies of modeling clay, decorated masks and made ti lei bracelets.

The sweet college gals volunteering at the bracelet making table convinced me to make one of my own. My first attempt unraveled, but I got the hang it the second time around. It's like of like rope making. You have to twist the two halves of the ti lei leaves clockwise and then twist them together counter clockwise as you go. Didn't that make your brain hurt? It's easier to just do it.

Green Ti leaf, photo by Pete Ryan/National Geographic

Ti leafs are commonly used to make hula skirts, bracelets, and leis. They'were surprisingly very sturdy and full of liquid. I squeezed out so much water as I twisted the leaves, I had to keep wiping my hands. The same technique is also used for the lei necklaces and you can weave (twist?) flowers into it it as well. I didn't take a photo of my bracelet, but making these Hawaiian lei bracelets made me nostalgic for friendship bracelets. Remember the ones made out of embroidery floss?