Lei Contest

Flush with success after making so many lei for Lei Day at work, I decided to enter the lei making contest at the local Lei Day festival, held on the first Sunday in May.

Anyone could enter a lei, and they had about 50+ entries! Including two from yours truly! Having never seen such a contest before, I wasn't sure what to expect, and I was totally outclassed. Almost all the lei entered were real flower lei, so beautifully put together you could weep. I wasn't the only one who entered an artificial lei, there were a few done by kids out of things like M&Ms and origami birds. I think mine were the only crocheted entries. I was pretty pleased with them, but no way anything artificial could compete with the gorgeous flowers, ferns, and seeds of the real thing.

Here's a shot of some of the entries on display. Remember, these are all real flowers and leaves:


Here's my two. I wasn't pleased with the display of the maroon on on the right - they hung it up kind of twisted. Still, I felt I could hold my head up among the other artificial lei makers! LOL! I just experimented until I came up with something pretty, I wasn't trying to emulate a particular flower.

The one on the left is made of a strand of fun fur and a strand of some old Red Heart Sport pompadour in a color they don't make anymore, Parakeet, which is like a bright turquoise. I just did a simple tube of sc going around in a spiral, seven sc around. The maroon one is a base chain of heavy rattail cord, the "leaves" made of two strands held together - some dark green chenille (it came without a label from my local LYS) and some Moda Dea Jai Alai fun fur type yarn in a beautiful variegated in shades of maroon and greens. The "leaves" were just three dc clusters with a picot on top of the middle dc. It actually looked very Christmassy, at least that's what the lady who was taking in the entries said! LOL!


Here is one of the six winners. Look how perfect and round and gorgeous it is. These are real flowers, orchids of some variety, I think. Pretty much all the lei in the pictures are made of real flowers - some of them so perfect they don't look real at all! However, you can see an artificial origami lei behind the winner.


The six winners - they all basically tied for first, there was no first, second, third and so on - were announced before the entertainment started and came up on stage to claim their prizes, which were, naturally, lei! But special lei, consisting of rolled up dollar bills strung together! Each winner got a $100 lei!


After they announced the winners and the entertainment began, all the lei in the contest went up for silent auction, with proceeds going to the Palace Theater. So I didn't get to keep my two lei, but it's for a good cause. I left right after the bidding opened, so I didn't get to see if anyone bid on, or bought, my two. I hope so!

I'm already plotting for next year. Besides suggesting that there be two contest categories, one for real flowers and one for artificial lei (LOL!), I think that elaborate is better. My preference is for more simple designs, but if I want a $100 lei, I better get fancy! I'm thinking of a doing something very dense and intricate using thread instead of yarn - think kind of a doily lei. Not that I ever make doilies. But I'm picturing dark green thread "foliage" and lots of tiny flowers in pink, purple and white thread. Hmmm.... at least I have a year to think about it! This year, I made both my entries the night before! LOL!