One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is a fragrant flower lei. So, imagine how I felt the first time I attended a graduation ceremony here in Hawaii. When I saw the post graduation lei ceremony, I thought, “I need to go back to school, so I can experience something as wonderful as this”.

Some of you may think, wearing all those leis makes you feel hot or uncomfortable. Perhaps, you have allergies and the fragrant flowers makes you sneeze? Well, to me, none of these are issues!!! I love leis more than any other type of flowers! They make me happy!!! So, I say, bring them ON! The more the merrier and if its a haku or “head” lei, that’s even BETTER!!!

My husband knew about my considering going back to school, so I could experience a “Hawaii Graduation”, so on my 40th birthday, he surprised me with a party. It was there I got to experience a lei ceremony without having to crack open a book or write any term papers!

He’s smiling in this picture thinking of all the tuition money we saved!!! Smart man!

Hawaii Graduations are a BIG DEAL, from Pre School to College! The celebrations are colorful, grand and they SMELL good. The moment you step onto the property where the ceremonies are held, you can smell fragrant flowers.

In case you haven’t seen or heard of this, let me show you some pictures.

At my daughters graduation from High School, her brother had to help her with her shoes, can you guess why?

You see, she was unable to bend over to take them off, due to all the leis she was blessed with.

These are such special memories.

Many graduates carry signs to help identify who they are in the crowd because if you are wearing a gown and you are covered with flowers, sometimes it’s hard to know who is who.

When the current pandemic caused schools to shut down and some graduation ceremonies cancelled, I thought of the lei ceremonies! My heart just hurt thinking of how hard it must be to give up so many traditions, especially ones that happen only once in a lifetime.

I know a few seniors personally and you know what has really blessed me? To see their resilience, their strength and their joy even in the midst of a challenge. I see how they are being unified as they are being talked about and celebrated around the world. They are and always will be special. Despite the circumstance, I have loved seeing all the creative ways they are being honored as they should be.

A couple weeks ago, we were blessed to be able to participate in a special “drop by” gathering. Friends and family of Alec, who graduated from University of Hawaii, visited one family at a time. There were balloons, snacks to go and we all came wearing UH apparel or school colors! We were grateful for the opportunity to spend quality time with Alec who was already beginning a collection of beautiful celebratory leis as you can see in the photo below.

Here is the card I made for Alec and gave to him that evening. It is a gown, in his school colors, covered with colorful leis.

The lei’s are made using our brand new Forever Flourishing dies. They are a part of our Forever Greenery Suite on page 110 of our new Stampin’ Up! annual catalog.

This card can easily been created in any school colors and the lei’s can be made in different colors too. If giving lei’s isn’t your thing, then you can make a simple gown card and embellish it with gold cords as seen in the photo below.

If you’d like to learn how to make this card, I have a short video below that you can watch and learn! It’s easy and fun, unfortunately just not as fragrant as the real thing!!

If you run into any seniors from the remarkable class of 2020, whether you know them or not, be sure to send a little extra aloha their way. Share a word of encouragement and remind them of how amazing they are! They truly are a class that will go down in history. The amazing and unforgettable class of 2020.

Congratulations Class of 2020! We are ALL so proud of YOU!

Hawaii Graduations

The Coconut Bra

Brett is a Good Man!

Stamped With Aloha