Posted on: Sunday, May 27, 2001

Hawai'i Gardens
The enduring art of making seed lei

By Heidi Bornhorst
Special to The Advertiser

Seed lei are becoming ever more popular in Hawai'i. Looking for, working with and enjoying the beauty and unique nature of the seeds of tropical plants is another way to enjoy our tropical abundance of nature.

Noted lei maker and crafter Laurie Shimizu Ide has a new, in-depth book on seed lei making, "Hawaiian Seed Lei Making," (Mutual Publishing, hardcover $16.95; paperback, $12.95 ) ready to inspire and instruct you. It is a companion volume to "Hawai'i Seeds and Seed Leis — An Identification Guide," (Mutual Publishing, paper, $7.95), which has just had its second printing.

The larger, step-by-step guide parallels a previous book of Ide's on flower lei making, which gave all the wonderful details and intricate steps of making and keeping lei.

This author is very thorough and complete in her work. She details how and when to collect the seeds and what you need in order to polish, drill, sort and string (or crochet) them together artistically. To research the book, she took seed lei classes and picked the brains of experts and kupuna all over Hawai'i. She risked her fingernails to figure out for us readers and novice seed lei makers how to craft these special lei (she even credits her manicurist with a mahalo!).

Ide also devised her own seed lei needle to make seed lei making easier. This special tool is called the "ribbon needle"; it's about 4 inches long and looks like a mini lei-makers needle. These needles are available at Longs Pearlridge, Bead Gallery on Ward Avenue, and Craft Supply of Honolulu at both its 'Aiea and town locations.

The pictures in this guide are well done and beautiful. They will inspire you to try and craft some of these permanent lei. Ide's step-by-step directions go with the pictures really well. Even if you don't make lei, this book is 'ono for the eyes.

Ide met a lot of interesting people with gorgeous seed jewelry during this project. Kupuna would open their prized jewelry boxes to show her their treasures. As one woman told her, "We couldn't afford gold and silver, so we made our own seed jewelry." Ide says some of the old long-lasting seed lei in these treasure troves were monkey nut, mini monkey nut and cohune nut palm seeds, often cut in ornamental rings and strung decoratively. These seeds have lasted and endured for years and years.

As with her flower lei book, in which Ide tells you how best to store your lei for wearing on another day, she discusses how to preserve seed lei so that you, and not the insects, can enjoy your precious seeds. (Her techniques are a combination of storing it in the fridge or freezer and placing fresh bay leaves inside an airtight container with the lei.

The book should be widely available in craft and garden shops and bookstores. Get one to inspire yourself or a friend or loved one.

Heidi Bornhorst is director of Honolulu's five botanical gardens.