How To Make An Easy Money Lei

Looking to celebrate graduation in a unique way? Here’s how to make an easy money lei! 

In Hawaii, graduation is a really, really big deal. There are so many beautiful traditions in the Islands, but it’s safe to say that graduation and the ensuing fanfare is one of my favorites. If you’ve never witnessed the stacks and stacks of leis on graduates in Hawaii, it’s truly incredible. It’s such a huge show of love and support.

Money leis are a great gift for graduations and other celebrations and one of my very favorite to give. They’re not difficult to make and each one can be made completely unique to match school colors, the recipient’s favorite colors or just what you think might look good. Today I’m sharing an easy way to make a money lei!

How To Make An Easy Money Lei

Graduation Money Lei

For this project, you will need:

twenty $1 bills

yarn, string, or ribbon

Scotch tape

Optional: pom poms

For this specific lei, I used my own homemade pom poms to add a bit of unique color to mine. My pom pom tutorial is a good place to start if you’d like to make your own. For that you will need yarn and a set of pom pom makers. 

If you don’t want to use pom poms, you can add in fresh flowers, ribbon bows, or you can just add more $1 bill flowers. It truly is up to you and how you want your finished product to look!

When you have everything you need to make your money lei, it’s time to get crafting!

The first step is to take each $1 bill (or higher if you’re a big spender!) and fold it in half. 

Then fold it in half again.

Then fold it in half a third time.

When you have folded it a third time, unravel it.

Now fold it like an accordion, back and forth going opposite directions, using your folds as a guide.

Finally, fold it in half one last time.

Repeat this step until all your $1 bills have been folded.

Now, it’s time to string your lei! Grab the Scotch tape and very carefully, tape together the sides that are already touching and bending toward each other.

Repeat that step on the opposite side.

You’ll see that a small hole is created in each $1 bill “flower” – that’s where you can string it on!

Money Lei

If you are using pom poms, you can decide how big you want your pom poms to be and create a design with your money flowers and your yarn pom poms.

For this lei, I used three different sizes of pom poms. The largest size is my “anchor” at the very bottom of the lei, then I put a money flower on each side. From there, I put the next smallest sized pom pom in alternating colors, followed by a money flower on each side.

After that, I put the next smallest size pom pom in the alternate color, followed by the same amount of money flowers (eight) on either side. 

To finish off the lei, I put medium sized mixed-color poms to match the anchor pom on either side and tested it out for size on my trusty assistant. 

If you want to make your lei bigger, you can add more poms or money flowers. You can also use a bigger bill amount and create less money flowers and more pom poms (or whatever you like). The best thing about money leis is you can sort of create them to suit your celebration!

I hope this easy money lei tutorial was helpful and congratulations to all graduates out there!