Celebrate Christmas with a Hawaiian twist.
In many parts of the world, Christmas celebrants cut down their holiday trees in the snow and decorate snowmen with Santa hats before going indoors to enjoy a hot drink under a blanket. However, places like Hawaii stay warm year round, eliminating the need for such traditions. While Hawaiian Christmas celebrations have the same intent as those in colder areas, its weather and culture necessitate some different traditions. If you live in a colder area and want to freshen your home with some tropical accents or want to teach your children how others celebrate Christmas, Hawaiian Christmas crafts are the way to go. Does this Spark an idea?
Poinsettia Leis
Hawaiian natives exchange leis, necklaces made of fresh flowers, as a sign of welcome and hospitality, feelings that should be shown at Christmas as well. Make your own Christmas leis with silk poinsettia flowers, available at craft stores. Gently pull the yellow centers from each flower; this should detach the petals from the stem. Slide the petals onto a long string and tie the ends of the string together. For an especially tropical feel, mix white and green poinsettias in with the red flowers or add a few tropical silk flowers, like orchids, to the mix. You can also spray the petals lightly with some tropical-scented perfume or essential oils. Hang them as garlands on the tree or give them to friends and family.
Hawaiian Christmas Cards
Create Hawaiian-themed Christmas cards to remind the recipients that warmer days are ahead and brighten their mood. Get some cardstock and a few tropical stencils, like pineapples, palm trees and birds of paradise. Paint each card with a tropical paradise scene using the stencils and write "Mele Kalikimaka," Hawaiian for "Merry Christmas," on each along with a personal message. Make the cards whimsical by painting a Christmas pine tree in the middle of a beach scene. You could also include a recipe for pineapple upside-down cake or a packet of tea made with tropical fruits.
Tropical Ornaments
If you want to create a Hawaiian theme for Christmas, the best place to start is the tree. Make Hawaiian-themed Christmas ornaments to use either by themselves or as a supplement to your existing ornaments. First, cover older and fading Christmas balls with Hawaiian-print fabrics and use the excess material to make tiny Hawaiian shirts that can hang on the tree with tiny wire hangers. Use modeling or sculpting clay to make tiny pineapples, palm trees, surf boards, and even tiny flip-flops. Slip wires into them while still soft and paint them with tempera paints when dry. String tropical flowers onto wire to make tiny leis or make a larger garland for your tree and redress your Christmas angel so she is wearing a pretty white sundress, a tiny lei and crown of tropical leaves, and holding a little pineapple to show hospitality.
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