How to Make a Flower Lei Necklace

Learn how to make a gorgeous flower lei necklace with felt flowers and beads (or straws) with this easy jewelry-making tutorial!

The step-by-step directions make it easy to learn how to make a flower lei (or a bunch of flower leis) in any color combination you like for a wedding, graduation ceremony, Hawaiian luau, May Day celebration, wedding, spring or summer festival, birthday party, or any other special event. Beaded felt flower lei necklaces make great party favors and gift ideas that kids can make! You might also enjoy this flower crown craft tutorial, which teaches how to make a matching headpiece for your felt flower lei necklace.

Making a beaded lei flower necklace is an excellent fine motor activity for kids and adults. Young children can develop the muscles in the hand to prepare for writing, while older adults can build hand strength and keep their joints moving smoothly. And stringing beads is also a fun STEAM activity (scroll down to find out why). You might also enjoy learning How to Start and Finish a Beaded Necklace or Bracelet.

Related: Easy Felt Flower Craft

How to Make a Flower Lei Necklace:

Learn how to make a flower lei with felt flowers and beads with this easy flower lei necklace tutorial! Flower leis are a great gift idea that is perfect for graduations and weddings, and they also make fun birthday party favors. Or make one as an alternative to a fresh flower lei for May Day. Below are a few different beaded felt flower lei craft and jewelry-making supply options. This is because there is more than one way to make a felt flower lei.

We like providing different beading craft options for multiple age groups and abilities, so several options are below. The type of jewelry-making and craft supplies you choose will depend on the available supplies, personal preference, and the age (or jewelry-making experience) of the children you will be working with.

Read the step-by-step directions below the flower lei craft supplies to learn more about the different flower lei craft supplies so you can choose the type of craft and jewelry supplies you would like to use to make beaded felt flower leis. For example, the rainbow lei flower necklace pictured below is strung with rainbow-colored pony beads and felt flowers.

Related: How to Color Wooden Beads

Faux Flower Lei Necklace Jewelry Supplies:

• Beading string or cord (choose at least one of the following):
  • Monofilament line (fishing string)
  • Waxed cotton cord for jewelry-making
  • Hemp cord
  • Waxed beading thread
• Felt flowers (choose at least one from the list below, or make your own by cutting flower shapes from felt or paper):
  • Assorted colors of felt flowers for crafts
  • Flower embellishments for DIY crafts
  • Felt flowers in assorted shapes and sizes
• Beads (choose at least one of the following):
  • Assorted sizes of colored wooden beads (8mm, 10mm, 12mm, 16mm)
  • Unfinished wooden beads (10mm, 12mm, 14mm)
  • Pony beads (9mm)
  • Cut pieces of straw one to two inches long (Paper straws are better for the environment than plastic straws.)
• Craft scissors
• Beadboard (optional)
• Leather hole punch (optional for cutting a hole in felt flowers that don’t have one, or use a sewing needle with a large eye.)

Note: Unfinished wooden beads can be left raw, or you can color them by dying or painting them. Learn more in How to Color Wooden Beads.

Felt Flower Lei Necklace Step-by-Step Tutorial:

Make beaded felt flower leis for graduation, a Hawaiian luau, a wedding, or a birthday party! As mentioned above, you can use several methods to hand bead felt flower leis. Some of the felt flowers in each of the packs listed above have holes punched in them, while other felt flowers do not have holes. So, if you use felt flowers without a hole, you must use a sewing needle and waxed beading thread to string your flower lei necklace together.

Or, you can use a leather hole punch to easily make a hole in the felt flower before making a lei necklace, so the flower necklace is easy to string without a needle because there is no need for a needle when you use felt flowers with a hole. Felt flowers with a hole punched into them are easy to string with waxed cotton cord or fishing string (monofilament line).

We used a leather hole punch to punch holes into the few felt flowers that did not already have them instead of using a needle and thread. It works similarly to a paper hole punch with several hole-size options. So make sure you have the craft and jewelry supplies you need to make flower necklaces using the method you choose from the flower lei necklace supplies listed above. The leis in the photograph below were made with felt flowers and colored wooden beads.

Related: DIY Mother-Daughter Necklace Set

Related: Wooden Bead Bracelet Tutorial

1. Create a bead and flower pattern for each felt flower lei necklace:

• Choose beads, flowers, and colors and create a pattern you would like to use to make a beaded felt flower lei necklace from the recommended flower lei jewelry-making craft supplies above or your favorite local craft or hobby store.
• We like to use a beadboard to help plan and make necklaces, including the hand-beaded leis shown in the photographs.
• Each flower lei necklace should be between 26 and 42 inches long.
  • Shorter flower lei necklaces (26 – 32 inches) are best for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners.
  • While longer flower lei necklaces (32 – 42 inches) are best for older kids, teens, and adults.
• I like to wear a felt flower lei about 34-36 inches long. But my kindergartener likes hers about 28-30 inches long, and my husband likes them 38-42 inches long.

2. Cut thread, cord, or string for the Lei necklace:

• Cut a strand of monofilament line (fishing string), waxed cotton cord, hemp cord, or waxed cotton beading thread at least 10 inches longer than you need to make your flower lei. (The idea is to ensure you have enough room to finish beading the felt flower lei necklace and enough string remaining to tie it together once it is finished.)
• Remember, when holes are in the felt flowers, you can string them with a monofilament line, waxed cotton cord, or a needle and waxed cotton beading thread.
• If there are no holes in the felt flowers, use a needle and waxed cotton thread to string flower lei necklaces. Or, use a leather hole punch to make a hole in each felt flower before stringing flower leis.

3. Tie a bead on one end of the beading string:

• Tie a bead to one end of the beading string.
• This bead will stop the beads and felt flowers from falling off of the beading line as you string them and will be cut off after you tie the flower lei necklace together.

4. String beads and felt flowers onto a beaded felt flower lei necklace:

• Invite children to string felt flower necklaces.
• Use the pattern created in step 1, or string them onto the beading string randomly.
• If you randomly string the beads, a good tip is to keep the flowers evenly spaced.
• Count the beads between each felt flower (if using the same size), or measure each beaded section to ensure they are about the same length.
• I recommend having an inch to no more than 2-3 inches between each felt flower.

5. Tie the free ends of the String or cord together to finish the flower lei:

• Grab onto the open end of the felt flower necklace with one hand.
• With your other hand, take hold of the bead at the end of the beading line that you first tied onto the string in step 3.
• Be careful not to drop either end while gently shaking the beads away from the bead tied to the end so you have enough room to tie the flower leis together.
• Please do not tie the flower necklace too tight. Leave about 1/2 to 1 inch of space between the beads and the knot to ensure there is enough room for the flowers and beads to slide around so the lei drapes comfortably.

Related: Best Flower Art Projects for Kids

Flower Lei Necklace Examples Made with Felt Flowers and Wooden Beads

The flower lei necklaces pictured below were made with felt flowers and colored wooden beads. But remember, you can also paint or dye unfinished wooden beads in any color you like using three easy methods. Click the link to learn how!

Lei Flower Necklaces Made with Felt Flowers and Pony Beads:

Each hand-beaded flower lei necklace example pictured below is made with felt flowers and pony beads.

Make a matching flower crown for your flower lei necklace, as shown in the photograph below. Click the link to learn how!

Rainbow Flower Lei Necklace Idea:

We used felt flowers and rainbow-colored pony beads to string the rainbow flower lei necklace pictured below.

Related: Frozen-Inspired Olaf Ornament

Frozen-Inspired Beaded Necklace Idea:

My daughter and I thought the blue felt flowers in this pack looked like snowflakes when strung with assorted blue pony beads, so we made a lei necklace inspired by the movie Frozen. You can make a frozen-inspired snowstorm sensory bottle to go with it for a frozen-themed birthday party!

Related: Best Art Supplies for Kids and Why Young Artists Should Use Them

How is Making Beaded-Felt Flower Necklaces Educational?

Creating, measuring, and stringing beads is a fantastic pre-literacy and STEAM activity for kids. Making a beaded felt flower lei is an excellent way to help young children (toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners) develop the fine motor muscles in the hand to prepare for writing. Working with and recognizing patterns can also help children learn to read.

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) projects combine at least two of the disciplines listed. Combining different learning activities into one project, such as stringing flower leis, can make learning more fun for kids of all ages, from toddlers to teens!

So why not invite children to measure, count beads, create patterns, and string beads as a part of their homeschool education? Making a lei necklace can require children to count and measure (math), develop and recognize patterns (literacy, math, engineering, art), and string beads (literacy, math, engineering, art, science).

Did I stump you when I mentioned that stringing beads has a science component? Don’t forget gravity. Stringing beads is hard without it. As they work, ask your children to imagine stringing beads in space. I got a good laugh out of my daughter. Shh, don’t tell them that they are learning while they make hand-beaded necklaces. It’ll be our little secret. 😉

More STEAM Projects and Activities for Kids:

• Rainbow Rainy Day Art
• Shadow Sidewalk Chalk Art
• Rainbow STEAM
• Rock Balancing Stone Stacking Art

More Homemade Necklaces and Bead Stringing Ideas for Kids:

• How to Start and Finish a Beaded Necklace or Bracelet
• Name Necklace
• Alphabet Necklace
• Personalized Mom or Mum Necklace
• Beaded Sea Glass Wind Chimes
• Wooden Bead Bracelets
• Fingerprint Art Necklaces
• Thumbprint Heart Necklaces
• Fingerprint Flower Necklaces
• Mother-Daughter Necklace Set
• Bead and Pipe Cleaner Bunny Craft

Related: How to Color Wooden Beads: 3 Easy Methods!

Homemade Felt Flower Lei Necklace:

Make a beaded felt flower lei for your favorite graduate, or make a whole bunch of flower leis (in any color combination you like) for a wedding, Hawaiian luau, or birthday party! And for even more fun, make matching felt flower crown crafts to wear with them.

Making a beaded felt flower lei is a wonderful pre-literacy and STEAM activity for kids and adults. Young children can develop the muscles in the hand to prepare for writing, while older adults can keep their joints moving smoothly. So make some beaded felt flower leis for May Day, a graduation, a Hawaiian luau, a wedding, a birthday party, a summer festival, or any other special event!

Learn more about Nell Regan Kartychok, author, photographer, and creator of this original flower necklace craft, and Rhythms of Play HERE!

If you Liked This Flower Lei Craft, You Might Also Enjoy:

• Bead and Pipe Cleaner Bunny Craft
• How to Sew a Pocket Pet Mouse
• Felt Flower Craft
• Best Flower Art Projects