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Sometimes thrift stores call to me... Like $7 good quality jeans for working in the yard. And this $2 Liz Claiborne purse... the "leather" handles are perfect for upcycling on a new lauhala purse.  The original purse had a scuff on the other side, but the handles were just fine. I wasn't going to buy it at first because I thought, "really? When are you making another purse?"  But $2!! So I bought the purse back in February and it sat patiently until "it was time."  Said time came up when EH accidently wrecked one of his favorite aloha shirts at work.  I...

  It was the Inaugural Aloha Shirt Festival in Keauhou. It was not well publicized but it's a learning curve and hopefully the future festivals will have better turn out. I went to check out the Aloha Shirts and ended up talking story and learning a lot (of history and life info) from master carver Nalu Andrade.  Mahalo to Nani Kupihe, Cultural Advisor at Outrigger Kona in Keauhou, who took the group selfie above, left to right, it's Nani; Island of Hawai'i Visitor Bureau Destination Manager Rachel Kaiama; me; Nalu Andrade, owner of Na Maka Kahiko, and Nalu's daughter.   There were displays of...

Please pardon the title... I didn't want my blog mistaken for official Ka Ulu Lauhala O Kona media. I am a member of the club but not an official representative. I'm just writing about my experience. The conference is usually held in May each year, but with the COVID-19 "shut down" opening up with short notice, they decided to hold it in September.  We were at a "new" venue, the Outrigger Keauhou a.k.a. "the Old Kona Surf."  The conference is a gathering of kumu from throughout the State and haumana that have come from not only Hawaiʻi but the continental...

June and July blew by as I just realized it's August! I've been catching up on stuff, trying to get lauhala processed, keep up with weeding, and some bona fide galivanting. I got to take my new-to-me holomū for a spin in a pīkake themed outfit. Had lunch with girlfriends Cara and Kimi. Kimi is wearing the vintage Mamo Howell mentioned in a previous blog entry. It fit her better and she just happened to have a lei hulu pīkake of her own that perfectly matched the holomū. Then Cara got me hooked on DeStash Hawaii's Instagram... and I experienced my first online video conference...

This post is not about lauhala, but we're all wearing pāpale lauhala so it kind of counts? In my last post I mentioned that I would help wrap pāʻū at the Kailua-Kona King Kamehameha Day Celebration Parade. Things changed. I was asked to ride with the Daughters of Hawaiʻi unit and it is very difficult to say "no" to Barbara Nobriga, my former Napua O Holo Lio 4-H Club leader. Turns out, the "Daughters" unit was the first pāʻū unit in the parade line up so I was not able to help wrap other riders. Fortunately, there were SO MANY behind the scenes...