how to make a plumeria rosette

This summer has flown by but when I think of how much we have packed in so far, it feels like we haven't been in Hawaii for such a long time. 

So, a long long time ago, Eva was in her school talent show with her hula halau (school).  To perform with the group, there were strict instructions on how the hair was supposed to worn... tight low bun (hair too short, whoops!), with two yellow plumeria rosettes.  I thought it was super picky especially since we had so many white plumeria growing around us.  Turns out yellow are the strongest and waxiest so stay fresh the longest.

And these are the crazy things a mom does for a daughter's dance performance...

I start putting yellow plumerias on my radar for the weeks leading up to big day, looking where ever we go, asking around, yellow plumeria on the brain.

Spot some at a park while house hunting in the neighboring town.

The day before (they have to be fresh so we can't get them too soon) the big day, friend picks me up and we drive to the park.  

Turns out the tree is in someone's yard, so we go find the homeowner and get permission.  

Together we pick over 40 plumeria.

We put them in our coolers with ice to keep them fresh.

We meet an experienced mom at the school where she shows us how to make them.  

 Keep your flowers in a baggie in the fridge.

 Each rosette takes one tooth pick and seven flowers.  Line up the flowers with the biggest and fullest in the middle.

 Skewer the flowers onto the toothpick.  The center flower will keep all its petals.  Peel on petal off each of the side flowers so it can be super snug next to the other flowers.

 It will look like this underneath.

 Two rosettes.

 She had to have them pinned to the left side of her bun.  

All of this for a 70 second dance that I couldn't even see because I was on the wrong side of the stage.