Crafting Moʻolelo's (Stories)

Pā'ū o Hi'iaka: The Vine That Sheltered a Goddess Summer means beach days with the keiki — and for us, that always turns into a little adventure. We were out on the sand when I spotted her, creeping quietly along...

ʻŌhai — one of Hawaiʻi's most endangered native dry forest plants — has been part of this creative journey for almost 10 years. From a shoreline trail to Waikōloa Dry Forest, this is the story behind this month's free digital download, our ʻōhai greeting card, and what it means to make art in service of the ʻāina.

Lei uʻi brings together white pua kalaunu, pakalana, and loke in a combination inspired by lei season and the joy of celebrating the people in our lives. Uʻi: beautiful — and this combination is exactly that.

A departure from my usual work, Kooloaula at Dusk is where anatomy meets color play, and where a critically endangered native flower meets the warm glow of a summer evening.

Lei ʻauliʻi brings together tuberose, pakalana, and loke in a combination that is dainty, neat, and exquisite. Inspired by a graduation season visit to a local lei shop, this pattern is now available as a greeting card in our shop.

  The first lei I ever learned to make was a lei ʻilima. I remember sitting down with a needle and thread, picking up each small golden blossom one by one, and quickly realizing this was going to take a...

Explore Merrie Monarch fashion in Hilo with Kākou Collective’s 2026 collection, inspired by the Waikoloa Dry Forest and created in collaboration with Sugar Caddy. Featuring wearable art, sustainable apparel, pop-ups, and online release details.

Endemic to Hawaiʻi and found nowhere else on earth, the pua kala (Argemone glauca) grows in dry, rocky ground — its thorns protecting fragile plants nearby, its seeds surviving fire and returning before anything else, its roots holding the soil together. And then it blooms. Brilliant white petals, almost transparent, open for a single day before giving way to the next. A reminder that beauty does not always grow in easy places.