From left: an open lei with shells, pincushion protea and braided dracaena leaves; a poepoe-style (rounded) carnation lei ...

Imagine walking or cycling miles to a beach, then spending all day under the hot sun, in the sand, picking tiny little shells ...

Sounds like a great marketing idea, right? In Hawaii, you used to get a lei when you stepped off a plane. (A lei is a garland ...