She displayed ordinary plants that looked extraordinary thanks to things usually found in trash bins: perfume, wine and whisky bottles, bento boxes, candle jars and even a cracked bowling ball.
Kapileo used them as “vases” for an ornamental or a fruit-bearing seedling.
A midwife at the Commonwealth Health Center, Kapileo has been participating in the annual arts festival since it started. Had it not been for her medical treatment in Hawaii in 1996, this year would have been her 30th participation as well.
A big fan of plants, Kapileo said she’s “kind of a hoarder.”
“I don’t want to throw things away,” she added. “I have a tent where I put all those stuff.”
She came up with the idea of “bottled plants” after seeing a public campaign about recycling.
“I feel great every time I’m creating them. I forget all my problems. It’s so relaxing and rewarding to come up with something like that especially when a young leaf starts springing up,” Kapileo said.
The plant containers, she added, have sentimental value.
Take for example the bowling ball in which she planted a water plant. The ball, she said, belonged to her son. She would never throw it away because it brings back precious memories.
“He always played with it and he kept it when he was a small boy. But when he started growing up, the ball kind of stayed under the sun for a long time that is why it cracked,” she said.
The bowling ball looks pretty now with a water plant crawling all over it.
It is also rewarding to earn money from your creations.
Ranging from 75 cents to $5, each of Kapileo’s bottled plants come in various sizes and sold like hotcakes during this year’s festival.
