Island Treasures: HonuHeart™ Designs

Peggy Waterfall has been designing and producing sterling silver jewelry with Hawaiian images for 13 years. Peggy says, “A few years ago I woke up at 4am with a picture in my mind of those same designs as Christmas ornaments. If you know me, you know I love Christmas, and the joy that comes in decorating for the holidays. I knew immediately that a line of ornaments in Hawaiian images—plumeria and honu instead of Santa Claus and candy canes—was going to be a huge hit. So I came up with a line of laser cut Christmas ornaments in Hawaiian themes.”

Originally, Peggy produced the ornaments in pewter; however, the ocean air wreaked havoc with the metal. That is when she realized the idea was good, but the material was wrong, so she switched to birch and later added solid Hawaiian koa wood.

Every ornament image Peggy creates has a heart woven into the design. That is her signature and makes each item completely unique. HonuHeart Designs™ is the only ornament manufacturer that provides a high quality ribbon embossed with ALOHA Hawaii on one side and Mele Kalikimaka on the other. In addition, their koa ornaments are presented in a high-quality red gift box. Peggy utilizes a Hawai‘i Island engraving company to laser cut the wood and she and her staff tie every ribbon themselves.

Before Peggy moved to Hawai‘i in 2004, she was an engineering manager at IBM for 23 years. She learned design and manufacturing methods and spent time in quality control. She also learned a great deal about managing budgets and hiring good people. Designing jewelry and crafting Christmas ornaments was something completely new and in 2005, it became her second career.

This past year, Peggy experimented with a retail store of her own—Nalu Island Jewelry & Gifts—in the Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay. Peggy notes that she will be closing the store at the end of December because her wholesale business has grown and she needs more time to focus on it. Peggy says, “Retail can be all-encompassing. I really loved dealing directly with customers in the store setting and I’ve learned a lot from this experience, which will make me a better supplier to the store owners who buy and sell my products.”

HonuHeart™ products are available at 60 stores across the islands. For a complete list, visit Peggyʻs website.

HonuHeart™ Designs
808.989.5100
peggy@honuheart.com
shopnalu.com