First off was the invite. She really didn't have anything in mind so we started drawing. The more we played with a design the more she liked having different layers. She really liked having a hibiscus flower and the word LUAU on it and we both thought it needed a hula dancer. I was able to create a hula dancer using a figure off the Rock Princess Cricut Cartridge. I had to move the arms and add a grass skirt but it came together perfectly. After we made the hula girls, we screen printed the hibiscus flower on the front of the cards. I made a stencil for the flower using my Cricut and the Sure Cuts software. Then we made our own rub on letters for the "LUAU". These are lots of fun, but have to be cut out very close to the image or they leave a shiny halo where it wasn't trimmed. We bought the rub on paper at Hobby Lobby. It was a little pricey but that is what coupons are for :)
Crafts and Activities
My daughter is very artistic and crafty so of course she wanted to make flower leis, flowers for their hair, bracelets, sarongs.... She had a humungous list! We narrowed it down to the flower leis and a flower for their hair. The leis were simple, we bought shell necklaces (from Zuchers) and dollar store flowers (we lucked out and they had good looking Hawaiian flowers!) We took the flowers off and hot glued ribbons to the back so the girls could tie the flowers on their shell necklace. It was a simple craft but turned out very pretty.
The hair flowers were a little more time consuming. We wanted them to be attached to a headband so I made braided headbands out of an old brown t-shirt. They turned out very cute and had just enough stretch to be comfortable for different head sizes.
I also pre-cut flowers out of bright cotton fabric. I did 3 different sizes in 6 different colors. I pre-washed some of the flowers so they would be frayed and curled, this gives the flower a worn look and is really fun. The girls were able to choose between the colors, sizes, and frayed/not frayed flowers.
We put a button in the center, added some burlap ribbon or twine and attached them to the braided t-shirt head band.
They turned out super cute and several of the girls have worn them to church and school - I love to see our party favors being worn after the party!
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We put a button in the center, added some burlap ribbon or twine and attached them to the braided t-shirt head band.
They turned out super cute and several of the girls have worn them to church and school - I love to see our party favors being worn after the party!
For the activities we asked a friend to come teach the girls the Hookilau and they played limbo. We had planned to have a fire but the rain came just in time for the hula lesson and everything was moved indoors.
Decorations
The decorations were much easier for this party. Since I have done several Luaus on very large scales I have tons of grass skirts for serving tables, sarongs and other Hawaiian print fabric for table cloths, lit palm trees, tiki statues .... you get the idea. Anyway, I made surf boards out of large poster boards and spray paint to hang around the yard. I made a stencil of a hibiscus flower and a turtle. We had 4 surf boards of each style - stripe, flowers, and turtle - in several different colors.
I was able to find paper lanterns with lights in them at the dollar store and we have several tiki torches that we scattered around the yard. It looked very fun until it started down pouring but we were able to move most everything under the patio and into the house.
I was able to find paper lanterns with lights in them at the dollar store and we have several tiki torches that we scattered around the yard. It looked very fun until it started down pouring but we were able to move most everything under the patio and into the house.
Food
We had Hawaiian pork, rice, tons of fruit and Hawaiian sweet bread for dinner. I cook the pork loin in my crock pot on low for 12+ hours in pineapple juice - it comes out very moist and falls apart. After shredding it I put it back in the crock pot and add sauce. The sauce is 1 part Minors Sweet and Spicy Plum sauce and 2 parts pineapple juice. This is a family favorite.
My husband found the recipe for the Hawaiian sweet bread the day of the party. I had planned on making some, but just hadn't found a recipe that I liked. This one was simple and tasted almost exactly like the bread we had when we went to Hawaii.
Here is the link for the recipe http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Hawaiian-Sweet-Bread?vm=r
Her cake was fun, but I'm still trying to master the marshmallow fondant so it's not perfect. Next time I will get cookie cutters in the shapes I want instead of free hand cutting them. These turned out ok, but up close you could see all my cutting mistakes.
I was craving pineapple upside down cake so I made one of those too. We were sharing cake with our neighbors after the party :)
It's always fun to have a little taste of the islands, the guests had fun, and most important my daughter was thrilled with how everything turned out!
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