Friday, August 14, 2015

Luau Birthday Bash

So I purposely waited until 7:00 on this Friday evening so that I could truly appreciate being on this side of my little petunias birthday party. You see, this time last week I could have been over run by 28 screaming little girls at any moment. It never ceases to amaze me that kids don't realize "hey there's way more of us than her, I bet we could take her". Thankfully all the girls were a smidge scared of me and honestly very well behaved. Except one - but she doesn't read this blog!

I have a rule in my house. No sleepovers until you turn 10. So far it's been a tradition as my kids turn 10 they have a huge sleepover party. This year was LP's first sleepover and double digits. She's my little introvert so I wanted to make this party epic. We first ordered amazing invites from my favorite party printable etsy shop. They were gorgeous and very clean and organized even with the mountain of information I wanted printed. That's when you know you've found a winner if you can give your designer a ton of info and the invite doesn't come out looking like a train wreck. The party began at 6:00 pm and pick up was at 9:00 am the next day.

As guests arrived they were greeted by several signs telling you luau this way or Maui 4097 miles that way. Each sign was cut with a jigsaw (my new favorite tool) and then sanded, primed and painted a bright color. I finished them off by using a surfer font and applying vinyl words. I also had several life sized boards hanging around. Each guest received a lei as they entered the backyard. Note to self - tell girls not to use leis as weapons. Flowers were everywhere!


They began their evening with several games. Hula hoop contests, sand castle building and finally a giant slip n slide. That thing was massive and I'm sure it finally convinced my neighbors they live next to a hillbilly. But isn't that the coolest thing if you are a kid! Since I was dealing with pre-teen girls we had the mandatory selfie station. The tutorial for the flowers can be found on my pin board. 


Dinner was served a this table that was built entirely out of pallets. Then I attached cardboard to the top and covered in burlap. My staple gun got a workout for this party. But the entire table cost me 7.00!! You can't beat that with a stick. The menu consisted of Huli Huli chicken, rice bacon wrapped pineapple and piƱa coladas. You can find all the recipes on my pin board.


also made tiki bars out of pallets. These were made before the tables so I did use a piece of plywood as the bar top. I would absolutely do that again. Since one was the drink station it needed that stability. As my party planning business grows I have acquired quite the collection of drink dispensers and milk bottles. They looked great on my tiki bar. The second tiki bar was used for the movie bar. I don't have a  finished picture of that one because the natives kept eating the candy before the movie!


We finished up our evening watching Teen Beach Movie 2. One of the hits of the party were the glow cubes for the tiki cups during the movie. Everyone helped themselves to the candy and popcorn, grabbed a paradise punch and a handful of glow bracelets. 


loved this party. I think all the details are what made it so special. There's nothing better than having your shy daughter be the life of the cool party. 



Thanks to...

Lisa Kay Designs

Sweet October 

Something Old Event Rentals