Tropical Luau Birthday Bash

As promised, I'm going to share the details of Isabel's Tropical Luau Birthday Bash. First, this is not all original inspiration on my part. When I'm planning a party, the first thing I do is head to the internet and do a search on my theme. I love reading through the ideas and picking what I want to use. So, if you are reading this and see one of your ideas, thank you very much for posting your ideas so I can find them.

For decorations, I played off the original invitation and recreated the scene on our wall complete with beach chair to hold all the presents. We also purchased some Hawaiian beach scenes that you hang in a window so it looks like you are looking out at the beach. Almost made us forget the cold December weather!

As previously mentioned, Isabel's party was in December. On a nice cold day in December. By the end of the party, we had some light snow falling. Given the cold temperatures, we decided to forego leis in favor of lei scarves. I used some fun orange/pink tie dye type fleece fabric that I cut 5x50 inches. I cut fringe on the ends. As the girls arrived, they tied the fringe in knots. After, we found their Hawaiian name on the computer using a name transator online. They put these on a note card that they got to color.

After, I split them into three groups. One group was learning to hula by watching You Tube videos, the next group was making a felt flower barrette (flowers cuts using Big Shot dies), and the third group was working on the Hula Bears I shared with you in an earlier post. As they finished their projects, they went to the next stations.

After the activities, we had some cake. For the cake, I made a volcano using my bundt pan and the Pampered Chef batter bowl. To get the exploding lava effect, I made hard candy into the spurting shape and when it was cool, inserted it into the cake. The kids loved it!

After cake, we did presents and a few games involving hula hoops. The kids had lots of fun. Throughout the party, the kids were able to munch on a variety of foods- chicken kabobs, Hawaiian pizza kabobs (ham, mozzerella cheese and pineapple on a toothpick), fruit kabobs, chips and juice boxes. Very easy foods.

And of course, it wouldn't be a party in the Lawson household without some stamps! For the favor bags I used my Fancy Favor die cut from Stampin' Up!TM. I've used this die for other parties recently and I'm sure I've more than made my money back on this one. I wanted the bags to look like beach bags. I stamped the flower from Wings of Friendship (hostess set) on the bags. I then added handles and used the Modern Label punch to create a closure tab. I closed it with double sided tape. The felt flip flops are just some stickers I found at a party supply store. All the bags were made using Stampin' Up! papers- mostly Bold Brights with a few Rich Regals, Earth Elements and Soft Subtles mixed in. For party favors, they got a glow stick, flip flop key chain and a mini notepad. Since they were also getting their bears, barrettes, and scarves, I didn't put too much in the goodie bags. If you have lots of birthday parties throughout the year, this Fancy Favor die is a great investment.

The kids all had a great time, and I had fun pulling the party together. I hope these ideas inspire you to throw your own tropical bash, even in the dead of winter.

And, if you are looking to expand your collection of Big Shot Dies, now is the time! Through the 22nd, Stampin' Up! is having a huge sale on some of our favorite dies! Visit my promotion page for more details.

God Bless and Happy Stampin!