Olivia Turns 7 -- Luau Style!

When my baby girl turned 1....we had a Luau for her!  Of course, aside from pictures she had no recollection of any of it.   When we were throwing around ideas for her 7th birthday, one of them was a Luau.  Who doesn't love a luau???  The ideas kept building and building.....and we ran with it!   And it couldn't have been more perfect!   We searched all over the Internet for ideas, came up with ideas, talked to friends and did a lot of shopping to make it the party of the year!  I can honestly say all the kids in attendance had a great time...and even some of the parents stayed a little longer or came to pick up a little earlier to enjoy the festivities!  We had 17 kids -- 15 girls and 2 boys (we had to have her 2 best "boyfriends" from school), plus Ava, and I also reached out to my 5th grade neighbor and my husband's cousin to help out!

The invitations were handmade by Olivia and I!  An idea created by me, but inspired by a quick google search for "flip flop invitations".  Directions to follow!  We decided on bright, vibrant colors!

Next was deciding on a menu...the party was right around dinner time, so I wanted to feed the kids.  Kid friendly, but Luau inspired.....lots of fruit and meat!    I decided to make honey chicken skewers (very simply added Tyson's honey chicken tenders on skewers and with some pineapple and a cherry), my beer and chili meatballs (don't worry I used half the beer, which cooks off anyway), buttered noodles (Olivia's request), individual veggies and dip, and a rainbow fruit platter!! SUPER CUTE and almost all of the food was gone by the end of the party!

Luau Chicken Skewers

Fruit Rainbow

Beer and Chili Meatballs

Personal Veggies and Dip (sorry for the bad picture...these were all gone, and this one was left on the table, but someone had already enjoyed some!)

All of my decorations came from Party City and Oriental Trading!  They had so much stuff to choose from!  I got a bunch of blow up beach balls and flamingos and palm trees to hand out as prizes!  

When the kids walked into the yard they were greeted from the start with lots of Luau color and fun!

Each girl got to pick a flower for their hair, a hula skirt (Oriental Trading), a lei,(Party City) and a sand bucket  (Michael's) of their choice!  The boys got to choose a skirt, a lei and a bucket!

Flower clips were made by a friend of mine!  You can find her here!  A huge hit.....the girls wore them every day until the last day of school!  Not just my kids...ALL the kids!  :)

The forecast was calling for showers...so we borrowed some tents, just in case!  Not a drop of rain fell on our party,  but it was perfect for shade while the kids ate and did some crafts!

My Birthday Girl!  :)

We did 2 crafts....the kids did sand art key chains!  I had ordered dolphin and tropical fish key chains and had them on the table along with 12 different colors of sand.  The kids used little funnels and filled their key chains!  It was a hit!

We also decorated our own surfboards....I had ordered cardboard cut-out surfboards from Oriental Trading...and had a bunch of markers out for them to decorate.....later on in the day!  Once they were done I collected them...and whoever had the most colorful..got a prize!  Top 5 won!!!  I spaced out crafts, games and food.....so I could prep the activities!

Of course we had a Tiki Pinata!

The kids got to fill their buckets with candy!

We played pass the coconut (I got a real one from the farmers market!) and the winner got to keep it!  I wonder what she did with it?!?!?

We did the limbo....

We had a hula dance party....

and the kids played!  Swing set, tag, just played...like kids like to do!

After one of the loudest, most ear piercing Happy Birthdays, I've ever heard....we had CUPCAKES!

And all the kids went home with a bucket full of goodies!

A bucket and shovel, a lei, a flower clip (for the girls), a surfboard bookmark, a bag of Swedish fish, a hula skirt, a tiki cup (they drank a Hawaiian "punch" out of them),  and a chocolate lollipop made by one of my greatest friends!  THANK, AMY!!!  They also brought home their key chains, their surfboards they decorated and whatever they got from the piñata   

ANNNNNNNNDDDD......I spent less than $7 on each favor!  True Story!!!!!  I was pretty proud of myself!

~Gianna~