Luau Birthday Party

I am embarrassed to admit, I completely forgot about posting the pictures from my daughter’s 2nd birthday.  Sure, some of that had to do with rescheduling her party but most of had to do with plain old forgetfulness.  So here is my luau birthday party, about 6 months later.  I’ve quickly realized that I’ll no longer have the say in her party themes going forward as she’s very vocal about her opinions.  My gut says for her 3rd birthday, it will be Dora or Thomas the Train.  I’m crossing my fingers Thomas wins out.

I set up the “kids” table outside as I lucked out and it was a beautiful day.  We borrowed the table from a friend and rented the chairs.  I found the green lanterns at Pier 1 Imports for 50% off as well as the Aloha plates and pineapple straws.  The napkins and pink plates were purchased from the dollar store and I had the ribbon from a previous project.  Instead of using a plastic table covering, I opted to buy some fabric from JoAnn’s.  The fabric was on clearance and had all the colors that I wanted with a fun paisley pattern.  Some day, when I find the time to pull out my sewing machine, I’m using that fabric to make pillow covers for my daughters room.  Some day…  My biggest splurge was on the coconut cups which I ended up getting at Oriental Trading Company.

Initially I was going to use helium balloons as decorations but since we had a covered patio, I thought lanterns would be the perfect addition to draw the eye upward.  Plus, it was really windy that day so my balloons wouldn’t have survived.  I had to set the coconut cups on the plates to keep them from blowing away.

Wow!  Now that I’m doing this photography challenge I realize the HUGE difference that good lighting has on your pictures!  Anna and Blue Paperie provided all the printables.  I wish I had taken better pictures of them in use because they were absolutely gorgeous.  I used jute to string the happy birthday banner together and smaller printables were used as cupcake toppers and as stickers on the favor bags.

Inside we had all of the treats.  We served items that were Hawaiian inspired – Hawaiian pulled pork sandwiches, banana bread and fresh fruit.  My daughter loves boxed pasta salad so we had that as well.  I know it’s terrible for her and someday I’ll figure out a good copy cat recipe but since it was her birthday, the pasta salad was present.

Finally, I made her a layered pink cake.  Pink is her absolute favorite color and I was feeling a bit creative that day.  While the cake itself was easy to make (tutorial to come) I thought I would save time by using canned frosting.  BIG mistake.  It didn’t have the consistency that I needed and was hard to spread on the cake.  Take my advice and make your own frosting.  It will take a little more time but it will taste and look so much better.

Aside from all the decorations, food and activities, the best part of the evening was seeing my little girl smile.  She tends to be shy around a group of people and takes some time to warm up.  Seeing her and her friends running around the yard, screaming as only little girls can do was a great time for this mama!

If you’re interested in more luau inspired ideas for your next party, check out my Pinterest board dedicated to all things luau.  If only time and money weren’t an issue…

Inexpensive & practical #Luau birthday party ideas east9thstreet.com/2012/02/29/lua…

— East 9th Street (@East9thStreet) February 29, 2012