Making Luau Decorations – Fun, Easy and Low-Cost

In making luau decorations, you get a head start on having fun at your luau party - before the guests get there! Throw a fabulous luau party for any occasion - birthday, graduation, wedding anniversary or even if you have no excuses. You can have a lot of fun and still keep costs to a minimum by being creative with pair of scissors, lots of magazines, a glue stick and an imaginative use of Styrofoam and plastic fish. Think bright and sunny tropics Think palm trees, coconut leaves, pineapples, bright tropical flowers such as hibiscus, orchids, frangipani, surfboards, Diamond Head, erupting volcanoes, humpback whales to channel the spirit of Hawaii into your party. Create collages with pictures of sun-drenched beaches, turquoise blue oceans, beach shacks, sailboats and ocean sunsets to use as party invitations. Send out the invitations in Hawaiian and leave it to your guests to figure out the translation. Decorate the sides of tables with make-believe grass skirts by cutting green garbage bags into long thin strips not more than 1-1.5" wide. On a warm day, have a table or ceiling fan working lazily to create an impression of an ocean breeze blowing softly through the hula skirts. Your luau needs a theme Use a theme for your luau decorations. How about marine emphasis or beach party theme? Invite the Goddess Pele, to your party. For an ocean theme, find tropical fish that are plastic at a toy store or a party store, then hang them from your ceiling with fishing line. String them at different lengths to give the illusion, when looking up, that you and your guests are on the ocean floor and the fishes are swimming overhead in the open ocean. Drape plastic seaweed from floor to ceiling, pin up fishing nets on the walls. To feel like you're standing on the ocean floor, take cheap white sheets, paint giant clamshells on them, and drape them over your furniture. You can find giant inflatable humpback whales at toy stores and other specialty stores; use one to stand "entry" at the entrance, to greet guests as they come in. This will get them ready for a party. Beach culture at a luau Focus on a beach "feel" for your luau decorations. Lowrise tables draped with beach towels, beach balls thrown haphazardly around the room, and beach mats placed on the floor instead of using chairs will give things that definite "beach casual" quality. Have a contest whereby you have guests come in flip-flops they've decorated themselves. The person with the most creative design goes home with a Hawaiian prize like a pineapple or a coconut. And while Hawaii is certainly about casualness, fun and sun, it's not all that. There's also a deep and lasting culture of ancient and mystical traditions, which you can also include in your party. You can re-create "old" Hawaii by hanging "ritualistic" wooden masks on the walls or making totem poles out of painted Styrofoam cubes. Old Hawaiian temples called heiaus will give you an idea of what you can do. Find pictures of them to inspire you creative spirit. You can put your totem poles in the corners of the room, turn the lights down low, and light things indirectly with candles and tiki torches. Place glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling and pretend you're out under a starry sky, relaxing and having a casual get-together on the beach. You can also create your own volcano out of chocolate. Of course, everyone's probably going to want a bite, which is exactly the idea. If you want to make it "smoke," you can use dry ice. These simple ideals will do a lot to make your party into a luau with not much effort. And with them, you'll have Hawaii's deep, enduring spirit with you. Aloha! Remember not to take anything too seriously, and just kick back and have some fun.