Luau!

The luau has come and gone already! Kinda sad I won't be dreaming of palm trees and coconuts anymore :) We had the pleasure of hosting this end of summer bash for our church life group. It was a blast and I had an awesome time planning with my good friend Shar. The best part about this party was I really didn't spend weeks making decorations and trying to come up with ideas. Everything just kinda fell in place. I should also mention we had two great hubbies that were more then helpful. The party was for about 40-50 people (half kids). And here are the pics :)

Our tiki (dessert) bar! Next year hopefully we'll have time to build a real one.

I whipped up this cake literatly last minute. At about 11PM after all the party prep. It was super easy and I loved the outcome! I bought the tiny coconut bra at party city in the kids section.

Flip flop sugar cookies! These were seriously fun! I iced these with royal icing and the straps are fondant. I always love the chance to make decorated sugar cookies.

Pina colada cupcakes. How could I not make cupcakes?!

Coconut cupcakes! I didn't get the time to make them pretty but they were still cute. The idea came from mycakeschool. Thanks!

My daughter calls these ice cream pencils! lol. Don't they look perfect for a luau? And of course they are so yummy!

Finger foods before the feast!

Shar made these awesome fruit kabobs.

I was so excited to use our Luau outfit for our door bear!

Homemade Hawaiian shaved ice!! I will post more info on these later!

Dressed up drinks, Hawaiian punch of course.

Lei's waiting at the door :)

My awesome hubby grilling the corn!

My Bailey boo all dressed up.

And here are some shots of everybody hanging out!

So much fun! Party details:

For dinner we served pulled pork, Hawaiian rolls, chicken kabobs, Hawaiian rice, plain rice, grilled corn, fruit kabobs, sliced pineapple. and watermelon. For Dessert we severed chocolate cupcakes, pina colada cupcakes, pirouettes, coconut macaroons, tropical trail mix, macadamian nuts, cookies, and coconut covered marshmellows. After dinner we made homemade snow cones!

For activities we had all kinds of water items for the kids. Two slip and slips, a small pool, the water table, and we pulled out the bounce house. We also had items set out for the kids to make leis and paper grass skirts (check my previous post for a how to) For the adults we set up a relay.

Feel free to steal some ideas and if I you need any more info message me!

Paper Leis and Grass Skirts!!!

Another really fun and easy party idea! I have been wanting to throw a Luau for several years now. But each year there is a reason we don't (moving, babies, deployments) and I have to sadly resist buying all the cute luau items that are in just about EVERY store. But not this year! We're hosting a Luau for an AWESOME group of people and it's coming up soon! You don't have to put a whole lot of thought into Luau's...palm trees, coconuts, pinneapples, grass skirts, tiki tourches, and your pretty much good. But as I was cleaning the house today I found myself brainstorming what else could I do to add some fun? A trip to the craft closet and wa-la I knew what I could make..Leis and grass skirts for the kids. Which would also solve our not every kid having a skirt problem! And once again..I found all these things are the house, my favorite kind of craft. I plan on laying out everything and letting the kids make them this weekend. And here's the info on how to make them for your next luau (or maybe just a fun summer craft before school starts). :)

For the Lei's your going to need heavy thread, a large needle or tape, paper flowers, scissors, and some straws. More flower info below.

For the flowers I used my cricket (paper doll cart) to cut out the flowers. If your using your cricket cut them at 1.25in and then some at 2in. You will need about 24 of each. If you don't have a cricket there are several other options. You can often buy little paper/foam flowers at craft stores or you can punch them out with a flower punch. Or if your really patient you can simply print out the flower below and use it as a template to trace and cut on colored paper. NOTE: center hole can not be bigger then the straw so if you making your own use a small screwdriver to poke a hole.Step 1. Cut up all the straws in 1in pieces. I threw out the bendy part.

Step 2: Cut your thread to 36in.
Step 3: Either thread you needle OR wrap the end in tape. This is the best kid friendly way to make a necklace of any kind! Tie a few knots on the end or try using a paper clip to keep everything from sliding off.

Step 4: Begin threading a piece of straw and then flower in whatever color pattern you would like!

Step 5: Tie it off and your done! Seriously so cute. And now on to the grass skirts.

You will need: scissors, more paper flowers, crepe paper, and packing tape, and a ruler. I just happened to have left over green crepe paper but any bright color will work!Step 1: Wrap the crepe paper around your childs waist and cut add about an inch for overlap and cute. Measure the paper length, my daughters was 24.

Step 2: Cut strips for skirt. I cut 15in length. You will need the same number as your child waist is. So I needed 24.
Step 3: Lay out a piece of packing tape in the same waist length. Then lay the waist length paper over it. This will give you a strong piece for the waist so it doesn't just rip or break right away. Trim excess tape off edges if any.

Step 4: Lay out the waist piece and begin taping on the pieces letting them over lap about half an inch. If your letting the kids fo this part then just simply cut the tape for them and they probably wont worry about overlapping.

Step 5: Glue or tape on the flowers. I hot glued them and it worked great. However if your using this as a kid activity they can tape them on. All done! When your ready to wear tape it on with a big piece of packing tape in the back.

Cadence was thrilled to be the model! She couldn't wait to get them on and shake her hips lol. These were fun, cute, easy, and cheap! She played around in hers for awhile and it held up really well :) Great for parties!

I glued a few extra flowers to a hair clip to finish of the look!

Mahalo!

Cupcake Crazy

Gourmet Cupcakes

Cupcakes...oh cupcakes! Where to begin. I'm not really sure where my love for cupcakes begin. I just adore making these little guys! I love turning somebody's favorite dessert/flavor combo into a cupcake. Or simply playing in my kitchen to create combos.I love baking them, decorating them, and even photographing them....what I really love is...giving them! I love to send experiments to my hubby's office, the neighbors, as a thank you...everybody always seems to welcome them. Cupcake orders are my favorite, hand down! In a matter of a few short months I've added over 2 dozen cupcake flavors to my list...and there will be more. Much more :) Shhhh here are a few new flavors I will be adding to my list soon: Pina Colada, Coconut, Buttered popcorn, Green apple, Pumpkin Spice, Pumpkin Pie, Red Licorice, Strawberry Banana, blueberry....

If you have some ideas you would like my to try let me know!

Maple PecanStrawberry Creme Mint Chocolate Reese Cup
Red Velvet Cream Cheese

Bubble gum

Chocolate Carmel Cream

Apple Pie

Root Beer FloatOrange Blossom

And these are a few of my favorite things :)

I SPY Bottle

I SPY RICE BOTTLE

These were so much fun! They are great for the car and quiet time. And the best part..they can be made from things found right around your home. I saw some fabric versions a while back in blog land and had to make some...however the stuff ended up sitting in my craft closet. Then I saw a friend of ours had made one in plastic and I new I had to try one out! Thanks Allegra!

You will need: A bottle, Rice, Rubbing Alcohal, Food Coloring, Glue, Trinkets, ziploc bags, and a paper or funnel.

You can use just about any bottle around your house. I wanted to find a nice sturdy bottle. I found these at target...The Sobe bottles are really sturdy (not like the new flexible water bottles) an as a bonus they have a cool shape and colores caps! The Tropicana bottle has a great flat"window" when you take off the stickers.

I won't keep you any longer! Here's how to get started:

Step 1: If you haven't already drink your yummy drink. Easy right?
Step 2: Wash the bottle out and peel off all stickers. Let air dry over night. (If your really itching to play with these my hubby laid a blow dryer in front of them and they were done in a few minutes )

Step 3: You and the kids go on a hunt for fun items to stick in the bottle. If you want a few extras the party store has great little items for cheap.

Step 4: Scoop 1 cup of rice into a ziplock, 1 for every color you would like.

Step 5: Mix 3 tsp. of rubbing alcohal and desired amount of coloring in a measuring cup,then pour in ziplock bag. I decided I wanted "Pretty" colors so I did some mixing as well as used my gel food colors. They worked just as good!

Step 6: Let the kids get in on this! Make sure the bag is closed tight and let the kids shake it up!! It's so fun to see the colors spread.

Here are all our colors in their bags....aren't they prettttyyyyy!

Step 7: Lay all the rice out in cookie sheets to dry. We made A LOT of rice. We laid them out in the sun for about 15 minutes.

Step 8: While your waiting let the kids dig through the toys and pick out their favorite peices. *Optional* Photograph your items on a white paper so you can hunt for the item later.


Step 9: Pour all the rice into a bowl and let the kiddos mix it up! We did this outside so no worries if a few pieces wiggle free.

Step 10: Funnel your rice into the bottle. Put in a scoop of rice and then some trinkets, and repeat until all trinkets are in and rice is a few inches from the top. Leave enough room for the rice to wiggle a little.

Step 11: Place a ring of glue around the inside of the cap then screw on tight!

And here they are!!! These are the smaller bottles we made, don't these make great gifts?

I later laminated the photo cards, punched a hole, and tied a matching ribbon to them! Our kids are having so much fun with these we are going to make another version soon!


I have another version of these coming tomorrow! As well as new cupcake flavors! YUM