I will be graduating from high school in June and I am throwing a luau graduation party. I am wondering if anyone has any good ideas for cheap decorating and any recipes that include the hawaiian theme, but aren't too hard to make in large quantities. Or if there are any ideas for entertainment and games that would be fun.
AC from MN
We just had a Hawaiian party at work. You can get a lot of cute cheap decorations at Oriental Trading. We got a limbo stick, music, flowers for our hair, leis for all the participants. For our menu, we made kabobs. We did pork and vegetables, chicken and vegetable and then we made vegetarian kabobs. We made a tropical fruit salad with pineapple and coconut. You can mix anything else in it. We had macadamia nut cookies. We served a lettuce salad as the side. Hope this helps. (01/16/2006)
I prepared a tropical luncheon for the garden club and it was easy for a large group and well received. I served ham and cheese croissants, a green salad with strawberries, glazed nuts, and goat cheese with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing and a baked pineapple casserole. Dessert was three colored sherbet (slice for nice pieces with all colors in each serving) and a cookie. Not elaborate but easy and enough of the island feel.
For each table I made an arrangement of various sizes of bamboo cut into different heights and tied with raffia. In just one of the pieces of bamboo I put a single branch of orchid bought in bunches at Costco. This was bamboo with a diameter of from 2 inches to 5 inches. (01/16/2006)
By D Pinyan
THe rich chocolate Ovaltine canister has a nice recipe for Macadamia Nut brownies, and the frosting has coconut. I made the brownies without the nuts, and were real good (i am allergic to them) It should be easy to double or triple. (01/16/2006)
By Kelly
For some great, inexpensive decorating items (lei's, pineapple cups, hula skirts, etc) try orientaltrading.com. They have a good selection of some really fun stuff. I'd use little twinkling lights to decorate with - think Christmas white lights. Have fun and congrats,t (01/17/2006)
By tricia.
We had a luau last summer in our back yard that was a BLAST! We have a trampoline w/netting around it that we hung plastic fish from; we bought an inexpensive door "curtain" of Hawaiian flowers that we disassembled to decorate around our tables (cheaper than buying the table buntings). We also borrowed a whole tub of luau decorations from a neighbor who works at a local group home (of course, we were careful to label their decorations so we could return them). Try a nursing home activities department! Offer to trade some volunteer time for use of some decorations!!
As for menu, we made "kabobs" out of big chunks of vegetables, pineapple chunks, and shrimp and even polish kielbasa sausage and brushed with a sweet/sour sauce (bottled) after grilling; a watermelon salad (where you use the watermelon as a bowl is very tropical; sweet/sour meatballs in a crockpot are simple; and we spruced up the table w/a box of those little "drink umbrellas" for the meatball toothpicks, etc.
Have FUN with it, and congratulations! (01/17/2006)
By Sandra
Check the yellow pages for a dance school that teaches Hawaiian dance. I'm sure they'd be thrilled to perform and do a short lesson for a small fee. (01/17/2006)
By Connie in Colorado
A friend of mine had a luau for her new sister-in-law's bridal shower. This girl loves flip-flops so they got a pair in every color and design they could find in her size, and strung them up along the deck. This was later a gift to her. (01/17/2006)
By Jeggie
You may be able to get Hawaiian music CD's or tapes at your public library -- ask travel agents if you can borrow any posters with beaches, palm trees, etc. I made my own leis by buying cheap plastic flowers and stringing them individually on heavy thread, using pieces of plastic drinking straws in between as spacers. Any "Finding Nemo" characters would work for decorations, paper goods, etc due to the tropical fish tie-in. Serve goldfish crackers! Here's a recipe you could double, triple, whatever:
Waikiki Chicken:
Put the chicken in a crock pot/slow cooker. Mix the 3 other ingredients together-- don't drain the juice off of the pineapple -- and dump it over the chicken. Cook on medium 4 hours or more. You can also do this in the oven at 350 for one hour.
Go to the Kraft Foods website -- I think it's just www.kraft.com -- and do a search for a recipe called "Angel Lush Cake". It's a very simple, very elegant looking recipe using a store-bought angel food (round) cake, that has pineapple in it. The recipe says to top with fresh strawberries, but I used pineapple rings instead, which makes it look Hawaiian.
Ask everybody attending the party to wear hawaiian shirts if they have them -- pick up some "extras" at Goodwill/yard sales to have on hand.
Have fun -- and ALOHA!!! (01/20/2006)
By Becki in Indiana
Bright and colorful is the way to go for a Hawaiian luau. Inexpensive items include paper decorations such as tropical fish and inflatable palm trees. You can also go to your local craft store to buy palm fronds or supplies to make grass tiki huts. (01/20/2006)
By Dee
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