Winter Luau Party - Roast Pig & Hula Punch

I am very excited about this recent party I planned and threw for my mother's 50th and my brother's 25th birthdays.  I have been planning this since I read the 'HAWAII 5-0' party on this site.  Both of them are December birthdays and thought it would be a good idea to have a Winter Luau for their theme.  In addition to throwing a party like this to forget about the cold for a little bit, I could find all the summer and luau accessories on sale after season for a fraction of the cost. 

So, in August and September, I started shopping everywhere.  I found sand pails for $0.37 along bubbles and beach balls for $0.09 each at CVS Pharmacy.  I found tiki torches, colorful tiki citronella candles, colorful rattan flower vases, candle holders, plastic ice cubes in the shapes of palm trees, tikis, and hibiscus flowers, and other accessories for $0.10 to $0.50 each at Big Lots.  I bought the 'poly'/plastic leis at Dollar Tree, 6 for $1.00.  I put these by the front door in a large dark wooden bowl that I have on a stand with a grass skirt around it and a tiki torch next to it.  I placed the rest of the  tiki torches up and down the walkway to my front door. 

I found nametags at Michael's that had "Aloha my name is on them, 25/pack for $1.00.  I did some research and found every one of the guest's names translated in Hawaiian. This was not easy since my boyfriend, his family and our friends are Asian.  I purchased Hawaiian shirts, women, girls, men, and boys, at the local thrift stores for about $1.00 each.  I went a little crazy and bought about 20 when I was only shopping for 4.  I was not sure what to do about the extras until I wanted to add some color to the chairs in the dining room and breakfast nook.  So, I took the extras and placed them on the back of the chairs, it was quite beautiful with all the colors.  I still had some left over, so I wrapped a few of my throw pillows on the couch.

When guests arrived with out a shirt I allowed them to take one of a chair or pillow to wear.  They were a hit and great party favors.  In addition to the shirts as party favors, I gave out the citronella tiki candles, fresh pineapples ( I found on sale the week of the part 10$10), leis, and a box candle set of a Hawaiian shirt, Hawaiian shorts, and surfboard.  I handed out the bubbles and a beach ball to each one of the kids.  Before I handed them out, I used the beach balls for decoration on the floors, couch, tables, and so on. 

I put the colorful bubble bottles in different colored sand pails and placed them on the dining room table with the tiki citronella candles in various colors.  I found silk/rayon flower leis at the 99-cent only store earlier in the month that I used to distinguish the birthday girl and boy from everyone and used for decorations. 

The candelabras I have over my island in my kitchen and above my dining room table were decorated with the leis.  I made centerpieces from the coffee table, side tables, and breakfast table with the flower leis, fresh pineapple, coconuts, kiwi, lemon, fresh flowers in the rattan flower vases, colorful plastic plates (which I also go for $0.09 at CVS).  It was all stunning and great for adding color to my dark furniture.  I also hung paper lanterns from the ceiling.  I purchased 4 large orange ones during Halloween clearance and then 8 smaller ones in green, red, blue, and yellow at Big Lots for $0.99 each. 

I placed a vibrant plastic blue grass table skirt on the kitchen island where the food was laid out as a buffet.  We purchased half a roasted pig from a Vietnamese market and I made Island Chicken, the recipe was found on one of the websites I found during my research.  We had my boyfriend's mother make fried rice and a shrimp/pork rice soup.  We had the fruit from the centerpieces for dessert along with a pineapple upside down cake.  I made Hula punch and put it in a clear punch bowl that had a lei placed around the bottom.  This recipe was found on one of the many websites I visited.  It has tropical punch kool-aid, frozen concentrate orange juice, ginger ale, canned mandarin oranges, and the plastic ice cubes.  I placed the 4 remaining pineapple slices from the cake on top of the punch.  It was so pretty and colorful; it really matched the whole party. 

I purchased Hawaiian theme paper plates, cake plates, and napkins, but also had Styrofoam plates, bowls, and cups for back up.  Last, I purchased a small gallery mat, $0.98 on sale, and had everyone sign and wish my mom a happy 50th birthday.  We took tons of pictures in front of the Christmas tree and around the house.  Some of the pictures were candid and some were posed, but with all the colors from the decorations, shirts and food came out lovely.  I am going to down load them to a CD and to give to my mom and bro. 

I will also put the pictures on a photo site to send to all the guests for them to look through and have memories of the party.  Now I am on to my next party, my 30th.  I will submit that idea once I have made my plans, purchased my supplies, and executed the party.  Thanks to all the wonderful ideas on this site, I am having a good time throwing parties for my friends and family.