14874

Luau Party -25yr- Tiki Hut & Bamboo

January 2007

pat in victoria, bc canada

Runner Up

My son has a mental and physical disability, and as we have had many special birthdays for him, this one will be the one we will remember the most.  My son has spent a few birthdays in the hospital, and it truly is a miracle he is alive, so I wanted to do something so special for him, and invite all of his past, and present friends, Occupational therapist, physio, doctor, teachers, teacher aids, caregivers, pastor, family, everyone who we know has been touched by his life.  It is a Celebration of life.

So we are expecting over 70 people, so my son and his caregivers and me, his Mom, have transformed our garage and also his bedroom that is attached to the garage, we have cupboards that have had all pictures of him and special people he has done things with, so when people come in it is like going down memory lane.  All of the countertops are covered with vinyl bamboo runners, all the fronts have a vinyl covering looking like bamboo, My husband made him a real Tiki hut, we went to our local china town, and got real bamboo for the roof and sides, then we went to our local animal feed store and got hay, we covered the roof with hay that is kept up with netting so it doesn't fall through, we attached fish netting behind on the wall with starfish and shells, we made a sign hanging from the hut, Bamboo Bar, underneath is our small freezer which we covered in the vinyl bamboo tablecloth which makes it look so real, on top we have a three tiered fountain with lights inside that will have our Hawaiian punch, glasses beside with fancied toothpicks (pineapples, palm trees, flamingo's which we purchased at our local dollar store. 

We also picked up some lights to hang around the freezer under the bar, and around the bamboo bar we put white mini lights.  Along our other counter we put bamboo greener which we got at garage sale in the summer, we went to our local second hand store, and found tiki lights, wooden bowls, spoons, and all the food witch is an incredible menu, is going to be displayed in layers, to give a three-d effect, some on pedastals, and in ivy bowls we placed beach glass with non scented candles (allergies),  on the other counter we have completely covered it with the bamboo coverings and all underneath the cupboards, we put up tiki vinyl runners so it gives all of the cupboards a contrast and also above the cupboards to the ceiling, (we taped it to the ceiling and to the cupboard) and on the top of the counter, we placed all of his memory albums, were really into making memories about him with all of his friends, so all of his art work is on display so everyone can take time to look through all the things he has worked on since leaving school. 

We bought two real palm trees which we have nestled in between another table which will have tea/coffee, plates etc. which has all been covered with the same tableclothes, we have a real bamboo loveseat and two bamboo chairs with matching bamboo side tables with scallop shells, and ivy bowls with candles, and greenery.  We purchased all sorts of decorative Palm trees, that are 8 to 9 feet tall, we have about 6 of them around the room. we also blew up a plastic palm tree from the dollar store and put that on another table all decorated which is going to be our desert table, all above and on all of our tables we have mini lights, which gives the room such a warm feeling, we have a surf board hanging from the ceiling, and artwork that has been made into lantern, so when people walk around they can look up and see all of his artwork.

My sons caregivers painted adult size hawaiian hula woman and man so we will have our guests stand behind them and we will be able to take pictures of them all.  We love pictures! As each one of the guests arrive we will have one of our caregivers greet with an Aloha, and give each a lei, women will also get a kiss (a hawaiian flower which we bought a bunch at the local craft store and took apart the flowers glued a bobby pin to the back and each girl with place it in her hair, each guest will also have their own name tag with their Hawaiian name on them.  My sons room I have sewn all of his bedding (he has two beds) in Hawaiian prints, all the duvets have been sewn and the pillow cases, and any of his tabels have been covered in hawaiian fabric, on the day of the party, we will be hanging balloons in layers from his ceiling, and as you go through the house we will have helium balloons throughout.  My son's three caregivers will be dressed in grass skirts and will surprise our guests with a Hawaiian dance. All guests have been asked to dress in Hawaiian clothes.

One special game will consist of answering 25 questions about How well do you know my Son.  My camera will be working overtime, good thing my husband has bought me a new camera for Christmas.  I know nothing will come close to the memories we will be making this day. 

The menu consists of for our main meal is:Hawaiian coleslaw, vegetable plate with dip, crockpot hawaiian pork, coconut prawns, hawaiian cheeseball and pita chips, sweet n sour meetballs, ham/pineapple pieces, chicken chunks, with pineapple salsa, blue hawaiian broccoli slaw, artichoke and bacon roll-ups, mini quiche, chicken wings, crab cakes, eggplant rotalini(for any one who is vegetarian), our dessert menu is our wonderful birthday which has a lilo and stitch background (without the characters due to age) palm trees, and a surf board, done by thiftys (beautiful), also a fruit platter (the pinapple will be scooped out and fruit will be piled high, there will be four halves on the plate and inbetween there will be lots more exotic fruits, mango, papaya, strawberries, etc. macadamia nut cookies, banana crème pie, ambrosia salad, home made hawaiian chocolates, we bought the molds at michaels and decorated them, hawaiian shortbread, macadamia nut loafs, coconut crème pie, and prickly pears which you scoop the inside out mix with same water, sugar amount, add a bit of lime, put into blender pour into shells of prickly pear and freezed, YUM!!! And of course it wouldn't be a birthday party without goldfish so our centerpieces for all of our tables with have real live goldfish, which after the party we will put into my sons pond outside. 

And it certainly wouldn't be a party if no one took home goodie bags, I went online to Oriental trading company, Wow, they have so many neat things for Hawaiian give aways, fish squitters, fish note pads, thong necklasses, surfboard keychains, and we laminated small pictures and put a magnet strip on the back so they will always rememeber my son's birthday when they have it on their fridge.  All of these things will be in their take home bags wrapped with raffia, and a special Thankyou for coming and allowing us to have an incredible memory.  Because we just don't know what the future holds.  As last year he spent one month in hospital for his birthday, and we almost lost him, so that’s why were making this one a moment in time to hold onto for ever. Oh yah Im sure Ive missed out on a few more minor details.  Thanks for letting me share, and I hope I have inspired you to take time to make memories, because you never know, when you'll be looking at pictures . Thanks so much and as my son always does  KEEP SMILING

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