Tiki Party it Up!

It's a Tiki Party! A perfect summer affair.

This past weekend was a blast serving up Mai Tais, Margaritas, Pina Coladas and Bay Breezes.

Here are some tips that I am passing on from my party if you are planning a rockin' TIKI party.

1. You need not by a Tiki Bar--most of them cost a fortune (somewhere in $300-800 range) and they are a bit cheesy too. To get a really nice one you are talking in the thousands. Even to rent them it was costing somewhere in the $2-300 range. So, I decided to get creative. I took an old bookshelf covered it with a $5 straw mat and four $1 grass skirts. I also placed a cork board on top. Since the shelf was old, I screwed it to the top. Another piece of wood on top of that and then a simple table cloth. I borrowed some cute lantern lights from my sister and made a little sign from a small piece of wood laying around using my kid's black paint. Wa-la. A little tiki bar with tons of space in the back to hold the liquour, extra napkins and cups. And it only cost me about $15.

2. Serve your drinks with flare. Garnish those fruity beverages with pinneapples, cherries, orange slices and don't forget the little umbrella sticks!

3. Tiki torches rock--you can find them almost everywhere. My best deal was actually at Target where I bought two for $4.00. I also picked up Tiki candles in metal buckets. For other lighting, I borrowed metal lanterns from my sister and lined the walkway to the backyard with them. Since I couldn't see the walkway while partying out back, I didn't want to leave open torches out. The lanterns protected in glass made me feel much safer.

4. For another safety issue, since we were allowing guests to bring kids, I invested in a couple sitters. I arranged that kids 5 and up would be with one sitter who would be the game organizer and kids 4 and under to be with the other sitter. This kept them busy and allowed my guests to enjoy their drinks and know their kids were happy too.

5. Games- for the kids 5 and up, I arranged a treasure hunt. This is a little time consuming at first but it is the best way to keep those kids busy and active. I laid out clues in different spots and made 2 teams. I had about 20 clues for each team and the whole hunt took almost an hour. The clues ranged from descriptions of the next spot to trivia questions where they'd have to get the right answer to the host to get the next clue. If they got it wrong, they had a 5 minute penalty until they would be given the next clue. It turned out great. At the end, their "treasure" consisted of simple candy bags made in simple paper bags with "Tiki Gods" drawn on them. Other games for the kids included: water balloon toss, tug of war, Tiki Ring Toss, and Hula Hoop contests. I would have also included the limbo had I found the right size stick.

6. Decorations - Think, dollar store. I got some great faux flowers, plates and lays there. I put the flower lays and extra grass skirts out in a long basket for people to have some fun with. The strings of faux flowers looked great around the tables and hanging on the patio. With the fun table cloths, all bright colors and cool Tiki plates, I didn't have to go overboard with finding tropical napkins and plates, I just used plain solid, bright colors.

7. Lighting - this is key to your Tiki party. The torches are great, but the will not provide all the lighting you need once the sun goes down. I used several strands of electric lights; flower ones and lantern ones are the coolest on the patio near the food and drink tables. I think basic Christmas lights are fine too. I also found paper lanterns that were battery operated at Bed, Bath and Beyond. These were great for hanging in the tent. The would also look neat under the patio umbrellas. Another great find at Bed, Bath and Beyond were these prelit palm trees.

8. Food, ah the food. Some great Hawaain dishes were Carribean shrimp, Hawaain chicken skewers, fresh salsa (cilantro and mango...yum), fresh fruit salad, coconut cake, nilla wafers banana pudding

9. Other touches - A few other things that might make your party easy and guest friendly. Put out a basket containing bug spray, wet wipes, and toothpicks.

10. And don't forget to tell your guest to wear their Hawaiian wear!