Enchanted Butterfly Luau 1yr - Hawaiian

Just a few weeks ago, we celebrated my niece's (Princess Carly Marie) 1st birthday with an Enchanted Butterfly Princess theme. I got some of my ideas from this website, but I put my spin on most of it. In Hawai'I, we always celebrate 1st birthdays with a LUAU, which means it’s a big party about 180 plus of Family(ohana) & Friends actually came. And yes, it was a party that took months to plan and coordinate. PHEW!!! Glad its over!!! LOL :)anyways!

INVITES: I made the invites on my computer, I took a picture of her that she took at PhotoExpessions & using my photo program added words that said "Flutter on over to Carly's 1st birthday butterfly luau" and all the info read: that also said "the Butterfly Princess we'll be waiting for you to fly in her garden at Place:(rented hall) date: time: & rsvp to the Queen of the garden me. I got the butterfly clipart from microsoft.com/clipart, they have many different ones. The invites were baby blue & dark blue to contrast her pink princess dress. Return address labels were printed out w/ her home info & more clipart I found on my PC, and so was the name of each person we invited w/ a different clipart. 

FOOD: in true hawaiian luau fashion we had hawaiian food for dinner, which consists of Kalua Pig (pork cooked in a underground oven called an IMU), Lomi Salmon (tomatos, onions, green onion & salmon like a fresh salad), Rice(hawaii's starch), Poi(taro pounded into a paste, very HAWAIIAN), Squid Luau(luau leaves cooked down, mix'd w/ coconut milk & octopus cooked into it), Chicken Long Rice(chicken cooked with cellophone rice noodles in a broth) & Poke(fresh, raw seafood: fish, squid, opihi, & crabs)<<< this may all sound kind of weird but everyone here loves it & looks forward to having LUAU food cause it takes lots of hard work making & cooking the food, but everything is made with love so it all works out. PUPUs: we also had pupus which are like snacks or ordouver's(I think that might be spelled ir wrong!OOPS). We had chips: taco, clam & kamaboko (steam'd fish) dip, toss salad, chow mein, more POKE, kim chee(korean spicy cabbage), fruit salad(pineapples), fried fresh, carrots & broccoli with homemade ranch.

DESSERTS: 1 full sheet cake w/ Carly's Invite picture on it surrounded with butterflies & flowers from hawaii(plumerias & hibiscus), Haupia(coconut) & Kona Coffee ice cream. Dessert table: Rice Pudding(like tapioca), Kulolo(taro dessert), Haupia(creamy coconut jello), Pineapple upside down cake & Dump Cake(choco. Cake layered with choco pudding, toffee bars & lots of coolwhip). The food was sooooo ONO(meaning the food was REAL good, hawaiian word) Whoa!!! That's a lot of food, but REMEMBER 180 people!!!LOL! Now onto décor.

DECORATIONS: Birthday banner made by another aunty (paint&glitter this was so beautiful), streamers, balloon bouquets(assorted colors hang on each pole w/ sparkly curling ribbon, butterfly strings which twisted around the 6 poles on the tent looked like the butterflies were flying on the poles, paper butterflies hang from the top the tent & poles, white xmas light strung on the top of tent, table cloths stamps w/ paint in yellow bees, pink & purple butterflies & green & blue flowers.

CENTERPIECES: looked like a mini garden, each costed about $3 to make. Florist foam(cheap from walmart) wrapped w/ pastel pink, purple, blue, green & yellow wrapping paper, stamp'd with a butterfly in front & top'd w/ fake flowers in front a wallet size frame & her picture in it & large toothpick & thank you w/ another little picture her to look like a stake in back w/ mini nylon butterfly glued on the frame & flowers & glitter for dirt. It was simple but perfect we made 60 of them.

GUESTBOOK & FAVORS: Lauhala(hawaiian leaf weaving) place mat folded in half w/ paper & printed on yellow paper w/ more clipart in the background or fluttering on random lines on the paper, all bound w/ yellow polkadot ribbon & on the front was a beautiful sunflower ribbon bow w/ mini sunflowers & feathered butterlies. The pen was made w/ the sunflower ribbon, mini sunflowers & butterfly sticking out from the top(we made 2 of these).

And the favors we mini hershey bars wrapped w/ printed butterfly labels w/ yellow butterflies on it that said "MAHALO"(thanks in hawaiian) aloha(love)Carly & the date of the party, they look'd so cute. (you can find these labels on the internet but I made my own) then we place them into a wicker basket decorated w/ more mini sunflowers & a sunflower ribbon bow on the side. The "Moneybox" was wrapped with flowered wrapping paper and paper butterflies and mini butterflies were glued on top near the opening of the box. The guest table was decorated w/ a nyce white linen table cloth w/ feathered butterflies glued to the front. KEIKI(kids in hawaiian)

FUN: we made Butterfly Town(the idea I got right here)this was a separate tent from the party area. I put a rectangle tent(20x10) w/ white screens that tie back, w/ flower laterns(I had from my 25th bday this year) that lined the opening from each screen, set up booths w/ signs that read: "Carly's Butterfly Town", Butterfly Salon, Caterpillar Cafe, Butterfly bank, Butterfly boutique,& Butterfly bakery each booth had activities & prizes placed on each table that coordinated w/ the sign & paper BF's printed on paper(part of the games) & feather BF's to add a touch of loveliness. I made Butterfly bucks that I printed & made on the PC w/ more clipart that the kids earned from playing on the games. BF Salon: had face painting & tattoos. BF Bakery & Cafe: cookie decorating w/ gel frosting & sugar all in assorted colors. BF Bank: I play'd banker & they receive BF buck$ when they turned in their game sheets from the games. BF boutique: shopping bag decorating(brown paper bags decorated w/ many stickers, stamps, glitter glue, buttons & funky scissors: from my kraft collections). The Kids had a blast participating in these activities because wanted to earn lots of bucks to shop afterwards. The kids could buy lots of surprizes that we bought at Pricebusters & at orientaltrading.com. We BF stamps, bubbles, stickers, pens, pencils, note books, balls & stationary, and lots of non-BF stuff like mini deodorants for the older ones, nail polish, mini water games & basket games, keychains, more tattoos, stickers, pens&pencils, lip gloss, chips, juices, candy, water guns, play dough & ooooohhhh gosh too much stuff too remember.

GAMES: BF Toss: recycled milk cans(powder milk for baby) w/ printed butterflies on it glue to each can & handmade bean bags. Penny Drop: baby food jars that they dropped pennies in it. BF reading mat: We borrowed the "HUNGRY CATERPILLAR" & 5 other books which my gramma read to the kids & the were VERY well-behaved & they all asked questions & said their opinions about each book. Jumping Castle:(from a friend) hours of fun. Cocoon Race: extra-large pillowcases that the kids got into and had to race & hop'd to the finish line 1st one there won. Cocoon Scoop: cotton balls that were scoop using the powdered milk "scooper" the kids had to fill a plastic cup to the top 1st to the top won.

BF Hunt: we taped & hung BF's that I printed from the PC again all over the game tent & walls around the area for them to find & turn in for points(this was part of the décor too). Go BF!: its like fishing, but we used Scoop nets and they got paper BF's that they earned points or points & a Candy. BF Ring Dance: basic muscial chairs & mats for the babies to crawls on & around. BF Bowling:plastic water bottle for pins & soft balls from(25th bday again). Each kid play'd the games and was given a bag(leftover fabric from a friend sew'd w/ a drawstring) to hold their bucks & paper BF's to turn to the BF bank. It started to rain so the games were stopped and the kids patiently waited while BF town employees put up the set up each station w/ the surPRIZES mentioned above in "BF TOWN", I think this was the most FUN time & event of the party the kids were smiling from ear to ear. They enjoyed every minute of browsing, counting & paying each person for the items. They used their counting skills & bodies (to play each games)to have GREAT FUN. We also rented a cotton candy machine( which the kids name candy cocoons) & used my uncles shave ice machine, which was another lovely touch for the kids.

ENTERTAINMENT:we had hawaiian cds & hip-hop cds my uncle played w/ his PA system. We had another Uncle & my cousins sing w/ their band. A family friend's halau(group) danced hula & chanted, a couple family members danced tahitian & more hula songs. Then we had another local band play to close out this WONDERFUL, LOVELY, FESTIVE & MEMORABLE birthday celebration.

Thanks to all our families for this day & party such a success. The thank you's are being made w/ a picture of each guest w/ the birthday girl & her parents in a BF card, I'm again using my PC to make the cards thanking them for each gift & monetary dontaion. The smile on the baby's & everyone's faces made all of the hard work & everything else in between worth the while. I had many great reviews about the party afterwards from family and friends. I am so thankful that we had this party because it bought all of OUR families together and we got to celebrate the life of a very special girl "Princess CARLY MARIE" with love & the true spirit of Hawai'i: OHANA & ALOHA! Thank you folks for this website & everyone who's ideas I took & used to make this party sooooo GREAT & ORIGINAL!!!! smiles:) aloha & mahalo! \*\*\*I hope that everyone reading this is learns & takes a little bit of Hawai'i & spirit with after.