Take a Break: Get Your Tiki On

 I have a good friend whose turning-ah.. guess he wouldn’t want me to give the number. However, he loves all things Tiki so we’re giving him a Tiki themed birthday party. I’ve been exploring what’s easy to make, cheap, no cost etc. in the Tiki world and came up with a variety of things. Enjoy!

So far my favorite has been the Name TikiCraft. Very cool design using a person’s name. Definitely recommend using brown paper-brown paper bag is great. Really amazing effect. 

Eat some tropical fruits: Since it’s Tiki day, enjoy pineapples, papayas and coconut.

Wear a Flower Behind the Ear: Create a party atmosphere for yourself and friends, family or even work colleagues by wearing a flower behind your ear.  Use fresh, silk or paper flowers. If you’re single, wear the flower behind the right ear. If you aren’t available, wear behind the left ear.

Make Lei’s:  Be sure to use a heavy thread, like quilting thread. Check out Paper Flower Lei for templates and directions for paper Lei’s. 

Pimp Cup: If you have a Dollar Store or Dollar Tree near you, they are particularly crazy about Tiki at this time of year. Since my friend’s daughter turns 18 just before his big day, I picked up two plastic Tiki style glasses. My husband will work his magic with glitter, paint and who knows what else to turn them into birthday “Pimp” Cups. Not familiar with pimp cups? These are “blinged out”-lots of sparkles and rhinestone- drinking cups that honor the bride, graduate, a person’s birthday or whatever you happen to be celebrating. Maybe there is a Dad, bride or new grad that would love a Tiki Pimp Cup.

Tiki Cupcakes: Lots of ideas for decorating. I found Tiki ice cube molds (yup, from the Dollar Store) and they work just fine for chocolate. Take chocolate morsels, put microwave for a minute. Stir until melted. Pour into molds and put in the refrigerator. Unmold and place one on each cupcake. Use a large Tootsie roll (or chocolate fondant) and for each section, carve out eyes and a mouth and stick on top of the cup cake. Check out Cakes Decor for directions of How to Make Tiki Heads. Consider icings that reflect the islands-bright pink, ocean green and sky blue. Little umbrellas on top with a few sprinkles or Tiki tootsie sitting underneath will look great.