by Pamela Kay

Created on: July 12, 2008   Last Updated: March 08, 2011

When planning a luau in your backyard, the name of the game is "improvise!" It doesn't need to cost a fortune. Here are some ideas for planning a luau and turning your backyard into an exotic tropical paradise.

Invitations

*Invite everyone to wear beach garb, grass skirts, flip-flops and sarongs. Suggest the males consider a fake tribal tattoo and that females wear flowers in their hair.

*Shape them like a parrot or tiki mask and glue on feathers.

*Shape them like surfboards and cut them from balsa wood.

*Create a hula girl with a grass skirt made of raffia.

Greeting Your Guest

Welcome each guest with a smile and, "Aloha" as well as a lei. Give females a grass skirt or sarong and give males ankle bands made of elastic and braided twine.

Decorations

Get your imagination working and think of things you have to use as decorations. Ferns, calla lilies, potted trees, oars, surf boards, fishing nets, sea shells, orchids, beach towels, candles, silk flowers, ukuleles, drums, rattles, music sticks and fabrics.

Water

*Buy the largest pool you can afford and add rocks, painted to look like coral, and a few water plants. Add some colorful fish and set some candles and flowers afloat on the surface.

*To make the fish, draw them on card-stock and paint with iridescent glow in the dark paint. Cut out the fish, laminate them, tie weights to the bottom with fishing line and add to pool.

*Create a surfboard by tapering the end of a shelving board and painting "Hang Ten" across the middle. Hang colorful beach towels across the fence or over the back of chairs.

Palm Trees

*For trunks, use the cores from rolls of carpet painted brown. Add black hatch marks. Drill holes near the top for clothes hangers that are straightened and cut to various lengths. Make the palm fronds from green poster board and attach to the wires with hot glue. Plant the trees in buckets of sand and place beside the pool.

Bamboo Forest

Create a bamboo forest by sticking bamboo poles in the ground and hot gluing silk bamboo greenery to them. Use brightly colored birds made of Styrofoam with feathers and beaks glued on.

Tiki Masks and Gods

*Native masks are easy to make of paper mache. Allow them to dry and decorate with paint, shells and feathers.

*For Tiki gods and totem poles, all you need are a few lengths of logs. Carve or cover them in paper mache and paint the faces. Hang a lei of silk flowers around them and place an offering bowl in front of them with candles and shells.

Lighting

*Using lanterns and

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