A Hawaiian theme is a great idea for a kids’ birthday party, but many of the party favors sold in party supply stores are cheaply made and often very expensive. There are several ways that you can make your own Hawaii themed birthday party favors.
Flower Leis
Flower leis make great Hawaiian favors and you can even incorporate them into a party activity by allowing the children to make their own. You will need several large needles, string, a large flower-shaped paper punch, colored crepe paper streamers, and some dried macaroni (straight noodles work better than curved noodles).
Use the paper punch to punch out lots of different colored crepe paper flowers. Let the kids make leis by piercing the center of the paper flowers and threading string through the center. To make a lei, add one paper flower, then a noodle, then another paper flower, etc. The flowers will be soft like real flowers and the yellow noodles resemble bamboo beads.
Hawaiian Doll Clothes
For girls, you can make your own doll hula outfits. Most little girls have Barbie dolls or dolls that resemble Barbies and these little hula outfits will fit onto a variety of types of dolls. All you need is some raffia and some stretchy decorative fabric or wide-band decorative elastic.
To make the tops, cut pieces of the stretchy material large enough to fit around the bust of the doll. Sew a seam along the back of the top. The top should slide over the doll’s chest like a hula wrap. You can add to the look by creating a gather in the front of the top.
For a grass skirt, pick out a piece of raffia that is about ten inches long. Starting from the center of the string, tie on a piece of eight-inch raffia folded in half using a lark’s head knot. Make several of these all along the original piece of raffia using more eight-inch pieces that have been folded in half until you have enough of a grass skirt to fit around a doll’s waist once or twice.
Hawaiian Magnets
Hawaiian magnet sets are fun and easy to make and are very useful party favors. You will need flat clear glass marbles, magazine cutouts of flowers, palm trees, and other scenes from Hawaii, clear heavy-duty craft glue, and magnets the same size as the back of your flat glass marbles. You can make large magnets from large flat marbles or tiny ones. You will not need a large magnet for the bigger marbles.
First, cut an image from a magazine to go on the back of one of your flat marbles. Use a little clear crafting glue to glue it face-down to the back of the marble so that the image shows through the marble like a magnifying glass. Once the glue has dried, use a paint brush to coat the back of the marble with clear craft glue. Use a blob of glue to secure the magnet to the back.
Kukui Nut Jewelry
You can make pretend kukui nut jewelry from real nuts. Brazil nuts and macadamia nuts in the shell look very much like kukui nuts. Simply use a drill to make a hole through the center of each nut, then thread them onto stretchy elastic string. These make wonderful bracelets, anklets, and leis and boys can enjoy them, too.
Seashells
Seashells make wonderful Hawaiian party favors and they can be given away as is for collections or you can make them into something new. Shells with holes can be strung onto string or raffia cords and made into necklaces. If you are crafty with paints, you can paint the children’s names on them and use them as place settings. For teenagers, you can embed shells into homemade votive candles. A little sand around the bottom of the candle is also a nice touch.
Hawaiian Candies
Coconut and pineapple flavored candies make great party favors as well. If you want, you can make your own instead of buying them. Most craft stores carry candy molds as well as melt-and-pour chocolate and flavored hard candy that you can pour into them.
Hula Girl Clothespin Dolls
Old clothespins make great hula girl dolls. If you are making toys for boys as well, make a few of the clothespins into tiki gods by painting them with acrylic paints. To make a hula girl, simply glue a raffia skirt around the “waist” area of the clothespin. Use acrylic paints to draw on a little coconut bra. Paints can also be used to create hair, faces, and flowers for the dolls.
