Tuesday, May 24, 2011

A Hawaiian Birthday

Hau`oli Lā Hānau  (Happy Birthday) to my sweet 12 year old Sunshine!
As you can see, she chose a Hawaiian themed party. She's always had a little fascination with Hawaii. I'm not sure why but I think it's the romantic in her. This is her second Hawaiian themed birthday party, the first was when she was only 7.

Apparently a luau theme is a popular graduation/summer theme so when your birthday is in May, it's easy to find decorations like a grass skirt for your table!

 
I made a banner to greet her using this Tiki Palms font and some free handed paper leaves.


I also printed up our names in Hawaiian using this website and made a little travel vocabulary sheet with some of her favorite things.

 
First thing in the morning, we listened to Hawaiian music here and over on Pandora while we decorated flip flops! We needed to get an early start on these so that the glue would have time to dry completely. This was a wonderful craft that the girls really enjoyed. All you need is flip flops, some ribbon (I recommend grosgrain, about a yard for each left and right) and doodads to accessorize with. BigBoy used buttons and the girls found these little beaded discs in the same aisle as the flip flops.


 Start on one side, using Fast Grab Tacky Glue, glue the ribbon down (starting under the strap would probably be better, but ours were too tight to pry up), wrap around the flip flop strap overlapping a little as you go. You can choose to wrap around the toe post or not, it's up to you.  Secure the ends with clamps or clothespins until completely dry.  I used hot glue for the center doodads.

BigBoy helped decorate a very masculine pair for himself. The Professor would have joined in, but like his momma, he has an aversion to things touching or separating his toes and doesn't wear flip flops. (And now you know more about me than you ever wanted to know, I'm sure!)


She received some beautiful and thoughtful gifts from loved ones far away (and a special gift from us). These sweet little baubles came all the way from Hawaii in the suitcase of a little sister who came to visit Texas. Sunshine was thrilled, can't you tell! Thank you, Miss Mary! I hope I don't have to wait to meet all of Jessica's sisters before I finally get to meet her!



After we met some delightful new friends for a too quick meet and greet at our favorite girl store, we came home and made shaved ice with fun flavors. I bought this Back to Basics machine on clearance one fall when a horrific stomach bug was rampaging through the whole family and ice chips were all anyone could stomach. We pulled it out for an afternoon treat today and enjoyed it so much more than that first time! (Our local Target store had the flavored syrups for less than Amazon.) I was going to let them learn this hula dance via ActivityTV but we ran out of time!


 For her cake, after seeing these inspirational cakes, she chose a fancy layered cake (which means wedding cake layers) with tropical looking flowers all around. An Incredible Melted Ice Cream Cake from the Cake Mix Doctor book with a white frosting was delicious and made with strawberry ice cream ended up pink on the inside, Sunshine's favorite color! Silk flowers made decoration a snap! Which was great since I had to start on BigBoy's cake this evening! And if you are reading this on Wednesday, that means that Birthday Party #2 has begun. Say a prayer that my eyes are open. What was I thinking when I kept my legs crossed seven years ago insisting that they both needed to have their own birthday?

16 comments:

  1. ✿ HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUNSHINE! ✿

    Everything turned out absolutely beautiful, Charlotte! What a fun birthday!! I love it all! The gorgeous cake, the darling banner, the super cute flip flops, everything!!

    I still can't believe that you have met "half of the girls in my family, and half of my parents" and I still haven't made it out to Texas to meet you and your family. . . Hopefully it will be my turn soon! Thank you for everything you've done for my family, even though you've never "met" me! :)

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  2. Wow! Charlotte I want to come to one of your birthday parties. They look so fabulous. Or better yet, I'd love to fly you out here to put on birthday parties for my gang. Yeah, fly you and all your family and we could have an amazing birthday bash.

    Happy birthday to both of your sweet kiddos. And I hope you get a good rest.

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  3. That cake is beautiful! You plan the best birthday parties!! I love the flip flops, very cute, even the boy style!

    Happy Birthday to your sweet girl!!
    God bless her!

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  4. Happy birthday to your sweet Sunshine! My oldest girl turned twelve bak in March. It's such a wonderful age!

    Everything looks so wonderful! This flip flops are fantastic. And the cake...well, the cake takes my breath away. It almost looks too pretty to eat! Almost. ;) I'm bookmarking that recipe for later. It sounds yummy.

    Crossing my fingers for you to make it through the next party. Knowing you, I'm sure it will be fabulous!

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  5. Beautiful party for your very sunny girl. Happy Birthday Sunshine!

    PS I can't wear flip-flops either, so there ya go!

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  6. That is all so sweet, and the cake looks great. I can't do flip flops either! Praying your family is ok through all of this weather.

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  7. Happy birthday hugs and prayers for a very special and lovely young lady!
    Prayers also that you are all safe from this evening's storms!

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  8. Oh man! You should seriously think about starting your own business...seriously!

    P.S. TOTALLY miss my basement!!!

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  9. Charlotte!!!!!! This is such a great post!!!!! :)
    Tell your beautiful daughter HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
    You are so creative...I LOVE the flip flop idea! And the cake is amazing! =)

    Miss all of you!

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  10. What a cute birthday party and a beautiful girl to boot!:) Our oldest is anxiously waiting to turn 12 at the end of the summer. Those oldest girls are so special...enjoy every minute. Oh, and Happy Birthday to your big boy...mine turns 7 in October....can hardly believe that!:(

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  11. You are so creative; what a fun birthday!

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  12. Happy birthday, sweet girl! Wish we could have been there to celebrate our double birthdays with you and am thinking, okay, why don't we all take a REAL trip to Hawaii instead?

    Your dad's buying. ;)

    Miss you so much. Please come & visit us soon.

    Miss Margaret

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  13. Oh, how beautiful! Happy Birthday to Sunshine!

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  14. Beautiful cake!! Everything looks wonderful!

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  15. Happy Birthday!!!! What a beautiful cake!

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  16. That cake is amazing!!! How beautiful. Happiest of birthdays Sunshine!

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