If you’ve got a luau coming up and want to have some fun before it starts, you can make your own decorations for very little cost and have a lot of fun doing it. Instead of having a regular party, have a luau. You can do it for any occasion no matter what, whether it’s a birthday, wedding anniversary, or just “because.” Keep costs down by getting creative all by yourself with some scissors, magazines, Styrofoam, plastic fish, and a glue stick.

Pretend you live in the bright and sunny tropics — temporarily

Think palm trees, coconut leaves, pineapples, bright tropical flowers such as hibiscus, orchids, frangipani, surfboards, Diamond Head, erupting volcanoes, humpback whales to channel the spirit of Hawaii into your party.

You can make collages with your magazine pictures using images all of turquoise blue oceans, sailboats, sundrenched beaches, ocean sunsets, beach shacks, or anything that’s going to invoke a wife for you, for your party invitations. If you’re really feeling mischievous, send the invitations out in Hawaiian, and then let your friends figure out just what it is you’re trying to say.

Adorn tables with make-believe grass skirts; to make them, use green garbage bags and cut them into strips that are an inch to an inch and a half wide, and then use a ceiling or table fan to gently blow an “ocean breeze” through your room as guests kick back and relax on the “beach,” hula skirts gently swaying in the breeze.

Your luau needs a theme

Establish a theme when it comes to making luau decorations – would you like a marine motif or a beach party? Or would you like to invite the Goddess Pele to fire up the event? If using a an ocean theme, find plastic tropical fish from the local party or toy store and hang them from the ceiling on clear fishing line.

Hanging the fish at different heights will give you and your guests the illusion that you are on the ocean floor and when you look up come see the fishes swimming overhead, just going along about their business in the ocean. Hang seaweed that’s plastic from the ceiling, tack fishing nets up on the walls, or do anything else that will give you an “oceanic” ambience.

To feel like you’re standing on the ocean floor, take cheap white sheets, paint giant clamshells on them, and drape them over your furniture. You can find giant inflatable humpback whales at toy stores and other specialty stores; use one to stand “entry” at the entrance, to greet guests as they come in. This will get them ready for a party.

Beach culture at a luau

If you want a beach feel with luau decorations, it’s perfect for the casual atmosphere you want to invoke. Throw beach balls haphazardly around the room, draped low rise tables with beach towels, and use beach mats instead of chairs for sitting. You can have your guests participate in a contest whereby the most creatively decorated flip-flops will have the wearer going home with a prize specifically related to Hawaii, like a coconut or pineapple.

Hawaii is not all about sun-drenched beaches and fun and sun. There is a deeply mystical and ancient side to the islands. To recreate the ambience of the old Hawaii, hang large wooden masks on the walls. Give your imagination free rein in making luau decorations with a ritualistic effect e.g. you can create own totems out of Styrofoam cubes and a couple of pots of paint. Look to pictures of old heiaus (temples) for inspiration.

Take your totem poles and put them in corners of the room, turn the lights down, and just like things indirectly with tiki torches and candles. Paste stars that glow-in-the-dark on the ceiling to pretend you’re out on a starry sky trek and just hanging out and have a little party.

Create your own smoking volcano out of chocolate (everyone will want a bite of it!) and simulate steam from red-hot lava with clever use of dry ice. A few good ideas go a really long way in making luau decorations – in the spirit of Aloha, don’t take anything seriously and “hang loose.