Tiki Party Stuff

Hi I'm new here. I am having an annual tiki party at my house. I have a lot of tiki stuff and I'm sure a lot of the invited guests will take tiki and turn it into a luau. Anyways, I was wondering if anyone knows of a place to get some paper plates, etc. that might actually be cool. Everything I have found is either neon colors or just plain corny. ANyone have any suggestions?

don't worry about your paper plates - keep them minimal and focus on the other party decorations, like tikis! In the interest of tiki - "lava" red plates and napkins would be in the spirit AND easy to find.

Be careful of those multi-colored paper plates. The ones with pictures printed on them. They are only good for cold or room temperature foods. I once made some scrambled eggs in the morning and grabbed a left over multi-colored plastic plate from a party. About 30 seconds after putting the hot eggs on the plate, the eggs neutralized the color and transferred right on to the eggs! Yuck! Of course, I am no Alton Brown (FoodTV), but maybe the color reacts only with eggs? I just stay away from them, if I can, other than to just serve cake on them.

This happens JUST on the mult-colored plates, not the solid colored plates.

Just my 2 coconuts worth.

Depending on the size and temperment of the guests, have them bring their own plate! Make it a contest - who can find the Tiki-est, most retro, ugliest, most suggestive banana motif, etc. Saves you the effort and makes for a nice ice breaker/conversation starter for new acquaintances!

And of course, don't forget the Thrifts for your monkeypod serving bowls, carousels & other semi-tiki goods- cheap, plentiful & recyclable (take 'em back when you're party's over). I'd have to say, if you focus on good rums and 2 or three well crafted drinks, the rest is incidental.

How about buying a tiki mug for everyone to take home with them? I had a tiki party a few weeks ago, and that is what I did.

The Oriental Trading Company has full size, blue ceramic tiki mugs (listed as tribal mugs) that you can purchase for $3 each, and ceramic coconut mugs that you can buy for under $1.50/mug.

For added fun, paint a message on each mug (mine said 'Vern's Tiki party' with the date)

I also bought my straws(with fake flowers) and some decent quality fake leis from Oriental Trading. They have a ton of stuff, much of it at cheap trinket quality, but if you're selective you can end up with some cool stuff at very reasonable prices.
http://www.orientaltrading.com

Vern

Run over to http://www.amscan.com They sell tiki table runners, tiki serving trays, tiki everything apparently. I haven't been to their website, but I found all this stuff at Garden Ridge Pottery here in Texas and got the URL off the packages for you. Most of what I have is just cheapo (but great) Oriental Trading Company type stuff, but it's fun and VERY tiki. Good luck!

~Tex

Hmm... well I wasn't too smart to post the URL before I checked out the site. They appear to be a wholesalers.

What I should have said is, Amscan makes tiki party supplies. Maybe you could email them and tell them your location and get a list of retailers in your area.

Let's just pretend that's what I said. :wink:

~Tex

Hey ikitnrev,
Mahalo for the tip on the Oriental Trading Company. I ordered some fun items to give to people as they leave my tiki bar.

Hey KoolKat,
I say scrap the plate idea and use those monkeypod bowls that you can find everywhere. They are very inexpensive and your guest will have a nice gift to carry their kalua pig home on.

Have a great party and Happy International Tiki Day :tiki:

Thanks for all the suggestions. I do have a whole trash bag full of leis from previous year's parties. We usually get about 60-70 people so sending people home with a mug or monkeypad might be kind of expensive but I'll check it out because that's a great idea. We are lucky enough to have all kinds of dark wood serving items shaped like pineapples and stuff because my husband's parents lived in Hawaii in the late 60's. ANy other suggestions are welcome. Thanks everyone!