For my daughter's 1st birthday I had a Hawaiian Luau and it was great! Guests were greeted by two hula girls (my nieces who were dressed in grass skirts and Hawaiian tops). Each guest received a lei around their neck and was given a name tag with their Hawaiian name on it.  My daughter's birthday is in July so we had the party in our backyard.  I decorated with inflatable palm trees and green and yellow streamers. I hung colorful toucans and parrots in the trees along with pineapples and other tropical decorations.  I divided the backyard into three different areas. At the "Kraft Korner"  the girls made tropical flowers to put in their hair with tissue paper and pipe cleaners and the boys put together a giant floor puzzle.  The "Snack Shack" was where we placed all food and snacks which included a fruit platter (I used cookie cutters to form different shapes with the fruit) veggies & dip, Hawaiian meatballs and fish cakes and for the main course I made a special festive rice (made with grated carrots, corn and chopped red, yellow and green peppers) I barbecued chicken and salmon and had a couple of salads. The children had Hawaiian pizza and chicken strips. "Limbo Lane" hosted all the day's activities, we had a limbo competition which was so popular it lasted for nearly an hour!  The kids played freeze dance and hot potato with a coconut. We also had a toucan piñata and a kiddie pool. I borrowed a ball pit from a friend and both kids and adults liked playing with and in it.  My daughter had three cakes for her birthday which wasn't intentional. I made a "little mermaid" cake and my sister in law made a sitting "teddy bear" cake wearing a lei and another guest showed up with a standing "Barbie doll" cake! The good thing is that all the cakes were different we had a chocolate, vanilla and pineapple cake which was served with Neapolitan ice cream Special touches: I passed around a guest book for everyone to sign and write a personal thought or greeting to the birthday girl.  I also set up an area where each family took a picture with my daughter which I will use to make thank you cards. I decorated this picture area with palm trees in the background and posters of Hawaii which I got from a few travel agencies.  I got straws with little umbrellas for the kids to drink with and adults had cherry and pineapple with their umbrella drinks. Most importantly this party was FUN! Everyone had a great time and I've been told they can't wait to see what I'll be doing next year!!