Beach party...any ideas??

[highschoolcrafter]

Yea, not very original, but we are having about 15 people over for a beach party... i searched for a beach party topic, but didnt really find anything, sorry if its already been done

anyhoo, im looking for fun games for ages 8-adult and some fun food ideas, we already have the basics of serving chips and dips in pails, and we're having one of those plastic kiddie pools filled with ice for all the cans of soda to sit in, and thats about all we have

i need some side dish ideas and maybe even a cooler main dish, since right now its just hot dogs and burgers, oh yea and maybe some very simple, but themed ideas that i could ask people to bring, since i kno that everyone is willing to chip in, but not give an arm and a leg (that way all the foods still blend with the beach theme!)

thanks for any help!!

[slackferno]

       Bwa ha ha!!!  Last night was the grad party I threw for my friend.  His theme was a little more specific, (Going to Cancun), but beachy nonetheless.  If you're sending invites, use surfboard- or hawaiian shirt-shaped notes.  or flip flops. (Like...an actual flip flop with the info written on it in Sharpie.)  Food is easy, burgers, dogs, chips, dips.  We did taquitos, chili-lime shrimp quesadillas, and chips with salsa, quacamole, and queso dip.  I had a ton of sodas, but I also made virgin cocktails served in plastic margarita glasses (99 Cent store is your friend!).  I bought a bottle of mai tai mix and a bottle of mojito mix and served with lemon-lime soda and ice.  I also made mango smoothies. 

    Decor was easy...mexican paper flowers, a couple stuffed lobsters, and a red straw beach hat that everyone kept passing around and posing for photos with.  I set up a photo corner with a palm tree backdrop, two inflatable palm trees, and a kiddie pool surrounded by sand.  Everyone who showed up had to pose for a photo in the pool. 

     We didn't really do any games, except for the pinata.  I bought a massive pinata and filled it with spam singles and gas cards (off to college and perpetual poverty, y'know?) as well as the traditional candy, quarters (for laundry) and confetti.  For music, I hooked my laptop up to some large-ish speakers and set my browser to xmradio.com's Caliente channel, but you could use the Beach Boys or Dick Dale or the soundtrack to Pulp Fiction. 

     For favors, I did raffia swag bags with tiny maraca keychains, sunglasses, sunscreen, and a mix cd of grad songs including the song "Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen."

Beach parties are just about the easiest theme ever.  In the summer, every party shop and craft store is filled with stuff for outdoor beachy themes, and all you have to do is relax and have fun!

[lamamarco]

How about:
- kiddie pool filled with sand + shovels + pails
- picnic like foods (potato salad + friut salad + sndwiches or cold cuts)
- little unbrellas in drinks + cupcakes
- a cake like this:
http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/novelties/hawaiian.htm
- seashell hunt

[hercuteness]

what if you set up a cheesy surfing background, like a giant picture of a wave, and had a camera set up on a tripod to take pictures of people 'surfing'?   like they used to do in the movies!  even better, if it was a polaroid then everyone could have a memento to take home.

[Mehtare]

I made a melon basket when my parents threw a luau a few years back. I just cut a watermelon up to look like a basket (if you take two pie-shaped pieces from the top half leaving a strap in the middle, you've got the idea), and then hollowed it out. Then I took a couple of different melons (watermelon and cantelope were the best) and went at them with my trusty melon baller, and filled the basket with them. You can mix in other fruits and berries too. It took maybe 45 minutes max, and it looked amazing.

I was in Target the other day (I'm a Canuck, but was in the US on business), and they had these AWESOME coconut-shaped cups with a straw built in... the top flipped up so you could fill it, but when it was closed it looked like you had just stuck a straw in a coconut. I think they were $4 or $5... might be good for a prize.