My Parties: How to Host a Hawaiian Donut Birthday Party for Teens

I’ve got a party for you that comes together really quickly, is inexpensive, easy on you, and will be loved by all ages, boys and girls: a donut party. Ours was a Hawaiian-styled donut party for my twin daughters’ 15th birthday. The tropical look was inspired by one of our favorite vacation stops: the Donut Hut in Seagrove, FL.

We roll into the Donut Hut wearing flip flops, dirty ponytails, and maybe pajamas … it seems to be the vacation dress code for picking up breakfast donuts. There is always a line out the door because the donuts are extra: M&Ms, Oreos, Key Lime and my favorite, the Maple Bacon Donut.

Our plan was to be on vacation for the girls’ birthday and visit Donut Hut in person (repeatedly) but we had a staycation instead. So, I decided to re-create the Donut Hut for a small family party. The shop is all grass skirts, tropical flowers and tiki masks.

The One-Week Party Plan

Since our vacation plans changed at the last minute, I had just 7 days to plan this party. In a way, that made things easier. There was no over-thinking, no considering every option. I had to forgo anything custom and rely heavily on Amazon Prime. In fact, I don’t think I left the house once for party planning purposes. I spent $252 for decorations, place settings, donuts, water bottles and Izze sodas. (Shopping links are at the bottom of this post.)

I love learning new things with each party I throw and this party’s lesson was: you can buy used items on Amazon that are like new and well-discounted. I would never have bought three new cake stands unless they were $15.70 each — I mean, come on: how could I NOT buy these? The placemats also were bought used, about $22 for 8.

I used a lot of what I already had:

• Pink tablecloths
• Pink cocktail napkins
• Yellow melamine plates
• Water hyacinth woven box (used to elevate a cake stand)
• Ribbon
• Nano tape
• Pop-up glue dots
• Wood forks and knives
• Acrylic paint
• Quite a Pair Keepsakes frame
• White bowls
• Hula hoops (spray painted gold — already painted for another party)
• Scrapbooking paper

DIY Tropical Decorated Letters

Having so little time also meant that I attempted only one craft and that was decorating the M and G letters. We painted the letters green, then used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out tropical leaves in a few shades of green. Baby B helped me roll the edges of the leaves using a pencil to create dimension. Then we arranged the leaves and attached them to the letters with pop-up Glue Dots.

The idea for the letters came from another party that I planned but didn’t wind up hosting. (Ironically, because we went to the beach for the girls’ birthday that year).

DIY Tropical Backdrop

I spray painted their old hula hoops gold. The hoops are hung from our mirror using 3M Command Strip hooks. The letters are attached to the mirror/grass skirt using Nano tape.

The flowers are a kit I ordered from Amazon. They come assembled and all I had to do is use 3M stickers to attach the flowers to the hula hoops.

Decorating a Hawaiian Dessert Table

I bought two grass tablecloth skirts to drape around my sideboard and to disguise the mirror above the sideboard. I attached the skirts using Nano Tape. The mirror got two layers of skirt.

Across the front of the dessert table, we safety-pinned a tissue garland of tropical flowers. The garland was so easy to work with — all you have to do is stretch it out. I hid the safety pins with large pink bows attached with pop-up glue dots.

I modified a postcard template from Canva to create this “Welcome to Donut Hut” sign. All I had to do was send the image file to CVS to be printed and slide it into this frame from Quite a Pair Keepsakes that I swiped from my daughter’s bedroom.

Donut Stack Cakes

One of my girls has been sick for several months and is on a feeding tube right now. She’s not eating much by mouth, so we didn’t want to do a big dessert table. I bought four dozen donuts the morning of the party and just stacked them into cakes:

• One dozen glazed donuts for decorating (our party activity)
• One dozen chocolate cake donuts for decorating
• Two dozen assorted frosted donuts for our “birthday cake”

To protect the frosted donuts, I put a circle of parchment paper in between each layer.

Decorating Donuts Party Activity

Baby B had the idea of decorating donuts, which I thought was genius and everybody was so into it! We used the glazed and chocolate cake donuts for decorating and offered a variety of sprinkles, mini M&Ms and crushed Oreos. For frosting, we simply purchased canned vanilla cake frosting. (We wrapped the cans in scrapbooking paper to help them blend with our party colors.)

Tropical Hawaiian Party Place Settings

The place setting layers included:

• Pink tablecloth
• Palm leaf at each place
• Placemat offset from palm leaf
• Yellow plate
• Wood fork with handle painted pink (that was Baby B’s job)
• Coconut cup with pink cocktail napkin and bamboo straw

Tropical Table Centerpiece

Down the center of the table I added:

• Palm leaves table runner — just lay each leaf on the table, slightly overlapping.
• Two orchids in white pots (I found these at Sprouts)
• Six bowls of donut toppings
• Three cans of frosting

I hope this party gives you some inspiration — especially if you’re short on time. Your party can still be custom, still be unique to your kids, and still be budget-friendly.

Vendor Credits:

• Party styling and photography – The Party Teacher
• Pink tablecloths – Amazon
• Grass skirts – Amazon
• Hibiscus paper flowers – Amazon
• Flower tissue garland – Amazon
• Palm leaves – Amazon
• 12-inch Foam Letters – Amazon
• Pink melamine cake stands – Amazon
• Cake topper – Amazon
• Bamboo straws – Amazon
• Water hyacinth placemats – Amazon
• Yellow melamine dinner plates – WalMart
• Wood forks – Amazon
• Pink cocktail napkins – WalMart
• Coconut cups – Party City
• Orchids – Sprouts
• Nano tape – Amazon
• Quite a. Pair Keepsakes – Etsy