FREE Printable Luau Hibiscus and Tiki Mask Cocktail Picks

These Hawaiian tiki and hibiscus flower cocktail picks can turn ordinary nibbles into fun! In the photos above and below, you'll see that I used the picks with fruit cut into various geometric shapes. I used strawberries, mango and kiwi, but you can use any seasonal fruit that's available in your area. You can't see them very well in the photo, but I also used macaroons, because they're made of tropical coconut and they also lend themselves well to holding the food picks.

Scroll down to see the instructions for making these fun luau party picks.

But you don't have to restrict the use of these picks to fruit or sweets. They can also be used to serve luau appetizers, such as meatballs in barbecue sauce, or bacon-wrapped scallops or water chestnuts. And, of course, they can also be used as cocktail picks for tropical drinks. Just make sure to use a piece of pineapple or some other heavy fruit that will touch the bottom of the glass to extend the length of the cocktail pick and keep the paper part at the top from getting wet.

Instructions

Once you've downloaded the template and saved it to your hard drive, print it on cardstock. I used heavy glossy photo paper for the examples, but the matte paper linked in the previous sentence also works quite well. My printer gave me the option of choosing the paper stock I was using, so I could get the best results. You might want to check your printer settings to see if you have the same option. I then applied a little glitter glue and used a pair of quality manicure scissors to cut around the edges.

To turn them into party picks, I glued regular toothpicks to the back using liberal amounts of Elmer's gel glue. (That's been my favorite glue ever since I discovered that it makes a great clear casing over glitter glue. You can even use that technique on these party picks. Just apply several coats of glue over the glitter, letting each layer dry thoroughly in between.) When affixing the toothpicks to the hibiscus flower or tiki totem top, ensure there's a vertical line of glue that's fairly thick and extends from the bottom of the paper to about 3/4 of the way up. Place the toothpick in the line of glue and then roll it with your fingers to coat it thoroughly. It's a good idea to do a test pick first, to see how thick you can make the glue. If your paper stock isn't thick enough, the use of too much glue will make it warp. Once you've glued all of the picks, allow them to dry well.

CREDITS: Thanks to Karsyn for being such a wonderful model and to W.B. Gilmore of LK Designs, whose Hawaiian graphics were used to make these luau cocktail pics.

TERMS: This art is property of Sayzio and is for personal use only.