Hola!
Some party themes are just classics! Take the Mexican Fiesta theme. Who doesn’t want to go to a fiesta? Or a Cinco de Mayo celebration? No-one I know! So I got to wondering, why? And I came to these conclusions:
The Food!
It’s just soooo delicious. PERFECT PARTY FOOD! Tacos, Tortillas, Enchiladas, Guacamole, Chipotle, Salsa, my mouth is literally, watering. Packed with flavor, fresh ingredients and usually available in small, bite-sized pieces so you don’t get messy and you can try loads of yummy things.
The Dress-Up!
Dress up is loads of fun, but it can become stressful when the theme is a bit obscure, and you don’t have time…and you feel all pressured and stuff. Not so with a Fiesta, Sista! Everyone has a sombrero somewhere, don’t they? And if you don’t, it’s time to get one! A fiesta dress up means lots of bright colors, maybe some flounces, a flower in the hair, and a great red lipstick – for the Señoritas. A cool mustache for the Señors, and everyone is happy!
It works for everything!
Birthday party – check. Baby Shower – check. Housewarming – check. General Celebration – check. Cinco de Mayo – check!
AND, because it is just so cool we created a bunch of fabulous Fiesta recipes, crafts, printables, tutorials and ideas for you to try! Check it out!
1) A Cascade of Cactus Cupcakes
Have you ever seen anything cuter than a cascade of cactus cupcakes on a Mexican Fiesta Cactus Cupcake Dessert Bar? Just take a look – the vibrant green ‘plant’ and soft chocolate sponge! Just because Fiesta food is often spicy, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t include some delicious sweet stuff!
Get this look by making some chocolate cupcakes, and popping them in these terra cotta pot-shaped silicone baking cups. Then, we used buttercream icing, dyed this fresh shade of cactus green. To make one type of cactus, we just piped icing stars all over the cupcake like ground cover. For the taller cactus shape, we found that icing around a marshmallow totally did the trick.
And what’s a dessert bar without awesome decorations? It’s all about leading your guests on a sensory journey! This cupcake stand look shouts ‘Hello! I’m here, come and get me!’ The printable decor set includes gorgeous mini cake / cupcake bunting in 8 vibrant Fiesta shades – with a doily design, editable text design and color block design. Stringing it on twine makes for one of those lovely details that makes a party, a Fiesta!
And the cactus cutouts just set the scene – six different designs to adorn your Fiesta Dessert Bar!
2) Terrific Taco Bar
Ignite the fun! Check out this explosion of color and life – the most awesomely decorated Taco Bar around! A taco bar is a mouth-watering delight at any get-together or occasion. Guests get to customize their food, you get to mingle and the look is just so gorgeous!
You’ll need hard tacos, soft tacos and your choice of delicious fillings and toppings – spicy, not-so-spicy, meat options, veggie options, herbs, beans, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, nacho chips, limes – soooo many options. Everyone serves themselves, everyone has a perfectly customized meal, everyone is happy!
3. Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad in Bamboo Cups
I just love party food that you can hold in one hand, that you can enjoy in a tidy manner. Food that you don’t have to find a solid oak table and chair with a full set of cutlery to eat at.
But, at the same time, it must be totally delicious. Totally memorable on the taste scale. Totally “Please may I have the recipe for that?” And if it’s quite high on the health scale too? Ten outta ten!
So, I try to make sure I give my guests scrumptious food, in the perfect party quantities, in a ‘format’ that doesn’t make a mess. And as we are heading into Summer, with all its fabulous outdoorsy occasions and Fiestas, we tried out this recipe, for you. Ok, for me as well! TOTALLY delicious!
Enter……the Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad.
SUCH a cool concept! Delicious toasted corn, crispy bacon, pasta, beans, some crumbly feta and a hint of chili, all tossed up with a lime and cilantro dressing.
Click HERE for the detailed recipe.
4. Fiesta Piñata Cupcakes
For when you want cupcakes with sass, cupcakes that shout “HELLO’”, cupcakes that are delicious and gorgeous. When you want cupcakes that even have a SURPRISE inside, you HAVE to make these.
My son was DEEPLY impressed when he saw AND when he tasted these, which is quite a reaction from a 10 year boy! From the bright, rainbow colors, the soft and sweet buttercream frosting and the sheer delight of discovering candy chocolate covered balls inside – the whole experience is cupcake heaven!
So, to make these wonderfully delicious multi-colored, layered, candy-filled cupcakes with a light vanilla butter cream icing….you need to follow this recipe.
I won’t lie, it takes a little time, and is a little bit finicky assembling the layers. Not difficult, just a little more time taken than your average cupcake! But OH SO WORTH IT. C’mon, try it, take the crown and be the cupcake queen today!
5. Individual 5 Layer Mexican Flavor dips
I’m always looking for great party food that is easy and tidy to eat! Of course it must be eye-rollingly, lip smackingly, make-a-little-piggy-of-yourself delicious too!
With Spring in the air and Fiesta everywhere, I’m not short on inspiration! This Mexican party food layered dip in individual servings RULES! It’s tasty, it’s healthy and fresh, and it rocks a party!
It’s basically 5 different colored layers – mince, guacamole, sour cream, grated cheese and salsa, layered in a little glass pot or jar so it looks pretty. Because it’s in little glass containers, each one is for one guest to eat with a little spoon. No mess, no fuss!
Grab this recipe here.
6. Taco Bar Decor
Moving on from food, hard as that is to do, take a look at the decor on the Taco Bar! It’s just so festive! And guess what? It comes as an INSTANT download set, you edit with your food names and messages, and print at home or your local print shop! How COOL is THAT?
The downloadable set includes:
- Taco Bar Sign (letter page size)
- Taco Bar Instructions Sign (letter page size)
- Food Labels (Tent cards – Print 2 per letter page)
- Food Flags (Print 9 per letter page)
- Cactus Garland
- Cactus Garland SVG File for cutting machines
- Color Blocks Garland
- Gold Pendant Garland
- Mini Colorful Doily garland
- Mini Colorful Doily garland SVG File for cutting machines
- Cactus Decorations x 3
- Cactus Decorations SVG File for cutting machines x 3
- All text is editable
7. Tissue Paper Fiesta Flower Tutorial
Just look at this beautiful, bright, and oh-so-effective tissue paper flower! If you are having a shindig, fiesta, birthday party, Mother’s Day celebration or pet naming ceremony, you MUST use this Fiesta Flower Tutorial to make your own tissue paper flowers. They are SOOOOOOOOOO easy. Really, really, properly easy, and I’m not just saying that so I sound all crafty and stuff.
Beautiful and super cost-effective – it’s a no-brainer. Make some right now, I’ll show you how!
Grab this easy 8 – step tutorial with pics right here!
8. Mexican Party Decor DIY – Papel Picado Garlands SVG File
Did you know that, in Mexico, travelers would know exactly when a fiesta was in progress when they passed through a village? The sure sign is the colorful, intricately cut fiesta garlands strung out along the road or outside the buildings. The proper name is Papel Picado and they are really pretty, especially you choose an array of bright Fiesta colors (like we did.)
If the intricacy of the beautiful Mexican folk art designs looks a little daunting for DIY, don’t stress! We have created this as an SVG template file for an electronic cutting machine – such as a Cricut or Silhouette machine. Whew! It is POSSIBLE to do this by hand, and to be totally authentic, that is what was historically done. Yup, using small, sharp chisels or scissors. BUT I know you have got a Fiesta to plan and create, so I doubt you’ll have the time!
The Electronic Cutting Machine
A Cricut or cutting machine (if you don’t have one already) is a wonderful tool to have if you want to extend your crafting. It can be used for ALL SORTS of projects, like artwork for kid’s bedrooms, confetti, custom tote bags and journals, t-shirts, vinyl labels and party elements. And, Fiesta Garlands of course! Technically, you could do anything that a cutting machine can do by hand, but things are just so much better, faster and look more professional with one of these babies! So, if you really enjoy your crafting, this is for you. It’s also a great tool for teachers – who no longer have to have cramped hands from cutting out 30 of everything!
SVG stands for Scaleable Vector Graphics, and that is the file that you use on your cutting machine. The file includes color blocks in the colors shown in these pictures, so they can be printed and then cut in this gorgeously elaborate design. Suggested paper to use for this project is text weight or card stock paper.
9. More Fiesta Garlands – You Can’t Have Enough!
Here are our awesome Fiesta-Inspired Garland decorations – cactus garland, gold pendant garland, color block garland and mini doily garland. You can cut and create these garlands easily with scissors, but if you do have a home die cutting machine such as a cricut, there are SVG files included for the cactus garland and the mini colorful doily garland.
10. Chalkboard Mexican Fiesta Printable Party Set
Take care of the fiesta in one go – a chalkboard Mexican ‘Let’s Fiesta’ Party Set. With festive, boldly colored bunting and streamers, a green cactus and sombrero and party details in white against the black chalkboard..
- Themed Party Invitation (5.2″ x 7.0″ – Print two invitations per page)
- 2″ Cupcake Toppers (make tags and labels with these too)
- Decorative Food Labels (3.7″ x 4.7″)
- Water Bottle Labels (7.8″ x 2″)
- Favor/Thank-you Tags (2” x 4”)
- Thank you cards (4” x 5”- Print four invitations per page)
- ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’ Banner (Each letter panel is 5.3″ x 6.2″ – Total 13 Panels – All text editable)
- Mini Cake Bunting
- Welcome Sign (24” x 36”)
- All text is editable.
11. Fiesta Themed Digital Papers Set for Crafting
There is no time to siesta, it’s time to fiesta! Stunning Fiesta / Mexican themed 12 piece digital paper set includes a riot of gorgeous, bright colors and festive designs! Includes cactii, doily garland designs, mexican hat and bold stripes and flowers. Let your crafty side out into the wild! Make cards, papercraft, scrapbooks, journals – the only limit is your imagination! This set also includes a cactus SVG cutout file for a home die cutting machine such as Cricut.
12. Bold, Black & Gold Fiesta Posters
Make a statement with this daring, bold, black & gold set of 3 Fiesta Posters. Perfect as decor for your Fiesta party, Taco Bar, or on-trend home decor! One design features a gold foil cactus design on bold black and white stripes while the other two bear the fabulous Fiesta legends – ‘Fiesta Like There is no Manana”and ‘No Time to Siesta, it’s Time to Fiesta. All three come in your choice of letter or tabloid size, depending on your requirements.
13. Fiesta Party Invitations – Birthday
Now that you are absolutely convinced you’re having a fiesta, (yaaaaaaay), you’ll need an invitation. Choose from these easy, instant download, edit and print options!
Here is a slightly more traditional color option for your fabulous fiesta invitation. This watercolor invitation design in green, red and yellow is sure to get everyone shaking their Mexican maracas and in the party mood!
14. Fiesta party Invitations – Baby Shower
An ideal theme for boy / girl or ‘I don’t know’ baby shower!
15. Fiesta Party Invitations – Housewarming
16. Mexican Fiesta Pinata Gift Box Favor and FREE Tag
I just KNOW you are going to LURVE this Mexican Fiesta Pinata Gift box idea, with it’s cute (did I mention free?) editable gift label. You can use the idea for any-sized box you would like, the materials are really affordable too.
Your FREE Mexican Fiesta Piñata Gift Box Tag
As a party favor, a Cinco de Mayo treat, a teacher’s gift – this just works!
Grab the step-by-step tutorial here.
17. Mini Tequila Favors
How CUTE are these little mini bottles of tequila? Who would NOT be delighted to receive one of these? You’ll need to get some little glass bottles with cork stoppers – you can find them at your local craft store. Then you just grab this awesome download, edit the label and the little round tag if you want, and print. It is ideal if you print the bottle labels onto sticker paper, but you don’t have to, you can glue ordinary paper to the bottle. The tag is a 1.5″ diameter, so a punch in that size could be convenient, OR a good old steady hand and your trusty scissors!
18. Fiesta Tin Can Planter Favors
And here is another awesome favor – so gorgeous, in fact, I don’t want to give mine away, I would rather keep them all for myself! These planters can make fabulous Fiesta party decor, and then be given to guests to take home. OR, stay at your home and cheer up any space with bright colors and gorgeous succulents! Economical too, especially if you already have a source of succulents in your garden. Start keeping (and asking friends to keep) tin cans. Then download these 6 awesome designs, print as many as you need, and glue them around each tin can. You then fill the can with soil, plant your succulent (or any other plant – a herb might be lovely) and then you can pop one of each of the 6 gorgeous flag designs on a toothpick and into the planter. Because it just looks even better. So bright, breezy and fun!
19. Fiesta Matchbox Party Favors
Another Fiesta Party Favor? Yup, it couldn’t be helped! Neat ‘n festive matchboxes, that you can fill with whatever you want – brightly colored candy fitted the bill for us! AND you can buy matchboxes and use any of the sticker designs, OR use the handy little template supplied to have some fun making your own. If your kids are big enough, you can get them involved too – they’ll love helping you to craft the party favors!
20. Mexican Fiesta Favor Pockets
Or these divine favor pockets, in flower and cactus designs might be just the thing for you. Quick, fun and easy to assemble – you decide what treat goes inside for your guests – brightly colored candy worked well for us!
21. Fiesta Planner Stickers
And because you’ve got this to organize, why not grab these Fiesta-themed planner stickers to help you sail through the Fiesta!
These are also an instant download, print on sticker paper – and be the most organized Fiesta party planner out there!
I hope you were inspired by some of the items in this post – remember to pin some ideas to your party planning board, and Fiesta like there is no manana!
Adios Amigos!
