Mexican Fiesta

Since Cinco de Mayo is on Sunday, I wanted to share a recent Mexican Fiesta dinner party that I had at my house a few weeks ago.  We've had such a long winter in Switzerland, with many months of gray skies and cold weather, that I wanted to have a small dinner party with lots of color.  Since we love Mexican food and don't get it too often here, I thought it would be perfect to have a Mexican Fiesta!

To set the tone,  I made mini pinata invitations which the guests had to pull apart to get the information inside.  And to set the mood even more, when the guests arrived at our house, they could choose from a paper flower headband or a small sombrero to wear for the night. 

I made fringed streamers using tissue paper that I had left over from another project and strung them up on twine over the dining room table to bring in more of the fiesta feel.  I used the same streamers on the drinks table and over the taco bar to tie it all together.  I also made tissue paper flowers and designed some party printables to use as placecards and to make napkin rings. And, I re-used the bean cans as vases to bring in more color on the table.

On the drinks table, we had strawberry agua fresca, beers and margaritas. I served chips and three different kinds of salsa for an appetizer.  For the main course, I set up a taco bar with all of the fixings so that the guests could choose for themselves what they wanted on their tacos.  

Finally, for the dessert table, I used the leftover tissue paper again to make rosettes to hang on the wall behind it.  I covered a dresser with a hot pink tablecloth and used terra cotta pots and saucers to make a mexican style cupcake stand.  On the stand were the yummiest margarita cupcakes! I also made a tres leches trifle and laid out some chocolate balls.

It was such a fun night! The colors and the theme really helped us to feel like we were in warmer climates, even if it was for just a few hours.

If you would like to have the recipes or need any help planning your own Mexican Fiesta, feel free to contact me or leave a comment below!

Mini Piñata Invitations

It's almost time for Cinco de Mayo and I wanted to share these mini piñata invitations that I made for a Mexican Fiesta dinner party that I had at my house recently.  It was such a long, grey winter in Switzerland and Spring did not come early, so I decided to have a small dinner party with lots of colors.  What better way to do that than with a Mexican Fiesta!

To set the mood, I made these mini piñata invitations.  I used a cereal box to make them. I then designed an invitation and rolled it up, along with some confetti, and placed it inside the piñata. I added some ribbon to the invitation and placed a "pull me" tag at the other end of the ribbon to make sure that the invitation would come out easily. 

It turned out very cute and those that received it loved the idea.  I also designed a printable set that would be perfect for your next Mexican Fiesta.  Come back soon to see the pictures of the party!

A Chalet Chic Dinner Party and a Giveaway!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of going to a dinner party at a chalet up in the mountains.  Since one of my good friends was hosting the dinner party, I helped her to jazz up the dining table a bit by designing a set of dinner party printables. I created a menu, place cards, paper napkin rings, and wine glass flags. The whole house, which is a gorgeous chalet and decorated beautifully, was lit with candles. It made for a very cozy and chic evening. Read on for more pictures and to see the giveaway at the end!

Since the printables would go perfectly with a Christmas or winter theme, we made a Christmas sangria to go with our dinner that was excellent!  We used red wine, cranberry juice, grand marnier, cointreau, sprite, cinnamon sticks, star anise, fresh cranberries, apples, oranges and strawberries. It was delicious!

We had such a fun night and since it is so close to the holidays, I decided to make a printed set of these and host my first giveaway!  You will receive eight 5 x 7 inch blank menus, a set of 8 paper napkin rings, 8 wine glass flags, and 8 placecards.  All you have to do to win the set is to leave a comment below letting me know what event you would use these for if you won. If you want to, you can also like my facebook page, but that is not necessary for entry. And it doesn't matter where you live, I'll mail it to you :-).

The winner will be chosen at random (by random.org) on Saturday, December 1st.  

If you would prefer not to wait to see if you won this giveaway, these are available as printables in my Etsy shop.