Zarie’s First Fiesta

Yes, I am that mom. I am the mom who executes a full on fiesta for her 1-year-old. I do not care if she was “just turning one” or “won’t remember it.” I will remember, and one day she will look back and see that her first year of life was celebrated in a big way! If you hate this, turn back now. Sorry not sorry.

So, I decided on her party theme months ago. If you know my Zarie, you know her smile can light an entire room. It is probably her favorite thing to do. I wanted a birthday celebration as fun and bright as she is. Well, and I wanted to eat tacos. Who doesn’t want a party that has tacos? 

My husband suggested capturing a “before” photo of the madness that is our home before these big events. I have two summer babies, so we seemingly JUST had a big celebration. July and August have been BUSY for us. There was (and might still be) stuff EVERYWHERE…If you look at the “before” photo, you can see that my older daughter’s dinosaur chalkboard is still sitting right there in my dining room! One day at a time, folks.

People always inquire about how much work goes into making my occasions come to life. A lot. I am planning and creating months before the actual day. I love it. I love taking my time piecing all of the details together. I can’t help myself. Details make my world go round. Occasions are my jam.

 

I enjoyed using so many colors with this theme. From the piñata ribboned smash cake, to the paper fiesta flowers. I usually try to handcraft a lot of the decor used for my occasions. My favorite, and most time consuming, was the festive layered table skirt. This project was fairly inexpensive and uncomplicated. It only required duct tape and vinyl table cloths. Getting it just right was tricky, but it added the perfect amount of fiesta flair to the design. Zarie’s fiesta was also decorated with huge paper fiesta flowers. SO easy. SO CHEAP. $1 spent made five! These flowers are so versitile. I’ve seen them cut and used at weddings. I had to make them for our fiesta. They added the perfect pop of color.

The multi-colored backdrop was actually repurposed from older daughter’s dinosaur party (That’s right, girls like dinos too). It had been hanging there for over a month, and I just added in additional color strips to make it fit our fiesta theme. Between the rainbow of colors and the pink poms, it came out beautifully! The mylar letter balloons were a steal on Amazon. They looked unpromising out of the package, but blew up quite nicely. I can’t deny it, I love a good pun. They’re all I taco bout.

For tableware, I went with cacti themed Meri Meri plates and napkins. The plates were perfectly sized for the kids’ tables, and the napkins held up for even the most enthusiastic salsa lovers!

It is tradition for my sister to make birthday chalkboards for my girls. She has actually styled chalkboards for both of their christening receptions as well. They’re made with love, and we love her for it. I think this chalkboard was my favorite! The colors and giant cactus were so much fun.

Traditional papel picado banners hung from the ceilings of my home; as well as outside. We hung these when the girls were napping, and when Raegan came downstairs, she yells “MOMMY IT’S COCO!!” She recognized the banner from watching that awesome movie! I ordered a special papel picado banner to capture each month of Zarie’s first year (to include her first day of life). Papel Picado was also used to welcome guests at the front door.

Hand painted wooden maracas were given as party favors. They were a hit with the kids! Zarie loves shaking and bouncing with hers! What about the cake? Listen….I’ve tried a ton of local bakeries, and I can’t say enough how much I really like Publix! Yep, thats right folks, these are grocery store cupcakes–and they too were a huge hit! I appreciate how the staff at Publix is always kindly accomodating when it comes to allergy concerns. They whipped up some plainly iced cupcakes, as well as Zarie’s super adorable piñata ribboned smash cake. Zarie’s uno sombrero glitter cake topper was created by a dear friend of mine! There was a matching one on her high chair banner!

My sisters were kind enough to help me create mini dessert tacos to top the cupcakes. They were 100% edible, and make from golden oreos (crunchy tortillas), chocolate frosting (taco meat), orange/white/yellow sprinkles (cheese), green frosting (lettuce), red hots candy (tomatoes), and a squiggle of [ridiculously difficult to pipe] Oreo filling (sour cream). I love that these were done with my family around the kitchen. Lots of laughs and good conversation make things like this fun. My dad was skeptical at first, but once he saw the finished product goes “thats a taco alright!” So funny.

The dessert table also featured a beautiful assortment of custom sugar cookies. To include, piñata #1’s, two different cacti, and hot pink chili peppers. It takes so much talent to create these cookies. They came out exactly as I’d hoped they would.

Let’s taco bout tacos. (Yep, there goes that pun again). LOVED putting together the menu for this event. I don’t like for people to leave my house hungry. Especially not from a birthday party. All the people I love, love tacos. So we had a taco bar with both beef and chicken tacos. The guacamole was homemade by my husband. I’ve tried A LOT of guacamole in my lifetime, and his is the absolute best. He even used fresh jalapeños from our garden. Delicious. What is a fiesta without chips and salsa? I folded up individual brown bags of fresh tortilla chips–taco food truck style–so that guests could grab their fill of guac and salsa, and still hang out outside. We also served mini spicy chicken empanadas. There wasn’t a single empanada left. Mission accomplished.

The drink menu included juice for the kiddos, lime infused water, margaritas, a variety of Jarritos sodas, and Coronas. Oh, and see that gorgeous painted pitcher? My brother and sister-in-law gifted us that after buying it in Mexico. It was the perfect accent for our food table setup. Quartered limes were served in chili shaped dishes at both the food and drinks tables.

I am a sucker for a good photo booth. We created a simple photo booth outside using a festive tablecloth, and an adorable balloon and prop kit. I also got the pleasure of laughing my face off while watching toddlers completely DESTROY a taco piñata. We hung it from our swing set, and within minutes, the yard was covered in candy. Hilarious. The kiddos also enjoyed a pool and bounce house.

Singing Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl was bittersweet for me. In just one moment I felt both excitement for her toddler years, and sadness for the end of her first year. I feel blessed to have felt how I did while surrounded by amazing friends and family. My girl is loved, and had a blast at her First Fiesta!

Thanks, for checking out my very first occasion! I welcome feedback openly!

Vendor Credits

Photography: Thomas Windley Photography & Lola Vargas Photography

Cake Topper: This N’ That Designs

Custom Chalkboard: Shakale Moyer

Custom Sugar Cookies: Cookie Crime

Papel Picado: Craft Junks Anonymous

Hand Painted Maracas: UDTEE

Tableware: Meri Meri Party