Buenas Noches Birthday Party/ Cinco De Mayo

This great party courtesy of Hostess Blog was executed extremely well. They used items they had around the house, like bandannas, bright colored shawls and blankets, glass coke bottles, and the other items they either made themselves or thrifted!

DECORATIONS:

Tissue Poms:

My favorite DIY decodration tissue poms are really easy to make. I used 5 or 6 tissues per pom.

Stack four to eight the sheets of paper on top of one another, depending on you puffy you want them to be.

Fold the sheets into 1.5-inch accordion folds, all the way across.

Cut the ends of the tissue into round shapes, to give them a petal-like look.

Wrap the floral wire around the center of the folded tissue and secure it by twisting.

Pull apart each layer, separating it from the center one piece at a time.

Tissue Pom Tutorial with Photos

String Lights

Coke Bottles as vases

Bandannas strung up

Sombreros on the back of chairs

MENU:

Easy Sangraia 

1 Bottle of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Rioja, Zinfandel, Shiraz) 

1 Lemon cut into wedges 

1 Orange cut into wedges 

1 Lime cut into wedges 

2 Tbsp sugar 

Splash of orange juice or lemonade 

2 Shots of gin or triple sec (optional) 

1 Cup of raspberries or strawberries (may use thawed or frozen) 

1 Small can of diced pineapples (with juice) 

4 Cups ginger ale

Preparation: Pour wine into a large pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the lemon, orange and lime into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and pineapple then add sugar, orange juice and gin. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale, berries and ice just before serving. If you'd like to serve right away, use chilled red wine and serve over lots of ice. However, remember that the best Sangrias are chilled around 24 hours in the frig. - allowing the flavors to really marinate into each other.

Fresh Mango Salsa

1 large fresh mango
1 or 2 jalapeño chile peppers, seeds and membranes removed and finely diced
1 small clove of garlic, crushed fine with 1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 large red onion, finely diced (1/4 cup sliced green onions may be substituted)
Juice of 1/2 fresh lime

Peel and dice the Mango into 1/2-inch pieces. 

Prepare the jalapeno by removing the seeds and membranes and dicing, add to the Mango.  

Remove the paper skin from the garlic by hitting it with the flat side of a large knife, and then dicing coarsely. Sprinkle the salt over the garlic and use the flat side of your knife to “crush”  the garlic clove into a paste.  The abrasive salt is what helps to make it a fine consistency.

Dice the bell pepper and onion, and add this along with the crushed garlic. Stir the mixture well.

Squeeze the lime half over the mixture, and stir it well. Not only will the lime give a tartness to the salsa, it will help keep the other ingredients fresh and slow any browning to the mango pieces.

Refrigerate this for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to incorporate well.  Serves approximately 4 to 6 people.

Taco Bar

Meaty Chilli

Coronas

Lemonade

FUN AND EXTRAS:

Sparklers for late night fun.

Home made Mustaches

Pinata

Spanish Name Tags