Braxton's Taco Twos-day Birthday Fiesta
We like to go all out when we celebrate birthdays around here. And when Braxton’s real 2nd birthday fell on a Tuesday, the theme practically wrote itself. I’m not sure what people did to get ideas before Pinterest, but as soon as I have a theme, I can’t stop scrolling. Then I narrow down what I think I can actually recreate. My specialty is cheap but tedious. I like the decorations and food that can be easily (and cheaply) made. But it seems that the decorations / food that make the most impact are the most tedious ones to make. The crepe paper streamer backdrop, for example, turned out so eye-catching. But it took foreverrrrrrrrrr to make. As did the ruffle tiered table skirt. It turned out pretty, but I believe my exact words when I finished that beast were, “Never again.”
Once I knew the theme I had to hunt down this vintage Gymboree outfit with the cutest little donkey ever. Braxton had some of these outfits when he was younger and so I just knew this would be the cutest little set. But it happens to be a well loved line so it took some work to track it down. You can’t see it well in the pics, but his socks have little cactus and donkey on them. It happened to be really easy to just search for taco leggings and shirt on Amazon for my outfit. I needed that after the hunt for Braxton’s.
The food for this party was a bit more involved than my usual finger foods and desserts. I thought a taco bar and jalapeno nachos would be fun. They were, but they were also lots of work. There was also a quesadilla pull apart that was yummy but I never got pics of it since it didn’t finish cooking until mid-party. #momfail But it was quickly devoured so apparently it tasted alright despite the late appearance.
My favorite part were the cinnamon twists that we bought from Taco Bell. Mostly because they were easy and I actually eat those unlike most of the food for this party. (If you don’t know much about me, I only like approximately 17 foods in the entire world.)
The taco cupcakes were actually part of what sold me on this theme. I saw them on Pinterest and within two weeks a friend had made some and posted on her IG. I knew it had to be destiny! They were actually quite easy to make – Walmart made the cupcakes. Then I bought the white Oreos to be the ‘taco shells’, a mixed sprinkle container – orange line sprinkles for ‘cheese’ and red dot sprinkles for ‘tomatoes’. I used food coloring to turn the shredded coconut into ‘lettuce’ and crushed up regular Oreos cookies as the ‘meat’. Then I put it all together and topped with a little white icing as the ‘sour cream’. If you don’t look too closely, they look adorable. But as with all my attempts…just don’t zoom in too much.
The sombrero cookies were so cute! They were fairly easy to make – you just pipe icing around the edge and around the seam of the gumdrop in the middle and then heavily cover with sprinkles.
The taco cupcakes were actually part of what sold me on this theme. I saw them on Pinterest and within two weeks a friend had made some and posted on her IG. I knew it had to be destiny! They were actually quite easy to make – Walmart made the cupcakes. Then I bought the white Oreos to be the ‘taco shells’, a mixed sprinkle container – orange line sprinkles for ‘cheese’ and red dot sprinkles for ‘tomatoes’. I used food coloring to turn the shredded coconut into ‘lettuce’ and crushed up regular Oreos cookies as the ‘meat’. Then I put it all together and topped with a little white icing as the ‘sour cream’. If you don’t look too closely, they look adorable. But as with all my attempts…just don’t zoom in too much.
The sombrero cookies were so cute! They were fairly easy to make – you just pipe icing around the edge and around the seam of the gumdrop in the middle and then heavily cover with sprinkles.
Even though Gymboree is a first love for me when it comes to children’s clothing, I couldn’t resist these llama dresses from Eleanor Rose. They really were the perfect fiesta dresses for the sisters.
I snagged a cheap backdrop off Amazon and I’m glad I did since now both my girls want a fiesta party for one of their future birthdays. The tissue paper flowers are another cheap and easy but tedious decoration. Making them brought me right back to high school days decorating homecoming floats and such. I use the same letters each year from Hobby Lobby and just recover them with matching scrapbook paper. It makes an easy centerpiece for our decorations each year.
But I have to say, the taco bunting was a favorite decoration. I used real taco shells and iced the edges with caulking (yep, like what you use to seal bathroom tile seams) and then dipped it in sprinkles before it dried. Then I just carefully hung them on some twine that I already had. Super easy and cute. I just had to remind my kids NOT to sample them because even though they looked yummy, they were not edible. I saw the idea on Pinterest. I have no clue what the original mama used because it was just a pic with no instructions. But the caulking was the correct color (plus I already had a tube on hand) and it just felt weird to have real icing on it since it was hanging in my living room.
I hope you enjoyed a little sneak peek into Braxton’s Taco Two-sday Birthday Fiesta. Let me know if you have any questions. I have LOTS more pictures and details. But I’m long winded as is so I tried my best to keep it short and simple this time.