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FIESTA DECORATIONS We have
lots of
pre-made decorations for your
fiesta but homemade ones are fun too,
throughout the text below you will also
find ideas for making some fun fiesta
decorations you can make yourself.
Decorating with Balloons
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Balloons can economically
transform any room, backyard, park
or outdoor area into a festive space in a
matter of minutes. For your
Fiesta party use red, green,
yellow and orange balloons. Here
are some suggestions for using
balloons. Tie a bunch of helium filled
balloons to a mailbox, porch
railing or chair, or tie one to the back of each chair.
If you choose not to use helium,
tie balloons to varying lengths
of curling ribbon, and hang
balloons from the ceiling, or
from a light fixture over the
party table.
Balloon arches are
ideal for photo backdrops, entryways, and to hi-light
different areas around your party room and are easy to make.
A column of
balloons
will work much the same way that arches do, and can be used
for entryways, photo backdrop, or for a terrific splash of
color when placed at intervals around a party room.
Balloon swags
make the perfect accessory. They can be hung
across the ceiling of a tent, or a room with a high ceiling
like banquet halls or a gymnasium.
Use a Helium Tank to fill balloons. Tie
Curling Ribbon to
balloons, and group them together. (Odd numbers look best:
3, 5, or 7) Place groupings of balloons around the party
room.
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Fiesta Balloons
Fiesta Metallic Balloon
Fiesta! 12" Balloons
Latex Balloons |
INDOOR
DECORATING IDEAS
Colorful Streamers
Hang crepe streamers of red, green and
white (the colors of Mexico's flag)
and
don't forget to hang a flag of Mexico
too!
The
budget for your event will determine how
you will decorate for your event. If
your budget is low, but your plans are
grand, use one large scene rather than a
using a lot of small items.
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Fiesta Desert Flowers
Scene
Set
the scene for a Fiesta party
with this 50'x 4'
Desert Flower Scene Setter.
Mix and Match with all of our
colorful Fiesta and Southwestern
decorations. |
Favors can be used to enhance your
decorating, place them on table tops or
around your party area and give them to
your guests to take home at the end of
the party. This
Fiesta Favor Kit for 12 Guests
Includes: (12) pair solid neon maracas,
(12) fiesta bandanas, (12) Sombreros and
is a great addition to any fiesta party.
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Sombreros
are not just for wearing, hang
sombreros on the back of chairs or just
hang them on the wall.
Use them to make
a festive
Sombrero Salad
and place it on your serving table.
And don't forget the Mexican Hat Dance.
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Make Chili Paper Garland
Start by stringing strands of red
peppers for garland decorations or twist tissue
paper into the desired red pepper shape
and then cover them with masking tape
and paint them red. Hang them
around the room and drape them on your
tables. We offer
a premade
Fiesta Tinsel Garland.
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Fiesta Signs
Set the scene by hanging this
assortment of
Fiesta signs on the walls or
if your artistic draw your own
signs. |
Use
Piņatas as decorations on tables and
later hang them for are a great activity
for your party!
Use
ponchos as overlays on tables or hang
them on a wall.
Place
cactus plants in colorful
pottery.
Sponge
paint your paved driveway. Sponges
shaped like cactus, coyotes, adobes, etc
can be purchased at a craft stores, and
washable paints can be used.
Flowers
Oversized
margarita glasses make great containers
for flowers for your Fiesta events. Have
your floral designer arrange fresh
flowers like: Dendrobium orchids,
Asiatic lilies, Alstromeria, Roses,
Stargazer lilies, heather and salal,
into these containers and top with faux
or real limes or lime slices.
Make
Mexican Flowers
Create
colorful tissue paper flowers to add a
festive touch to your Cinco de Mayo or
Fiesta party table. They are both fun
and inexpensive to make, and easy
project to do with kids!
Need: Tissue paper, twist tie or pipe
cleaner
Directions:
For each flower, cut four pieces of
tissue, 4 1/2 - inches x 10 - inches.
Layer the tissue. Starting at one short
end, accordion fold the layers of
tissue, making pleats about 3/4 - inches
wide. After the tissue has been pleated,
round off the corners at each end of the
pleated tissue to create a rounded petal
shape. At the center of tissue, cut a
small "v" shape from the accordion folds
toward the center of the tissue. Repeat
for the side directly opposite. Wrap a
green chenille stem around the notched
center of the tissue and twist off to
secure. Carefully open out the pleated
accordion folds at each side of the
chenille stem.
To make
floral arrangements insert tissue flower
stems into floral foam, or gather
flowers into a bundle, then place them
in a vase or pot.
Decorate
clay flower pots in different sizes and
set around on the tables (Acrylic paint
pens worked well.) Use medium or
large Fiesta Flowers in the pots and
place on your tables.
Twist
chenille stems around a rolled napkin to
make a napkin ring, or trim the stem off
and use tissue flowers as a corsage or
hair ornament.
Table top
accents
Create
instant fun when you set your table with
brightly colored
Fiesta Paper Goods
(plates,
cups, table covers, and napkins). Create a designer look
by adding some
solid color paper
goods in red & green.
Remember
that the tops of your tables provide a
very large surface area, covering then
with fiesta themed linens is the fastest
and most economical way to transform
your party area. If you are in the
Cypress, TX area we rent a fiesta table
drape with a Kelly Green Top with a
Canary Yellow and Red Skirt, just
contact our consultants for details.
Create a "Hot Stuff "
table by renting
red table cloths with black
overlay. Add
black chair covers
and
red chair bands.
Or create festive tables by alternating
red, yellow,
orange & green table cloths.
If your
budget won't allow linens then try these
paper & plastic table covers:
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Fiesta Bandanas
are great used as a napkins or use a
raffia tie around your chair backs and
tuck in a
Fiesta Bandana.
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This
Fiesta Fun Cover
is
a cute way to decorate your
umbrella for your outdoor
fiesta! The Fiesta Fun Cover is
7' and comes with 8 fun clips
which are Sombreros and
Margarita Glasses.
Flashing Margarita Glasses can
be used to
light up drinks to desserts.
Use for fruit cups, shrimp cocktail or
an ice cream sundae. |
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You could also use
Raffia Table Skirts
for a festive flair.
Lighting
Fiesta
Party Favors
An all time
favorite for any fiesta party are
Maracas
(some can be
imprinted with your party
details or company logo).
Use
Genuine Hand Painted Maracas
or add color to your Conga Line
in a big way with beautiful large
Neon Maracas,
also glow in black light. A great
favorite is the
Mini Neon Maracas in assorted neon colors.
Want to
do it yourself then make Paper Mache maracas. One pair for
each invited guest plus a few for
decorations. These were made by covering
water bomb sized balloons with paper
Mache. When they are completely dry, cut
off the tied end of the balloon and
inserted dried beans and rice. Then use
a length of wooden dowel and hot glued
them in place for the handle. As the
guests arrived, have each one paint
their own maracas.
Other Party
favors and gifts might include:
Decorations You Can Make
"Papel
Picado"
Set the scene
for a Fiesta party with our 50'x 8"
Fiesta Papel Picado Border Roll. Mix
and Match with all of our colorful
Fiesta and Southwestern decorations
or make your own Papel
Picado using the instructions below:
Take out some scissors and make a couple
of Mexican paper banners, these are made
the same way you use to make snowflakes
our of paper. This technique comes from
Mexico and is called "papel picado,"
which in Spanish means, "pierced paper."
They are usually made from tissue paper,
but could be made from any paper that
can be folded and cut. Lightweight
plastic or vinyl could also be used to
make them weather proof. In Mexico,
artisans use special chisels to cut out
intricate designs. You can make it
easier by using folded paper and cutting
with scissors. Festive and unique, they
are fun to make and make a unique
contribution to your Mexican theme.
Attach them from string and hang all
around the room.
This is a great project for kids to do
or help with depending on their age and
ability with scissors. It is truly a
magical moment when you open your paper
and see what beauty unfolds.
What you will need:
Tissue paper, the traditional size is 15
x 10-inches, although you can make them
any size you want.
Small sharp scissors (cuticle scissors
work great.)
String
Glue stick or stapler
Directions:
1. Fold the paper in half so you have
rectangle. With the fold on top, fold in
half again so that you have a smaller
rectangle. Fold in half two more times
until you end up with a much smaller
rectangle.
2. Cut away shapes from the both edges
that are only folds. Do not cut all the
way across the rectangle or it will fall
apart. Use the tip of the scissors if
you like to pierce the paper in the
center (be very careful so you don't
stab yourself!!) and cut out more
shapes.
3. Unfold once, and cut more shapes into
the uncut folded edge and refine the
interior cuts you have made if you want.
Repeat this step until your papel picado
is completely unfolded.
4. Once you have several cut out, run
the glue stick along the top edge (very
carefully so you don't tear the paper
and fold over the string to secure (you
could also use a stapler). Continue
adding rectangles until the banner is as
long as you want it.
Make some jack-o-lanterns from pumpkins
add candles and place fiesta flowers
around them, you could end up creating a
new Halloween tradition.
Make
Mexican Lanterns
Need: Construction paper, crayons
or markers
Directions: Give each child a
piece of construction paper and allow
them to decorate any way they wish.
(crayons and markers) Next, have the
children fold the paper in half length
wise. They should then cut 1'' cuts
apart beginning at the fold but leave
one 1'' border around the edges except
the fold. Have the children then unfold
and roll each long edge of the paper in
a circle and staple. Use the hole punch
to make two holes in the top, then tie a
piece of string to the hole as a hanger.
GAMES &
ACTIVITIES
Mexican Hat Dance
Have a
Mexican Hat Dance with
Sombreros that
come in assorted colors, lots of
fun at your party. These
Neon Sombreros with chin strap
gives a new look to this Mexican hat and
add great color to the dance floor. This popular
genuine
Child Size Sombreros
is 14".
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Gather
the children to sit in a circle.
Explain that a Mexican hat dance is
a traditional Mexican dance done
around a Mexican hat, which is
called a sombrero. Place a sombrero
on the floor and play some Mexican
music. As you call each child's
name, the child goes into the circle
and dances as desired around the
sombrero to the music.
Piņatas
Use
Piņatas as decorations on tables and
later hang them for are a great activity
for your party!
Interpreting some simple Spanish words
can also be a good activity. Make a list
of some simple Spanish words and have
guests list the meanings of the words.
"OLE"
Another game idea is to use a sombrero,
each time a person says the word for
example: "Ole" they have to wear the
sombrero, until someone else says the
word. Then that person wears the
sombrero.
Fiesta Limbo Game
Limbo is a fun activity at any party,
see "how low your guests can go"! Great
for all ages from beginners to experts (
8 levels of difficulty).
More Activities:
Bean
Counting
Using a package of dried beans paint
each side of the bean a different color
using the colors, red, white, and green
the colors of the Mexican Flag.
Place the beans in a cup and have one
child in the group shake them and spill
them out onto the table. Have the
children place the beans into piles
using the colored side that was face up.
Have the children count the beans in the
pile. Have them tell each other which
color had the most and least.
Making Pottery
Purchase a piece of raw clay from a
pottery or craft store. Gather pictures
of traditional Mexican pottery. Show the
clay and the pictures to the children
have them make their own creations with
ideas from the pictures.
Movement Activity Fun
Acquire a recording of music played by a
mariachi band and a few
Genuine Maracas
you could make your own with the
children. Children listen to the music
and move their bodies and maracas to the
beat.
Cinco Game
Cut a piece of colored construction
paper into the shape of the number five
for each child in the class using a
variety of colors. Give each child a 5
and allow him to show it to the other
children. Then have each child sit on
his 5. Have the children to try to
remember what color 5's other children
had. Then ask them to try to name all of
the children who have a certain color.
Let students use Spanish number words to
count the number of students that have
each color.
Jumping Beans
Explain to the children that a Mexican
jumping bean has a type of caterpillar
pupa inside it. When the caterpillar
gets warm it twitches or jumps and makes
the bean move. Play
a
Fiesta Party Cd
and as the music plays have the children
jump like Mexican jumping beans. When
the music stops, have each child freeze
until the music resumes.
Native Mexican Kickball
Explain that the game is a competition
played by the Tarahumara Indians in
Native Mexican villages. Set up an
obstacle course on your playground. You
should make the obstacles for kickball.
An obstacle course might challenge
players to kick the ball over a log,
under the swing set, around a tree, over
a ramp, through a tunnel, etc. Divide
the children into two groups and allow
the children to kick the ball through
the course relay-style. The first team
to have all players complete the course
is the winning team.
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Make a
Sombrero Salad and place it on
your serving table. These
Sombreros
work well for your sombrero
salad.
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Fiesta Bandanas
or
Mexican Bandanas
make great
napkins!
- Use
Sombreros
or
black plastic
Spanish Hats
for decorating. Turn hats upside
down and use to serve dry snacks.
- Copy
the Mexican flag from the computer
and glue them on small skewers and
use at each guests place setting.
TASTING PARTIES
Share
with the children Guacamole, Bean Dip
and Corn Chips, tacos, burritos,
enchiladas, refried beans, and Spanish
rice.
TACO
BAR
Everyone
loves to make their own tacos, so try
Tacos with their favorite toppings:
cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa! Gotta
have chips and salsa, try serving the
chips in a sombrero or sombrero chip and
dip tray. Put on this
Fiesta Party Cd ,
and you're ready to party Fiesta-style.
FIESTA
CAKE
Make a cake in the shape of a very large
cactus with toothpicks for spines.
Use one 9 x 13 cake, cut in half
lengthwise and place one piece above the
other to form the center of the cactus.
From a second 9 x 13 pan cut 2 arms for
the cactus, or use a horseshoe shape pan
and cut apart in the center placing one
piece on each side of the center cactus
for the arms.
FROZEN
PALETAS
Serve Frozen paletas (Frozen Juice Bars)
for dessert.
FRIED ICE
CREAM OR FLAM
More
food ideas:
Click Here for
Fiesta Recipes
How to Make a
Sombrero Salad
Do a search for "Fiesta" at
Bettycrocker.com
and
Pillsbury.com
for some great Fiesta Recipes.
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