For my son's 1st birthday party we decided to do a fiesta.
The invitations were made using a video editing software. I had clips of him from birth til present put together and made a "video" accompanied with music. I then scrolled the invitation up the screen to the tune of 'The Mexican Hat Dance'. It read: Arriba! Arriba! It's _____ 1st fiesta! We're cooking up some meat, Get in the mood to party! The whole event's a treat, So, please don't be tardy! I included outakes at the end as well as credits. The software I used allowed me to put in a menu's chapter (much like you see when you watch a dvd). Mine included four chapters: 1)video clips 2)birthday invitaion 3)outtakes 4)credits The entire dvd ran about 10 minutes. The dvd's were mailed to all the guests. As the children entered we said "buenas tardes, Senor/ita _____. pasale!" (Good afternoon, _______. Please come in!) All ladies (the grown-ups) were handed a rose I made from red tissue paper. I found instructions on the web by doing a simple search. We rented 3 fold tables and chairs to seat 24. Each table had 3 table cloths. A red, a green, and a white to mimic the mexican flag. Plates were set with tags for the head of the house (i.e. Casa de Juan Vega) Once everyone sat and we prayed, I turned on "la cucaracha" and explained the door prize would go to the family who found a cockroach under their plate. (I drew names from a bag the night before to decide who the winner would be) Guests were allowed to eat. I allowed 20 minutes before the 1st game which I signaled with a "grito" (Mexican yell). My husband does it quite well. The first activity was pin the mustache on the "vato". After that, a second grito was sounded signaling it was time for the mexican hat dance. Then later the final grito signaled it was time for the pinata. I also kept a gated area where I placed blankets and toys for the younger children and an open area also blanketed with a gymboree tunnel, a truck full of blocks and several beach balls, for everyone during a "lull" time. My decorations were simple on the tables- maracas and tissue paper flowers and scattered around were sombreros and other mexican decor. My "loot bags" were white tortilla warmers (.99 foam I purchased at the local grocery). I used stencil to trace each child's name, then filled in the letters with alternating red and green sharpie. Each had a towel in side with a pretty lime print (the actual fruit) and they were set out on the tables. I actually had the tortillas inside for the meal. (We did fajitas, rice and beans). When the children were ready to leave they grabbed from each of 5 baskets filled with maracas, candy, stickers, bubbles, etc and placed inside their tortilla warmer. I had a wonderful time planning this and I hope it inspires some of you out there!
