Cinco de Mayo party ideas

Hello everyone!  And Happy Cinco de Mayo!  Or better yet, Happy Cinco de Miracle Whip!  We like Miracle Whip better than Mayo in our house.  How about in yours?

Just wanted you to know I was still alive.  It's been so long since I last wrote a post that I completely forgot how to do so.  

Do you have a party to celebrate?  We usually do, but not this year.  So I'll share photos of the last 2 Cinco de Mayo parties that we've had.  

I always do everything as cheaply and easy as possible.  But hopefully you will see that everything can still look great when being cheap & lazy like me.

Everyone knows they have arrived at the right place when greeted by a "Party!" banner.  I got this one a couple of years ago from Target's Dollar Spot.

I love to change up my mantel for every occasion.  The "Fiesta" banner was another Target Dollar Spot find a few years back.  

I love to collect lanterns, candle holders and bright colored bottles whenever I can find them for cheap.   This year I picked up a few colored bottles at Dollar Tree.  I just use them out in my yard the rest of the year.  I actually found this red one in my backyard when we moved in about 10 years ago. 

The brightly colored plates came from Michaels about 3 years ago.  I got them on clearance after Cinco de Mayo, I just used them the following year.  

I made this wreath from dollar store flowers. 

 

I don't usually decorate with bright colors.  So it's a nice change to do so for Cinco de Mayo.


Next I decided the outside needed to be decorated.  I have an arbor that I love to decorate to use as a backdrop for a photo booth.

Crepe paper is a cheap way to decorate.  I gathered different colors & made ruffles.

And some I just cut.  I have used them for a couple of years.  

And here it is all decorated

I added this Mexican star lantern that I found in Old Town San Diego.  We got it on clearance at 90% off.  My husband had to fix something on it. But he is pretty handy so now it looks good as new.  

I even made my own crepe paper flowers.  I remember going to Tijuana as a kid & seeing them on almost every street corner.  

You need a few props for the photo booth.  I found all of the Sombreros at Dollar Tree about 3 years ago. 

 And you must have mustaches!

My neighbors even had Mexican ponchos.  And a serape that we put on the bench. 

Isn't Zeke the cutest?  

We always have nachos with homemade salsa for almost every party at our house.  Yum!  For dinner we had tacos, rice & beans.  Just didn't get any photos.  We don't drink alcohol in our family.  But it is always fun to have non spiked punch in margarita glasses.  

After eating, It was warm enough for everyone to swim in the pool.  Then it was time for the pinata. 

My neighbor made this pinata.  I think it was her first or second one.  I was pretty impressed. 

The kids took turns trying to break the pinata. 

Finally the deed was done & everyone scrambled to get their share of the candy & goodies. 

Even our dog Cooky wanted to party.

This year we will most likely have chicken tacos to celebrate.  Might even break out the margarita glasses to have my Pepsi in.  I like to live dangerously.

Hoppy Easter!

Spring Mantel

Hello!  It's been awhile since I have posted. Did you miss me? 

Spring has officially sprung in my neck of the woods.  Even though I don't live anywhere close to the woods.  I finally got the itch to decorate.  Maybe it is just my allergies.   

I've been extremely lazy this year. So what else is new? 

You might have noticed that I never did a Valentine's mantel.  Nor did I do a St. Patrick's Day mantel.  I did get down the stuff to decorate, just didn't feel the urge. 

But I decided it was time to come out of hibernation.  So far all I have managed to decorate is my mantel. 

Even though Easter is in 2 weeks, I decided to go with a "Springy" theme and not a full fledge Easter them.   I can always add a couple of bunnies once I decide to climb up into the attic to retrieve some.

Since I've had my hours cut back at work.  I had to do this on the cheap.  Like as in, no money.  Luckily I have lots of stuff to decorate with.  The only recent purchase was this ironstone pitcher.  I found it at Savers thrift store for $2.99, plus I had a 20% off coupon.  And I purchased it before I got my hours cut and could no longer afford to spend money.  

Most of the items that I decorate with come from the thrift store, the dollar store or any place that I can find stuff cheap.  As you know, I'm cheap.  

The double topiaries on either side of the mantel were found at an antique store of all places.  I only buy stuff at antique stores when they are cheap.  Is $5.00 a piece cheap enough?  Well, $5.00 a pair would have been  better.  But I still felt like I was getting a deal at $5.00 a piece.  I've had them for quite a few years.  But still haven't tired of them.  

Here is another thrift store ironstone pitcher.  I'm sure I picked it up for a couple of dollars.  And the faux boxwood wreaths were a thrift store find last year.  All of my frames come from thrift stores too.  

I got this wreath some years ago at Michaels.  Or was it Joann's?  I can't remember as it was so long ago.  But I still love this wreath.  I'm sure I used a 40 or 50% off coupon to purchase it.  I never pay full price at these stores.  

I love the birds nest and eggs.  

Love the birdie too.  I really like that it doesn't make any noise.  Don't get me wrong, I love the sound of birds.  As long as it isn't a mocking bird and not in the middle of the night.  

I made a few garlands with a couple of different sized paper doilies.  I've had them in my stash since I got married back in 2006. 

The best part about this spring mantel is that it still worked for St Patrick's day yesterday since it has a lot of green.  Even if there wasn't a leprechaun in sight.  

And it will still work for Easter.  We'll see if any bunnies make it up on the mantel prior to Easter.  But don't hold your breath.  I might just got back into hibernation.  You know how I love a good nap.  




Linking to:

Valentine Flashback

Valentine's Day is in a week and I have yet to decorate for it this year.  I just can't seem to get in the decorating mood.  I'd much rather be looking for inspiration on Pinterest.  I am more of a dreamer than a doer.  That is a fancy way of saying that I am a lazy procrastinator.  

I did start decorating my mantel.  But I am not quite happy enough to share it yet.  Hopefully I will get it done before Valentine's Day. 

So until then, I thought I would share some of my past Valentine decorating.

We will start off with 2012 

"Silhouette Valentine Mantel".  

  

 "Love is all you need".  

2011

"Love and Cherubs"  

"Be Mine Cutie Pie" 

"Love Birds and Cherubs" 

The "Cherubs are taking over" 

"Call me Sweetheart" 

"A Valentine Vignette"

"My Mantel Full of Love"

2010

"It's time for another cloche party"

"Pink Valentine Decorating" 

"Love Mantel" 

"Hugs and Kisses" 

"Valentine Tablescape"

"Love Notes" 

If you made it to the end of this post, I applaud you.  That was a lot of pictures.  

I had fun going down memory lane putting this post together.  

I can see that I was really into blogging and decorating in 2010 & 2011.  Slowed down in 2012.  And 2013 I've almost become extinct.  

As you can see, I like decorating for Valentine's Day.   And I like a vintage feel to all my decorating.  Vintage Valentine decorating is my favorite.  

What was your favorite post?  

 I may even go back further.  If I do, I will need to go to my family blog since I started this blog in the summer of 2009.