How to Decorate for a Mexican Fiesta
If you're planning a Mexican fiesta, don't skimp on decorations. Adorning your party venue with fiesta-inspired decor will add set the mood. You don't need to spend a lot of cash on fiesta-appropriate decorations, especially if you combine store-bought items with simple do-it-yourself projects. With a little planning and ample preparation time, you can turn your home, a dance hall, or any other party venue into a vibrant space filled with bright, Mexican-inspired design elements. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Tablecloths
- Place mats
- Napkins
- Papel picado
- Tape
- Scissors
- Dahlias
- Stoneware pitchers and teapots
- Crepe paper
- Bandanas
- Sewing needle
- Thread
- Tissue paper
- Piñata
Instructions
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Cover tables in plain white tablecloths. Using this neutral color will allow you to mix and match festive elements on the table. If you want to cut down on after-party cleanup, choose paper tablecloths that you can ball up and throw away immediately after the event. Choosing brightly colored paper napkins rather than cloth linens will also reduce the amount of time you must spend cleaning after your fiesta.
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Hang papel picado, or Mexican cut paper banners, over entrance ways. These traditional banners feature colorful tissue paper flags with intricate cut work designs. Disassemble a few banners and use the individual flags as place mats to add a punch of color to the dining table. You can find these tradition decorations at most specialty party stores.
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Create floral centerpieces from bright dahlias. Choose flowers in rich orange, deep pink and vibrant red hues and arrange them in bold, colorful stoneware teapots or drink pitchers.
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Stitch together pink, yellow, blue and green bandannas to create vibrant table runners. Cut an old, white tablecloth to match the size of each length of sewn bandannas, pin it to the bandanna runner and sew together along the edges to create a sturdy runner that won't come apart during your fiesta.
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Wind lengths of red, azure and yellow crepe paper to create streamers to hang from the ceiling. To create an attractive design, tape the end of one length of streamer to each corner of the ceiling and tape the other end to the ceiling's center point. Don't pull the streamers, tight; you should have enough ease to allow the streamers to gently curve down and then slope back up to the ceiling's center point. Play with different crepe paper color combinations if yellow, azure and red don't suit the rest of your decor.
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Suspend a pinata from the ceiling. If your room layout allows for it, the center point of the ceiling is an ideal place from which to suspend your piñata. You can also situate it near a corner or arrange it over a particular table.
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Decorate large serving bowls and punch bowls with tissue paper streamers. Cut pieces of tissue paper long enough to fit around your bowls' outer edges and twice as long as you want the finished streamers to measure, then fold the tissue paper in half lengthwise and cut fringe that extends from the open edge to within about an inch of the folded edge. Make cuts about 1/4 inch apart when making the fringe and tape the finished streamers to the outer edge of your bowl.
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Tips & Warnings
If you want your Mexican fiesta to have traditional appeal, use the colors of the Mexican flag, red, white and green, when decorating. You can also opt to use traditional woven Mexican blankets for table runners.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit fiesta decoration image by kubais from Fotolia.com
