Ideas for Budget Friendly Fiesta Birthday Party

[Jsme]

A friend and I are planning a impromtu birthday party for another friend. It is going to be a surprise party. Our friend is out of town this week with her mother and will return on Thursday, which allows us plenty of time to plan this without her knowledge.

Any ideas that you can give us will help.

I have a sombero that we are going to make her wear.

Beverages include beer margaritas, beer and tequila.

We want a simple menu and are planning tacos, nachos and taco salads. We will also have salsa and guacamole.

She loves cheesecake so I am making her a cheesecake. I know it is not the least bit fiesta style but she is not a desert eater so I have to go with what she likes on this.

We really have to do this budget friend since we are all school system employees and we do not get paid during the summer.

Thanks. I plan on going to Party City tomorrow. Will go to IKEA for shot glasses and margarita glaasses.

[dbarker]

Definitely get a pinata. You can fill it w/ whatever you want to....small candies, toys, pencils, erasers...the list is endless. You will need a blindfold (bandana) and something to hit it with (baseball bat).

[disneyhand]

I love party planning!

If it's outside, try a hanging 1 or more pinata's for decor.

If it's at night and outdoors you can scatter glass jars with votive candles throughout your yard. If you have access to them, baby food jars work great for this too. Ikea used to have inexpensive votive candles and holders, I haven't looked for them lately though.

You can also put small arrangements of flowers inside or out. You may have some in your yard, beg some from friends or neighbors or buy a large bouquet and split it up. They don't need to be big or fancy. You can use jars for vases too.

Use colorful table clothes (flat sheets work good too!) and decorate the food table with the different colored raw bell and hot peppers.

That's all I can think of right now, have fun!

[labdogs42]

check www.orientaltrading.com for cheap, fun party supplies and goodies.

ETA and here are some coupon codes:
http://www.retailmenot.com/view/orientaltrading.com

[Mlissa88]

My local Dollar Tree store had many "Fiesta" type party supplies in stock during my last trip there.... it's a great savings for picking up a few decorations.

[captainjen]

Do you have a dollar store near you? If not, you can go to their website. The things you can buy for a dollar would blow your mind. You could do an entire mexican themed party with everything from food snacks, to glasses to party favors for a really cheap price

[Hoppy]

No need to buy the themed fiesta paper goods. Just buy the regular colored plates, napkins, etc. in different colors (think of the bright colors in a serape).

How about using jars or buckets filled with dried beans and insert candles? Use big baskets and terracotta pots for serving dishes. Lots of cut and whole limes add color too.

Our family loves fiestas--you can feed a lot of people for little money!

OLE!

[Bluetickmom]

We did a fiesta party for my daughter a few years ago. We ordered papel picado and hung it all around, we also ordered paper accordian streamers since these are two traditional decorations.

We ordered some crepe paper flowers for centerpieces and also made huge tissue paper flowers to hang around the yard and at the corners of the tents.

We did tableclothes and paper products in different festive colors, and I ordered mini pinata's from oriental trading to place on the tables with the flowers.

Also, something that was a huge hit. I made non-alcoholic sangria and then just had wine available for the adults with the instructions on how much to mix in. That way the kids could drink it too. PM me if you want the recipe it was really yummy!!


Another thing that was great for atmosphere was we had mariachi music playing in the background.

You could also make cascarones to break over the guest of honor.

Here is a fantastic resource for your needs. http://www.alamofiesta.com

[Jsme]

Originally Posted by dbarker

Definitely get a pinata. You can fill it w/ whatever you want to....small candies, toys, pencils, erasers...the list is endless. You will need a blindfold (bandana) and something to hit it with (baseball bat).

We have a bandana and a baseball bat. We have to figure out where to hang one. We had already mentioned a pinata but we do not really have anywhere hang one.

[Jsme]

Originally Posted by disneyhand

I love party planning!

If it's outside, try a hanging 1 or more pinata's for decor.

If it's at night and outdoors you can scatter glass jars with votive candles throughout your yard. If you have access to them, baby food jars work great for this too. Ikea used to have inexpensive votive candles and holders, I haven't looked for them lately though.

You can also put small arrangements of flowers inside or out. You may have some in your yard, beg some from friends or neighbors or buy a large bouquet and split it up. They don't need to be big or fancy. You can use jars for vases too.

Use colorful table clothes (flat sheets work good too!) and decorate the food table with the different colored raw bell and hot peppers.

That's all I can think of right now, have fun!

We are putting out Citronella and non senced tealights all over the place. We have mosquitoes around the house so we are going to mix the citronella candles with the nonsenced just to make the last longer.

[Jsme]

Originally Posted by labdogs42

check www.orientaltrading.com for cheap, fun party supplies and goodies.

ETA and here are some coupon codes:
http://www.retailmenot.com/view/orientaltrading.com

I have already looked at them last night and decided we do not have the time to order this type stuff. We can go to the local places and pay about the same when you factor in the shipping.

BUT thank you bunches. I love retailmenot.

[Jsme]

Let me elaborate more on the party.

This is a surprise party. However, the birthday girl had plans on the only date we could do it. So we guilted her into canceling them. Let me explain the guilt part. We are a close set of friends who work together. We call us the "family". Even others do. Family as in ....well...gang or that type thing. It is all a big joke since we work in the school. But we are very tight. We make a lot of decisioins together.

The birthday girl is presently in Boston for a birthday trip with her mother. She always figures out everything so this was perfec to plan as a last minute type thing.

In order to guilt her into this we had to remind her she had promised to go to Trader Joe's with me and my husband on Saturday. Which is the same day of another event she was suppose to go to. That other event is not as big of a deal...well to her it would not be if she knew we were surprising her with a party. So I do not feel guilty over the guilt trip we laid on her.

She is young, late 20's. She has never been married and an only child. She has had a hard time this summer with her birthday coming up because all of her high school and college friends are either married, getting married this summer, married and expecting or having a child this summer. Her life is not what she thought it would be at this age and she has been depressed. All of this is to cheer her up and let her know we love her very much. Once again with all of this knowledge I have no guilt in making her cancel her other plans. Plus remember she had made the mistake of palnning something with us as well on the same day.

Since she will be coming to my house around 1 and we will be going out of town, an hour away, I can not do too much decorating. Unless I can talk my daughter and son into helping my friends with the decorating while we are gone. Which is a great idea.

My friend that is helping me throw this party and I are going shopping tomorrow together for a lot of stuff. I will pass this idea along to her.

I really can not wait for this party.

Thanks all.

[wishtdream]

The dollar Tree had lots of Fiesta stuff today. I would go there before any party store.

[Jsme]

Originally Posted by wishtdream

The dollar Tree had lots of Fiesta stuff today. I would go there before any party store.

My Dollar Tree did not have alot. I did buy a banter that says Fiesta Party and then a banter that are flags and then some type of swirlys that have a sombero, catus and a something else. I normally buy these type things for my door on a cruise.