Cinco De Isla!

I am SO excited to share details from Isla’s 5th birthday party! Isla and I came up with the theme, “Cinco De Isla” over a year ago, shortly after she started attending a Spanish immersion pre-school. Since then, we’ve spent so many happy hours snuggled up together, dreaming up ideas, talking about tacos, and pouring over Pinterest inspiration.

Isla’s party was filled with DIY details- our favorite kind of party! Isaac built this awesome “5” piñata for Isla. I took Isla on a special trip to the store to select the candy to fill it with. It was a very serious decision making process for her, one which involved a lot of thinking and swapping of various kinds and flavors to achieve just the right balance of red licorice (her favorite), lollipops, and chocolates.

I was inspired to make Isla’s “cinco” shirt the night before the party. Thanks to some felt and fabric glue I was able to make it happen.I surprised Isla with these tissue paper hair pins and she was SO excited! She was impressed I had made them and is super eager to learn how to make her own. Hooray for future crafting opportunities with my girl!This festive custom paper picado banner by Lula Flora Designs was one of our very favorite pieces of decor! I chose not to write Cinco de Isla on them, thinking that grammar was incorrect, but later learned the “Isla es Cinco” grammar was actually incorrect- oops! Thank goodness the banner looked awesome, regardless!

For our fiesta, my mom made her famous enchilada suiza and dry soup (thanks, Mom!). We also prepared taquitos for the kiddos and 7 layer dip cups with cactus tortillas. We set out a bowl of cutie oranges, and chips with salsa and guacamole.When Isla’s friends arrived to her party, they each got to decorate a pot and pick out a cactus to plant in it. I chose festive ribbons and trims at the fabric store and the kiddos applied them to the pots with tacky glue. We had a bag of potting soil on hand to plant each cactus. I made little name tag skewers with tissue paper toppers to stick into each finished pot.We laid several serape blankets in the yard for the kiddos to sit on while they ate. Super simple set up and they loved sitting all cozied up together.Not long after the Cinco De Isla party plans began, I started reminiscing about the taco costume she wore for Halloween when she was one (oh, my heart!), and I thought about how fun it would be for Cole to wear it to her party. I was so excited it fit him! He was determined not to stand up on his own for a photo, but it was still really fun to see that cute little taco crawling around all the festivities.This cactus candle perched perfectly on top of a churro cupcake with caramel drizzle. This cupcake recipe was soooo tasty, and was one of several sweet treats we served at Isla’s party!

To make the caramel drizzle you will need:

1 cup of sugar

6 tablespoons of butter (cut into several pieces, so it will melt easier)

1/2 cup of cream

Heat the sugar in a small saucepan over medium high heat until the sugar melts and turns a caramel color. Add the 6 tablespoons of butter and stir until incorporated. Remove caramel from heat and stir in the cream. Let the caramel cool and resist the urge to eat it all! If you really want to add an extra kick to this sauce you can add 1/4 cup of whiskey after you add the cream. YUM!

We also served this super tasty churro chex mix and homemade choco tacos that we topped with chocolate magic shell and assorted chocolate candies!

Once the kiddos were sugared up, it was piñata time!It was SO much fun watching the kiddos go after that piñata. Our original twine wasn’t quite strong enough, so we had to take a brief break to re-hang the 5.When that piñata finally broke open (it was a tough one!) the kids raced for the candy! They scrambled to stuff it into their goody bags, and our hearts were so warmed when we saw some of them notice an imbalance and start to share their candies with others.Daddo hand-lettered these awesome goody bags for Isla and her friends to keep all the candies from the piñata.Bubba in his beep beep, checking out the piñata.

All the kiddos gathered around for the gift opening, and were so eager to see what Isla received. It was adorable! Her own real bow and arrow set! Here she is telling me, with complete seriousness, that these are REAL arrows! Isla received so many fun and thoughtful gifts. Thank you, friends and family! We are so grateful to have enjoyed such a fabulous fiesta with you. Muchas gracias to you all for celebrating our amazing FIVE year old with us!!!