One of my favorite things about the Mexican culture is how bright and fun everything is. I'm half Latina, so maybe it's in the blood, but the colors, flowers, happy, good time loving muertes, FOOD, music... it just makes me want to fiesta! So, what better way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo than with a Fiesta in a Box?
Bright, fun colors are a trademark of the Mexican culture, so when I was deciding what would go into my box, I knew that I had to make a cheerful banner. I used yellow, green, blue, purple, red, pink and orange cardstock for my banner along with my Lifestyle Crafts Doily Banner die. Aren't those great!?
I was able to get 6 flags from each 12" piece of cardstock - I used red and white bakers twine to string them with. Also, when I was popping out all the little shapes that create the design, I kept them all to create confetti. Hello! Two-fer!
I made a bunch of tissue flowers using the Lifestyle Crafts Nesting Flowers die. This went by super fast, I was able to cut 15 pieces of tissue at once! I used a brad for my center - this held all the different layers together while giving me something to bunch all the different layers of petals around. You can tape the flowers to your wall for a pop of fun or stick them to skewers and have them coming out of a salsa jar on your table...
I used my Silhouette Cameo to create the tags to close my cupcake filled bakery box. Silhouette had these great print and cut "Fiesta" labels and tags (the sugar skull and the guitar tag) and I created the "Fiesta like there's no manana" tag using their software.
And last, the highlight of the box (in my opinion), are the Tres Leche Cupcakes. Tres Leche is a traditional, Mexican dessert that is super yummy, light and easy to make; the Tres Leche name comes from a delicious mixture of Condensed Milk, Sweetened Evaporated Milk and Whole Milk! I used this recipe from Martha Stewart, which I highly recommend. The cupcake is a little dense, but after you poke holes and pour your tres leche sauce over it, the dense cake is necessary so that your cupcake doesn't end up mushy. The "frosting" is a handmade, whipped cream mixture that I topped with fresh peaches and blueberries, but you could do cinnamon with a caramel drizzle if you wanted a little more richness. But these are perfect just the way they are in my book!
Side Note - I used foil wrappers for my cupcakes to help keep the moisture in! This is a great tip if you decide to duplicate these cupcakes. I cooked them at 325 degrees for 20 minutes and they were perfect. If you're making the cake per the recipe, just follow the directions.
And last, once you have all of your goodies packed up and ready to go, drop them on your friends doorstep, ring the doorbell and run! Who wouldn't want to open their door to find a Fiesta En Una Caja? I also added some wooden castanets for the kiddos (yes, your friends may or may not love these) that I found in the Target party aisle and a few tissue fans that they could put together and hang around their house.
Ole!
I hope you have a great day, celebrating Cinco de Mayo in, or out of, a box!
Andrea
KPS
As always, if you want to purchase any of the dies that I used in today's post, visit the ShopWeR page and use code KUTZPAPER at checkout to receive 20% off your purchase!
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