Taco party 2nd birthday

What a weekend yaEUR(tm)all! Mila turned TWO on Saturday, and I’m still in a little shock at how fast time has flown by. We threw her a Taco TWO birthday party, and I think it turned out so cute and was so much fun! I am planning on sharing a two-year Mila update blog post soon, but I have a lot of questions about her party, so I am going to share all of those details first. The majority of the party was DIY/homemade, so I will try to share as much as I can about how we did everything and where items were purchased! I definitely could not have done any of this without the help of my mom and brother. It was a ton of work, but I think it makes the celebration that much more special when you know what was put into it! A

THE FOOD

We obviously served tacos at a Taco Tuesday birthday party. I think it is important to make the food as easy as possible for guests to eat and limit the need to sit down with a fork and knife. These build-your-own grilled chicken street tacos were perfect because they were small, and guests could add whatever they wanted on top. We had corn and flour tortillas, grilled chicken chopped up (used this marinade and examined the night before, then reheated the day of), homemade red and green salsa, and little bowls of chopped onion, cilantro, and radishes.

I made a seven-layer dip, which is always a crowd-pleaser and really easy to make. Just layer canned refried beans and sour cream mixed with taco seasoning, guacamole, salsa, shredded cheese, and olives. I left out the diced tomatoes and green onion, but you could do that, too! A

We had rotel in a crockpot and a big bowl of chips for people to snack on, too. If you haven’t had rotel, it is SO GOOD. Just throw in a block of Velveeta cheese and two cans of Rotel tur, and on low, and stir occasionally. Super easy and delicious!

THE DRINKS

We served water and limeade in carafes and then had DOS Equis (get it?) for the adults. I also had a couple of bottles of sparkling rose in the ice chest with the beer for an extra pink touch.

THE SWEETS

It was not a birthday party without sweets, and we had a table full of them! I always love having different little treats at parties, so we had a few dessert options sure to please everyone. The star of the sweets table was definitely the cake my mom made. I received so many messages about this cake, and I definitely understand why! I saw something similar on Pinterest, and my mom recreated it so easily! It was one of my favorite parts of the party.

My mom always makes these frosting-covered pretzels during the holidays, but I saw a cactus-inspired version and knew we had to make them. My brother spent A LOT of time making these.

I loved the cactus cookies, which are fairly easy to make! Just buy a cactus cookie cutter and decorate them how you like. My mom made sugar cookie dough from scratch, but you could also do store-bought dough. A

I picked up churros from Costco and cut them in thirds, then did a little bowl of caramel and a bowl of chocolate fudge. I bought the churros the day before, and by the next day (even after being sealed in foil), they were super rubbery and almost inedible, even after toasting them in the oven. I would definitely recommend picking them up the day of or making different ones, but I will say they sure looked cute!

THE DECOR

So, while we went with the Taco Tuesday birthday party theme, I did want it to look overly fiesta. I still wanted to keep an element of sweetness and femininity, so we kept the majority of the color scheme pink, white, and green. We decorated with A LOT of cactus. Maybe too much, but I loved it! I have always thought desert/cactus decor was super cute, and this party was the perfect excuse to use a lot of it! I already owned a lot of the random cactus decor, but I will try to list out as much as I can of where I got things and what we made!