HOME TOUR

Well it’s day 5082 of quarantine. The children have no more hope of going back to school this year. Spring in Boston has been cold and dreary and it’s basically all around crappy. Now there’s also a whole lot of lovely in this, don’t get me wrong, and I’m only kinda bellyaching because I’ve had time to be sad over the many losses but if you’re needing a pick-me-up (like I was) look no farther, it’s Cinco de Par-Tay time. Unnecessary? Yes. Fun? You betcha.

Growing up in California, Cinco de Mayo was just another excuse to indulge in delicious Mexican food–my hubby and I’s favorite food group, haha. I think around the country it’s an excuse to have a margarita, especially now. I wasn’t going to let the small hiccup of a worldwide shut down dampen my spirits. Plus we were looking for an excuse to make burritos again, I’ll have Janet’s Rice and Beans recipe up on Saturday so come back for that one. Here’s our quarantined version of Cinco de Mayo, better known as Cinco de Par-Tay.

THE TABLE

I grabbed almost everything at Target. So if you’re running in for some basics these are easy and inexpensive pieces to snag and would be a bright, welcome change in this season of life.

The placemats are reversible and have a larger floral pattern on the front. I used small plastic dessert plates that I painted with acrylic paint on the underside to add a pop of color to my white plates.

I adore the delicacy of these white pom pom napkins. Tucking in a paper umbrella to any drink just makes everything more fun. I ended up hot glueing several to a piece of twine to hang behind the table.

While I was at Home Depot picking up flowers for my sanity, I mean porch, I grabbed a few cacti to decorate the table. They sell tiny ones that I tucked into my grocery store flowers arrangement. All in the name of creativity and sanity, this table was fun and made my whole family smile. Which we could all use more of right now.

HOMEMADE CACTUS NAPKIN RING PIñATAS

Now the cutest part of this table in my humble opinion are the DIY mini napkin ring piñatas. So easy and adorable, I tore apart an amazon box while thanking them for their service and hand traced a cactus on the cardboard. Once I had my cactus shape, I cut out another. Out of a thinner piece of cardboard, like the hard paper/cardboard that comes in a pair of stockings, I cut a thin piece which I used to hot glue the two identical pieces together for a 3-D effect. Nothing about this was perfect nor is it meant to be. Hot glue solves a myriad of issues because it holds things together so quickly and everything gets covered in fringed tissue paper.

Once you’ve got your 3D cactus out of cardboard, start wrapping it in strips of green tissue paper you’ve fringed on one side. Overlap them slightly for that traditional piñata look. You don’t have to do this 3-D thing. To save time just add the fringed pieces of tissue paper to a flat cactus-shaped piece. It definitely feels more piñata-like with the 3D element. And since you are making them with space, you could add candy if you want. My kiddos were pretty disappointed there wasn’t anything inside, haha. When it was fully covered in tissue paper, I hot glued it to a circle of cardboard I cut from a empty paper towel roll and covered in strips of green tissue paper.

I wanted them to be true napkin ring size at about 4″ but know that Target has premade ones if you are interested in skipping this DIY step but getting a similar look.

This Cinco de Par-Tay table is such a fun way to make your family smile right now. A big old thank you to Ruthie of Ruth Eileen Photography for capturing this attempt at fun during the hard. I hope no matter how you spend this quarantine season that you stay safe and sane and do something to make your days more lovely, more livable and survivable. And dear one, know that it’s ok to be sad. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. But I promise you, there’s lovely here in the hard stuff.