I threw my first-ever kids’ birthday party this week. My oldest turned five and up until this point, we’d been all about little birthdays just with family. But FIVE felt pretty big. (And he’d been to enough birthday parties that I think he kinda was hoping for one himself.) And so that’s how I ended up searching “taco-themed balloon arches” on Amazon.
So many of you asked for details of the party in hopes of recreating it! I love how many of you also have “Dragons Love Tacos” loving kids! So here’s the details!
Dragons Love Tacos Party DECORATIONS:
We did a little “statement” spot to put out food. And then set it up near two round tables for food
- Balloon Arch – conveniently came with a taco and cactus and pinata balloon.
- Piñata
- Mexican Table Runner (4pack): This four-pack was a total steal. I just used them across all the tables. And nice enough we can use it many times again!
- Gold Fringe Backdrop
- Fold Out Table: This table has been such a good purchase. It’s a fold-out table but has a wooden top so it looks nice. We use it anytime we have a get-together or gathering and have even taken it tailgating!
- Signage: I just made these on Picmonkey and had them printed at Staples
- Taco cardboard cut-out: I won’t lie, this was the point in party planning when I was like….are you really buying a cardboard cutout dragon? But it was my first kids’ party so I got excited. And we do have plans to use him again.
FOOD
We followed the “taco” theme, obviously. To make it easy to feed a crowd, I just did a little “salsa bar” with a couple kinds of salsas from Costco. Then I also got some frozen chicken tacos and taquitos from Costco. And I made a huge pan of sheet quesadillas (which I’d never done, but it was SO easy and a great way to feed a crowd.) It was honestly the perfect food; everything was portable, so you could eat it while chasing kids around. I could cook it all at once in the oven, so it took me barely any time. And I got this set of chafing pans to keep it all warm. We ordered a picture cake from our local Big Y with the Dragons Love Tacos picture.
FAVORS:
I bought this set of dragon masks, which were a total hit (although I won’t lie…some were definitely dinosaurs even though it says dragons, but the kids didn’t seem to care.)
We also bought a random assortment of books by Adam Rubin (the author of Dragons Love Tacos). We got like 2 copies of Dragons Love Tacos in case someone didn’t have it, and then a few other options. You can use places like Thrift Books to get gently used books for very inexpensive. This was a huge hit! And I’m so glad we got to share some of our favorite books with our friends.
We rented a bounce house for the kids, which was also a big hit. It entertained everyone the entire night (I suggest the bounce house + slide combo).
That’s about it! It was, overall a pretty simple party to throw together (I mean, as simple as it is to host 8 small kids in your house).
I loved the Dragons Love Tacos party theme because it felt fun and a little different, and everyone who came had read the book. Plus, tacos/Mexican food is such an easy way to feed a group. You could even just get it catered from Chipotle or something! Now I want to convince my kids to make all their birthday themes based on a book they love.
