27 Mexican Fiesta Party DIY Ideas for Cinco de Mayo

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Updated 05/07/21

Decorative drink umbrella DIYs — Tell Love And Party

Whether you go all out each year for Cinco de Mayo or you're throwing a party for the first time, there are a variety of fun ways to mark the holiday. The annual celebration held on May 5 honors Mexican heritage and culture—it's the date of the Mexican army's 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War. This list of vibrant DIY Mexican party ideas features everything from fun, festive piñatas to sweet cupcake toppers that will help you celebrate Cinco de Mayo in style.

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DIY Mini Piñatas Favors

Oh Happy Day

Set the table for your Cinco de Mayo or "Taco Tuesday" dinner party by making mini piñatas that you can leave beside everyone's dinner plate as a fun activity before the meal. These cute piñatas can be made with cardboard and tissue paper, and unlike traditional piñatas, the mini piñatas are easy to get the prizes out without making a mess as there is a bottom flap that opens to pour out the prizes inside.
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DIY Fiesta Balloons

Studio DIY

Decorate for your fiesta by tying together several balloons and then attaching mini gold letter balloons to the cluster string. You can spell out your custom fiesta message (such as "Let's Fiesta") using the mini balloons. These clusters of balloons will make the perfect backdrop behind your Cinco de Mayo food table.
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DIY Mini Sombrero Headbands

Let's Mingle

Make sure everyone is dressed up for your fiesta by making mini sombrero headbands for guests to wear. You can quickly make a bunch of these fun headbands in minutes by gluing hats to a fabric headband and using a bit of thread to further secure the hat and headband together. As an added bonus, the mini sombreros are a much cheaper alternative than regular-sized ones and can easily be worn by children and adults alike.
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DIY Fiesta Patterned Snack Bowls

Sugar And Cloth

Serve up corn nacho chips and spicy salsa for your at-home fiesta in your own set of hand-painted patterned bowls. Simply paint terra cotta bowls or creme brûlée dishes with porcelain paint to create your cacti or geometric design. Once painted, make sure to bake the dishes and follow up with a food-safe clear shellac before using the bowls to serve food.

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DIY Taco Piñata

Studio DIY

Have fun at your fiesta with a huge taco piñata that you can make in an afternoon out of cardboard and yellow, green, brown, and white crepe paper. The breaking of piñatas is traditional in Mexico with almost every festival; the piñata is suspended above the crowd and blindfolded people try to hit it with a stick to access the candies and prizes inside.
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DIY Fiesta Cactus Cupcake Toppers

A Subtle Revelry

At your Cinco de Mayo celebration offer everyone some delicious and decadent cupcakes decorated with handmade cactus cupcake toppers that say "Let's Fiesta." You can easily make these toppers minutes before the party starts by printing out the cupcake topper template and attaching the design to toothpicks which can then be stuck in your homemade or store-bought cupcakes.
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DIY Cactus Pillow

Everything Emily

Go ahead and snuggle this cactus! It is super soft and the perfect fun accent that you can sew for your living room or next home fiesta. The cactus is made by sewing green fabric together, following the simple pattern, and then further enhanced with white yarn to form the cactus needles. The completed pillow will make a great addition to your fiesta decor by adding it to a chair or your back yard patio, but it can also be used year-round to add some flair to your home decor.
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DIY Giant Fiesta Paper Flowers

Aunt Peaches

Get ready for your fiesta by adding a bunch of bright paper flowers that you can make out of several sheets of tissue paper that are gathered together to create large flowers. They can be hung on your wall or around a door frame with tape.

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DIY Cactus Cupcake Stand

Oh Happy Day

For this Cinco de Mayo make some individual cupcake stands out of green paper that makes a cupcake look like a cactus. To assemble your own stands, you will need to print the template on green paper and follow the simple assembly instructions. It's a fun and easy way to enhance your cupcakes for a Cinco de Mayo theme.
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DIY Cactus Balloon

Design Improvised

Normally cacti and balloons do not mix well together, but you can create cactus balloons by attaching two smaller balloons on a regular-sized one and drawing on the needle details with a marker for a clever way to inexpensively decorate this Cinco de Mayo.
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DIY Paper Fan Drink Stirrers

Tell Love And Party

Enhance the drinks you will be serving at your Cinco de Mayo party by making mini paper fans drink stirrers that you can stick in each drink. These cute fans are quick to create out of small pieces of tissue paper that are folded and hole-punched to make a beautiful design that can be attached to wood skewers.
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DIY Piñata Fringe Balloons

Design Improvise

Add some piñata-inspired balloons to your party with this quick DIY. Use regular scissors or fringe scissors to cut long strips of tissue paper with a decorative fringe on one side to wrap around inflated balloons. It's a creative way to decorate this Cinco de Mayo that only costs a few dollars to make. After the party is over, hand out a piñata fringe balloon tied to each child’s string to take home with them. It's a party favor they are sure to adore.

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DIY Printable Fiesta Banner

I Heart Naptime

An inexpensive way to decorate for your next fiesta is by making a homemade banner using a printable template. To create the banner, just print the template and cut out all the letter flags in the banner, which can be hung from a string tied or taped onto a wall.
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DIY Washi Tape Cactus Wall Art

Studio DIY

Use up some of that washi tape you have been collecting by adding some temporary large wall art to your home. Making an outline of a cactus using green washi tape on your walls is a great way to set the theme for your next fiesta. To make a bold accent wall for your party, try create several cacti outlines using various colors of washi tape, and make each cactus a different shape and size to add visual interest.
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Printable Cinco de Mayo Food Toppers

The 36th Avenue

Continue your Cinco de Mayo party theme to the appetizers you are serving by crafting your own fiesta-inspired food toppers. Print a template of circle or flag designs that can be cut out and glued onto short wooden sticks like toothpicks and stuck into your party snacks. The food toppers include pictures of sombreros, limes, and maracas along with Spanish words such as hola, fiesta, and amigos.
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DIY Stamped Cactus Pattern Pillow

Patchwork Cactus

Toss a handmade cactus-stamped pillow on your sofa to give a bit of Mexican flair to your living room. To make your cactus pillow you will need to make a cactus stamp; this can be achieved by carving the design on a piece of foam and gluing the back of the foam to a small piece of wood. The completed stamp can then be used on a plain white pillowcase using a black ink pad (designed for fabric) to make your pattern.

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DIY Colorful Cacti Cake Topper

Tell Love And Party

Surprise your guests with a sweet ending to your fiesta in the form of a homemade cake. Top it with a DIY cacti cake topper that features three different types of cactus plants made from foam sheets cut and painted to look like neon plants.
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DIY Yarn Garland

Design Improvised

For a quick backyard garland for your party, use short pieces of brightly colored yarn tied to a long piece of string for an original garland that looks beautiful when it sways with a light breeze.
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DIY Tissue Paper Lanterns

Tell Love And Party

Add some large colorful party decor to your fiesta by making some multi-colored lanterns using embroidery hoops and cut sheets of tissue paper.
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DIY Frida Kahlo-Inspired Floral Headband

My Poppet

Get dressed up for your party by making your own Frida Kahlo-inspired floral headband to wear by covering the top of a headband with silk flowers.

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DIY Colorful Disposable Flatware

Delineate Your Dwelling

Add some fun to your table setting for your fiesta by dipping the handles of boring white plastic cutlery into acrylic paint to add some bright hues to your temporary party flatware.
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DIY Gold Gilded Piñata

Studio DIY

Transform a regular store-bought piñata into something glamorous with a fresh coat of gold spray paint and some decorative tissue paper flower accents.
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DIY Fiesta Favor Bags

Camille Styles

Beautifully package up bags of homemade treats to send home with guests for your Cinco de Mayo fiesta with this super easy DIY. Just download a free template and print it on vellum bags which can later be filled with a delicious treat.
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DIY Mini Cactus Piñatas

Oh Happy Days

Instead of one large piñata, group together several small cactus piñatas made out of toilet paper rolls and green crepe paper to decorate your home for Cinco de Mayo.

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DIY Fiesta Food Signs

Happy Thought

Label all your Cinco de Mayo food essentials such as guacamole, pico de gallo, or spicy chocolate cupcakes with these 12 colorful printable signs that you can cut out and fold in half in minutes.
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DIY Papel Picado Straw Flags

Cupcakes & Cutlery

Add some Mexican folk art to your Cinco de Mayo celebration with papel picado banners on your cocktails. The decorative craft of papel picado involves cutting intricate designs into paper. Make straw flags out of tissue paper cut with a paper cutter punch to easily create an elaborate pattern on a small piece of tissue paper that can be attached around a straw.
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DIY Pull Piñata Garland

Love + Cupcakes

End your party with a bang with this clever DIY made out of toilet paper rolls and tissue paper. Affordable to make, this handmade garland is an easy way to add color to your fiesta. To close out the party in a memorable way, invite each guest to pull on one of the piñatas to let candy or prizes inside the individual size piñatas pour down into their hands.