Decorating the Table for a Cinco de Mayo Celebration

Are you decorating the table for a Cinco de Mayo celebration?  You can see that I did!  Isn’t it fantastic?  A jumble of colorful tableware and suddenly I have a festive table ready for a party.  How did I put this tablescape together?  Follow along as I describe all the elements used for decorating the table for a Cinco de Mayo celebration!

First, I scoured my closets, cabinets and drawers looking for stuff – stuff suitable for decorating the table for a Cinco de Mayo celebration:  tablerunners and table cloths, platters, tea light holders, vases, placemats, napkins, glassware.  I decided that the tablerunner above, that I bought at World Market, was just the color scheme to anchor this mishmash of color.

And, I found the paper lanterns at Pier One.  They are battery-operated and meant to hang outdoors, but they will stand up, too.  So, I decided to use them since they were the right colors.

I walked throughout my house looking for things for decorating the table for a Cinco de Mayo celebration – things I already had that would match this tablerunner,  I found 2 birds – this yellow ceramic one and another aqua cast iron one.  Not very Mexican!

So, Charlie and I took off to Old Town San Diego to see what kind of small, cute Mexican souvenirs I could find, for decorating the table for a Cinco de Mayo celebration, that would make my table perfect!  Jackpot! I found a store with adorable corn husk dancing dolls in all sizes!  I decided to stick with small ones so as not to overwhelm the tablescape and bought 4 (scroll down to see the others).

Plus, I found these charming and colorful miniature Mariachi sombreros, so I bought 6 (scroll down to see the others).

And, I found these small donkey pinatas and bought two – one for each end of the table.

Then, I looked through my existing round placemats and found several in different colors, like this yellow one.  And, I scoured my napkins and found sets of solid colors that would match perfectly!  And, the piece de resistance, I found these napkin rings, cloth flowers in several colors, that belonged to my mother. Perfect!

And, I looked through my glassware collection and chose my green and pink wine glasses and my blue balloon wine glasses.  So pretty!

I carefully alternated placemats, napkins, napkin rings and glasses until each place setting was unique.

Here’s a round peach placemat, topped with a cream dinner plate, with a turquoise napkin and a white flower napkin ring.

Here’s a dark blue placemat with a cream-colored dinner plate topped with a peach napkin and a bright blue flower napkin ring.

Oh, I forgot to mention the flowers!  I didn’t want to spend a bundle on flowers (after all, I’d already blown a wad on my cute little Mexican souveniers!), so I was determined to make one mixed bouquet from the grocery store work.  So I selected a bouquet with lots of color and brought it home to arrange.

In order to make one bouquet work on a large table, I needed a vase that was small enough to keep the arrangement “tight”, but large enough to make a statement.  So, I chose a silver pitcher that belonged to my husband’s aunt.  I placed it on top of a silver tray that belonged to my aunt and then scattered teal tea light holders around it to reflect light.

Here’s a close-up of my beautiful flowers!

And, here’s another placemat-napkin combo; this one a yellow placemat, a bright pink napkin and an orange flower napkin ring.

This one includes a turquoise (well, maybe it’s peacock blue instead?) placemat, a peach napkin and a white flower napkin ring.

Here’s another miniature Mariachi sombrero – a red one – from my expedition to Old Town San Diego.

And, here’s a dark teal dancing corn husk doll.

I decided that the one center bouquet was not enough flowers for my table!  So, I bought 2 Kalanchoe plants from the grocery store, too; one yellow and one orange, for each end of the table.

I placed the Kalanchoe plants into aqua-colored tin planters that I already had in my collection and rested the dancing corn husk dolls against them.

The beauty of buying plants for your tablescape is that you can plant them in your garden after your party.  I’ve been doing this for years and years and have yet to come anywhere near filling up my garden (we live on 8 acres of dirt!).  But, I keep trying!

Here’s a photo of a place setting, this one with a dark blue placemat, a peach napkin, a red flower napkin ring and a green goblet.

Here’s a close-up of a peach placemat with a turquoise napkin and peach flower napkin ring.

This place setting has a green placemat, a bright pink napkin and a purple flower napkin ring.

Here’s a close-up of the bouquet in the tarnished silver pitcher with a place setting beyond.

I love this bright blue miniature Mariachi sombrero with the yellow trim.  I think it’s my favorite!

Taking a moment and stepping back to admire my handiwork…

and stop to smell the flowers!

Teal napkin with orange-flowered napkin ring and yellow placemat…

Miniature green Mariachi sombrero…

Bright pink dancing corn husk doll against a yellow Kalanchoe plant…

Orange dancing corn husk doll against a backdrop of an orange-flowering Kalanchoe plant.

So, when decorating the table for a Cinco de Mayo celebration, the main element that brings together a festive and fun tablescape is color.  Lots and lots and lots of color!

Another miniature Mariachi sombrero, this one dark blue…

And this miniature white Mariachi sombrero (my favorite!  Oh, I think I already said I had a favorite!)…

Another adorable miniature donkey pinata (I purposely left the hooks on in case I want to hang them in the future)…

Sweet miniature dancing corn husk dolls…

A red placemat with turquoise napkin and red flower napkin ring…

A red placemat with a yellow napkin and a purple flower napkin ring (this one has a few stains – it was well-loved by my mother!)…

The bouquet – a mixture of different flowers…

in coordinating colors…

an assortment of glasses or stemware in several colors…

Voila’ – a vibrant, exciting and festive table!  Not only am I decorating the table for a Cinco de Mayo celebration, but this tablescape could be used throughout the year for Taco Night or any other friend and family gathering involving Mexican food!

Want to get the look?  Here are some of the elements used available on Amazon:

Round woven placemats (set of 4) on Amazon and available in multiple colors.

Here’s a great deal – a 12-pack of colorful napkins on Amazon.  Buy 4 of these packs and you have sets of 12 different colors for all your tablescapes!

Even though I didn’t use a serape tablerunner, one of these serape tablerunners from Amazon will give your table an instant boost of festiveness!

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Disclaimer:  I was not compensated to write this post, but this post does contain affiliate links to the products listed above, which will take you directly to these products on Amazon.  Toot Sweet 4 Two is an Amazon affiliate and receives a small commission if a product is purchased through these links.  If you click on the link and purchase a product, I will receive a commission of approximately 5% on the sale.    If you don’t want me to receive any commission, you could just open a new browser window and search for the product on your own.  But, if you do use the links to purchase products, THANK YOU!  This does not change the cost to you; thanks for helping to keep content on this site free!

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Or, if you want to stick closely to my original design, here’s a link to the exact tablerunner I bought at my local World Market.   Plus, you can buy packages of beautiful, solid-colored napkins in a variety of colors at World Market.

This is a set of 6 wine glasses in a beautiful aqua blue available on Amazon.  They come in 8 different colors from this vendor.

And while it would be hard to replicate my mother’s cloth flower napkin rings because they are about 30 years old, these beautiful beaded ones, available in 6 different colors, are available on Amazon.

These are the battery-operated paper lanterns I bought at Pier 1 Imports.  Plus, they sell the round placemats and napkins in a variety of colors.

Here are some adorable miniature pinatas available on Amazon.

Here are colorful miniature velvet Mariachi sombreros available on Amazon.

Sadly, I think I’ve found the one and only thing that Amazon does not sell – Mexican dancing corn husk dolls!  And, to top it off, they are hard to find just with a Google search!  They are very plentiful in stores throughout Old Town San Diego, so plan a trip to beautiful SoCal soon!

There.  I think I’ve covered just about everything needed to make decorating the table for a Cinco de Mayo celebration, taco night or any party with a Mexican menu easy.  With just a few souvenirs, beautiful flowers and lots of color, you too can can a festive party table!

Here’s a collage to pin to Pinterest.  Thanks so very much for sharing!  Please feel free to share on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. – share everywhere!  There are easy sharing buttons at the bottom of this post and I thank you for the bottom of my heart!

Want more tablescape ideas?  Here are a few more from Toot Sweet 4 Two’s archives:

Decorating the Table for an Easter Celebration

A Valentine’s Day Tea Party Tablescape

Decorating the Table for a St. Patrick’s Day Celebration

Tootles,

Linking to:

Motivation Monday