Hope's "Coco" inspired Mexican Fiesta 2nd Birthday!

My little Leo turned two this month and we threw her a Mexican Fiesta because she's so fascinated by Disney Pixar's Coco.

Coco is such a beautiful touching movie set in Mexico, steeped in tradition and tells a heart rending story of family, living your dreams and sometimes having to chose between the two. I absolutely adore it myself and my girls have watched it so often we all know the lines in it by heart!haha

As usual,( I love planning my girls' birthdays!) I started by making my planing lists and designing the invites.

A Simple invite that I designed

Unlike last year for her first when we had a little Kitty themed party for her (I'll share those pictures and ideas one of these days as well) I was very short on time and busy at work. So I had to make sure my ideas were doable with minimal effort and in the shortest amount of time!

I decided to make the Papel Picado or coloured paper flags which are cut out to make pretty designs  as the main design element and went about using it everywhere. I used them on the Invites, Food Tags and on other paper decorations. Papel Picado are also easily available in Goa as well and used for festivals and feasts. I suppose its the Latin Influence. So I just had my husband Felix pick up a pack from the Panjim Market. Shop No. 9 inside the Municipality Market stock them besides other stationery and party supplies.

Our Front door outside

The Living Room

Coco playing on the Screen!

Inside the Front door- Dante the Spirit Guide Dog guards the door

The fun (and exhausting) part was making the food! I wanted it to be Mexican themed but have our guests be confused by it either so I adjusted it suit everyone's taste as best as I could. I tried to create an Ofrenda to mimic the one in the movie and had all the snacks and desserts arranged on it. We had the whole place strewn with orange marigolds that appear everywhere in movie as well.

The Ofrenda laden with Snacks

Mini Empanadas!

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A Nacho Bar! with home made dips- Cheese, Salsa and Guacamole

I made a couple of Non-Alcoholic concoctions to drink but forgot to name them! Too many balls juggling in the air..

The Dessert Table had Churros made by my brother Len(Also my partner at CAKED). These he had pre-dipped in White chocolate with sprinkles and Dark chocolate. I made Arroz con Leche aka Rice Pudding. Len also baked a Chocolate Fudge Cake which I decorated with buttercream, edible gold and fresh flowers!

I also cooked dinner and we set up a simple buffet for our guests.

I wanted to do favours/ give-aways that were easy to put together and inexpensive. A quick search on the internet pointed me in the direction, I quickly made up a Thank you Tag and a large batch of Hot Chocolate Mix giving it a bit of a Mexican twist with cinnamon and chilli! And we were good to go!

Favour Tag I designed 

But the pièce de résistance was definitely the large Pinata my husband Felix made for the kids. I suggested we make it look like Ernesto De La Cruz, the villain in the movie so we could give him a well deserved whacking in the end! This, for obvious reasons, was a hit with the kids..haha

Our little "Frida Kahlo" enjoyed her  Fiesta with her familia tremendously as did we enjoy planning it for her!

And guess what? I will be sharing my recipes for the Beef  Empanadas and the Arroz con Leche with you soon blog familia! Salud!!

Spice Up your Spice Rack with this Easy, Inexpensive and Quick DIY! Freebies included!

If you're a busy mom or home cook who wants to maximise the time you have to spend in the kitchen to prepare meals for your family, then organisation is key. A neat, tidy and orderly kitchen will ensure that you'll never be floundering looking for misplaced things.

As, my mum used to say "A place for everything and everything in it's place!"

For a while the small shelf meant for spices under my kitchen cabinets was one big mess! Packets and boxes of spices just stashed away in larger plastic containers that made accessing them a pain and they looked a right eyesore too.

So, I spent an afternoon making a bunch of labels, getting them printed on sticker paper at my local stationery and printing store and set about neatly labelling and arranging my spices. It's a world of difference, I promise you!

See? Now the husband can help himself without having to double check with me as well! Win-Win I say!

 The best part is that it's a really easy project that won't take much time, effort or money. Also I'm sharing, yes SHARING the labels I made and used here with you mogall Ixtt*! YAY! You'll find the link to download the same at the end of the post.

Once downloaded , take them to your local printer and have them printed out on a sheet of Sticker Paper . I had mine printed  at Classic Printers in Panjim. The sheet cost me Rs.30/-. You have to give the printer the size you'd prefer ( depending on your Jar sizes). I printed mine in 2"x 2" squares to fit my jars. I had these jars in surplus after ordering them in a big lot for another project ( Apple Chutney Favors/ Giveaways) from Arife LaMoulde in Panjim. They're Rs. 25/- a pc. But you can of course use your pre-existing ones.

So you'll need:
The labels on Sticker Paper
A Paper cutter and Scissors( if you've already got them pre-cut at the Printers then thats great too!
The Jars

Once you've cut the labels to size, peel off the back and carefully stick on the jars. Make sure the jars have been wiped down on the outside with a clean cloth dipped in very diluted vinegar water and air dried. And done!

See how they look up close.

Hope you enjoy making these as much as I enjoyed sharing these with you!

Love it!

Here is the link to download the labels for yourself:Spice Labels

Pull a Chair and Grab a Glass of Wine...Or a Slice of Cake? Mi Casa es Su Casa!

A few pencil drawings I made for our Cake Studio, combining two of my loves: Baking and Drawing

For since as long as I can remember, people have been telling me that I tell a good story. My family, cousins, friends. They all seem to take great pleasure in my tall tales. Haha.

As I got older, I realised I like to write my stories far more than I liked to narrate them. So I used Facebook to pen down my many random observations, ideas, Life Lessons and daily occurrences. And what do you know? My facebook friends, instead of getting annoyed with the silly stuff popping up on their feeds,wrote in to say I should Blog!

I've been skeptical about this whole blogging thing if I'm to be honest. For one, I'm technologically challenged, secondly, I'm a champion procrastinator but mostly I'm just wondering who the heck will actually come all the way over here to read me prattling on?

But, I'd hate not to try out something at least once and so here we are!

What is Cake, Chaos and Confetti all about?

It's a whole lot of bits and pieces that make up my life. Say like my kids, CAKED ( my Cake Studio for the uninitiated) , Recipes from my Home Cooking, Kitchen tips and Parenting ideas, my kids, Party Planning Resources, Travel Tales, Home Improvements and Decor DIY's, My kids,Online Shopping Experiences, Our Favourite Places to Visit and Eat Out, Crafts and Art, Interesting Reads, Entertaining and Hosting, Beauty buys, Fashion (Esp. Plus Size!) and anything and everything that motivates me to write! Like my kids... Did I mention them already?

So please get comfortable my sistas and ixttas*, I hope we have many pleasant and fun visits together!

Mog Assum Di**!


Vanda


*Ixtt- Konkani (Goan) word for Friend
**Mog Assum Di- A heartfelt Goan greeting or goodbye or a jovial rejoinder to end an argument which literally means "let there be love between us"