We just had a joint Coco birthday party for my son and niece! We finally watched this movie a few weeks ago and my son really liked it. Honestly, I thought the skeletons were a little creepy, but after watching it, I realized it is a really sweet story about family. Since they’ve both seen the movie, Coco was a good fit for a joint party. Otherwise, Iron Man or Hello Kitty would not have worked out well for the both of them. 😂

I wanted the dessert table to have all the vibrant colors of Mexico where the movie takes place. I used Coco inspired rainbow banners along the front of the table and on the backdrop. The fiesta fringe garlands were great for adding color and texture. Since marigolds are a huge part of the movie, I added a few artificial marigold garlands along the sides and top of the backdrop.

For desserts, I wanted to use wooden displays to bring in the earthy tones of Mexico. Frozen popsicles were an easy dessert option and they added instant color to the table.

I made two small individual cakes so they can each have their own candles to blow out. Each cake is made from a box of yellow cake mix and iced with whipped cream frosting. I added fresh strawberry jam to the whipped cream for a strawberry cream filling. I might have piped the leftover filling directly into my mouth. Yes, it was that good.

I made all the floral decorations with colored fondant. I added in marigolds and petals to keep with the theme. My son saw the petals and said, “Mommy, these are blessings!” It was an adorable moment and made me smile. If you’ve seen the movie, it’ll make more sense. I finished the cakes with miniature characters from the movie.

I also made sugar skull inspired macaroons filled with a white chocolate ganache. It was a good excuse to play with my sprinkle collection to create designs on the skulls.

I also made strawberry empanadas using fresh strawberries and pre-made pie dough. They would’ve looked more authentic if I folded the round cutouts in half, but the dough started to crack. Oh well…

Dante was beautifully custom made by a talented piñata artist. The details were amazing and I was kind of sad because I knew his fate.

It’s the life of a piñata. So, I took another picture.

Here are my cuties! My son dressed up as Miguel from the movie and my niece wore an ethnic print top. They looked perfect in front of their Coco birthday dessert table! Love these two!