Nov 7, 20226 min read

Encanto Birthday Party

It's Colombia, not Columbia!

Last Spring we celebrated the birthday of my daughter, who is literally obsessed with the movie Encanto, to my delight! As many of you already know I am Colombian, and her request for a party about my country made me extremely happy. It was the perfect opportunity for me to show my kids all the wonderful foods, traditions, and games of my childhood.

The movie Encanto portrayed fairly the rich culture and traditions of my country. I was really pleased to see the many details throughout the movie. To start, the movie was able to recreate pretty accurately the rich architectural details of our colonial country houses or "haciendas". The balconies, the courtyards, the churches, the plazas, and the streets paved with cobblestones,

The story basically takes place in the region where our coffee grows, which is located in the majestic mountain range of "Los Andes", It is important to note this, because another aspect the movie heavily researched and depicted, was the natural scenarios and resources of my beautiful Colombia. At the heart of "Los Andes" lays the most exotic vegetation, with a stunning variety of flowers and rich diversity of fruits and crops! Our coffee for example is well known to be "the best in the world".

The magical moment in Encanto where Abuela finds Mirabel in the river seemed the product of the creativity of Disney; the variety of vivid and breathtaking colors that mingled in the water was not a fictional setting but it is actually a river called: Caño Cristales, also known as the “River of Seven Colors.”

We are proud of being one of the countries with the most diverse kind of birds. Colombia has been blessed with two oceans, thanks to its almost perfect location in the top corner side of the south of the American continent. But to be even more magical, we also have "pink dolphins" yes! they swim about our flamboyant Amazon river.

Our land is almost paradise, an "Encanto", An enchanted land. We have almost every possible natural scenario there is, we have beaches, islands, deserts, snow mountain peaks, jungles, and prairies. Our land is clothed in many rivers, which puts us on the top of the richest hydrographical zones on the planet; its most important as previously mentioned: the Amazon River.

Our best products go from emeralds to roses, cotton, bananas, textiles, and oil.

The weather goes by altitude, we do not have seasons because of our closeness to the Equator. So depending on how close you are to the ocean level, it's warmer or colder

Our strong Spanish influence makes the architectural beauty of our towns and cities magical! featuring balconies, plazas, and the most stunning cathedrals.

This video will walk you through the land!

and will give you a taste of our music 🎶 Enjoy!

Carlos Vives is the familiar voice behind the movie's soundtrack. He represents the uniqueness and authenticity of our people

The movie: "Encanto" was filled with traditions, mannerisms, and even added a tribute with the hundred yellow butterflies scene, to one of our most famous Noble Prize works of literature in magical realism: "Cien Anos de Soledad" or "A Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

As soon as the movie started my heart was filled with joy, as I identified in Mirabel's basket so many of my favorite toys and foods:

Cocas: Wooden toy. Buy it HERE
Mochila Guayu: Shoulder bag
Panela: Unrefined sugar cane in a solid square used to make a delicious hot drink. Buy it HERE
Yucca
Bom Bom Bun: Suckers with gum in the middle. Buy it HERE
Party Hats
Dulces de Melcocha: The twirl candy in a stick. Made of Panela honey
Coffee sacks
Yoyos: Buy it HERE
Handmade woven bowls
Achiras: Baked cheese crackers- snack. Buy it HERE
woven basket
Pinwheels

I tried to recreate Maribel's basket with these and other of my favorite snacks and toys as my birthday gift to my little one! She was overjoyed, indulged, and super excited. it truly was a very memorable moment for the two of us! I think it made such an impression on all my kids, that they all want me to gift them a Colombian birthday basket from now on.

Here is the rest of the items I added to her basket.

Spinning tops: HERE
Maracas: Buy it HERE
Chocorramos: It’s a soft vanilla pound cake, covered in sweet milk chocolate. Buy it HERE
Bocadillos: Guava paste confection. Buy it HERE
Chocolatinas jet: Mini chocolate bars. Buy it HERE
Obleas; Wafer dessert usually spread with a variety of fillings such a dulce de leche or fruit jellies. Buy it HERE
Galletas Festival: Cookies with vanilla filling. Buy it HERE
Chocolate Corona: Colombian hot chocolate. Buy HERE

Mirabel was my daughter's favorite character, so it was essential that she must have the lovely skirt from the movie. I personally did not like the ones available online, but my oldest daughter wanted to make one based on a skirt she already had. She took on herself the homework to embroider every detail and personalize the skirt the best she could. I can say it took almost a month between school and activities for her to finish it.

it was such a beautiful gesture! I am so proud of her for doing this as a gift to her sister.

Next on the list, we had all the decorations and goody bags to assemble. I used lots of flowers and pompoms to resemble Isabela's flowers and vines. I made sure the garlands at the entrance displayed the Colombian flag colors as well as balloons on the patio with the tricolor theme.

For the goodie bags, I decided to give girls a notebook with a llama on the cover paired with a wooden box of the same theme, a pinwheel, and bubbles. The boys on the other hand received finger lights, harmonicas (typical musical instrument), wooden animal cutouts, and pinwheels too.

But how can it be a Colombian party without a piñata? Is a must without a doubt! I just had to give her one! This one was filled with simple fun: bubbles, jacks, and play dough.

Most of the decorations were purchased at Target and the dollar store.

My son made the cactuses by simply using pool noodles and toothpicks!

Once the decorations were up, the next element we focused on was the cake or cupcakes in our case. The base was made of vanilla cake mix, the filling was "arequipe" or dulce de leche, and the icing was made of cream cheese, We decorated them with umbrellas and place them on beautiful butterfly cupcake liners and name them "Abuela get the umbrellas Cupcakes"

This section I will call: the Encanto Menu: here all the foods were Encanto related and named accordingly.

First on the list was what we called "Mirabel's gift basket" courtesy of my hubby. He made us this lovely watermelon fruit basket filled with pineapple chunks, blueberries, watermelon (tricolor theme here too), and grapes.

This next item on the menu was super fun! "Bruno's vision glass". We made a lime-flavored jello and waited for it to be cooled to cut it into crack-like shapes. To gain the vision effect we simple placed under the glass a printout of Bruno's vision scene.

Quick snacks that almost speak for themselves:

'Isabela's grapes that thrive on the vine"
"Antonio's animal crackers"
"Pepa's clouds"
"Pepa's happy rainbow"
"Bruno's sand room": This one consists on crush graham crackers meant to be paired with "Bruno's vision"

Now let's move to the real Colombian foods, shall we?

How about an arepa bar?

These delicious cornmeal cakes are to die for, you can add as many toppings as you would like, over your arepa or simply by filling them up. It must be buttered with a pinch of salt on the surface. We added crumbled "Queso Campesino" or Colombian country-style cheese over it and filled them with cubbed ham chunks and bacon bits.

Arepas can be customized with assorted ingredients such as chicken, meat, or eggs.

True crowd pleaser.