Coco Movie Night Party
I’m over the moon excited about our Coco movie theme night. In my opinion, this is one of the most underrated Disney films ever. But anything family-related tugs at my heartstrings. I think that is a direct result of having kids. Something chemically changed inside me when I had kids where family and kid-related anything makes me cry. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
For convenience, don’t forget to grab the shopping list, printable menu card, and recipe cards HERE!
This movie-night was a result of write-in requests from YOU my email subscribers. (So hop on over and subscribe if you want the chance to write in requests: Email Subscription)
Then I had my Instagram subscribers vote on the ideas and the winner was Coco!
Coco Movie Night Recipes
I love Mexican food. The older I get the more I try and the more I love it. So getting a chance to make Tamales was a wonderful experience.
This food jumped out at me again. The Rivera Family kept feeding tamales to Miguel at the beginning of the movie, so this seemed like an obvious choice.
Instead of a traditional Mexican dessert, I opted for something more fun for the kids. Sugar skulls are SO beautiful and colorful, they were screaming to be made into something edible. So I made a sugar cookie pizza in the shape of a sugar skull. It turned out way more beautiful than I pictured in my head.
And for our drink, I opted for a (non-alcoholic) Margarita. I almost went with Horchata but my daughter is allergic to tree nuts so that did not seem like a good option. The margarita turned out very yummy indeed!
Tamales for a Coco Movie Theme Party
I’ll have to admit, this recipe was a first for me. Tamales always seemed so intimidating and hard so I never tried to make them. This gave me the opportunity to go all-in with them. And guess what? They were not so hard to make after all!
I followed this amazing recipe from Tastes Better from Scratch. This recipe was fantastic in the way that she makes it super easy to make as well as explaining how to authentically make them, as well as some small changes you can make to make them your own. (And you all know how much I love being able to make things my own!)
Check out the full recipe here: Tastes Better from Scratch
I followed the recipe closely, only substituting the lard for shortening, and the filling I created on my own.
My kids (obviously) do not like spicy things (as you have learned recently from my Princess and the Frog Movie Night), so my filling was just shredded chicken mixed with some pico de gallo and cheddar cheese.
Spice up your mixture to your own palettes, but this worked for my non-spicy food-eating family. Maybe one day I can get back to spicy recipes because I LOVE spicy foods!
They turned out quite good the way I made them with the help of her recipe, and my kids actually ate these! I was super proud and impressed with the way these turned out!
Sugar Skull Sugar Cookie Recipe
I cannot tell you how HAPPY I am about this recipe! It turned out more beautiful than I envisioned. It was seriously the most perfect recipe for a kid-friendly movie night.,
This recipe started with store-bought cookie dough that I tore apart and shaped into the shape of a skull on my cookie sheet.
Then I went ahead and baked the cookie for about 15 minutes until it was golden brown.
When it came out, I mixed up the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla, and spread it all over the cookie.
I then sliced up a few pieces of fruit strawberries and limes. Raspberries, blueberries, peaches, and oranges were also prepared to put on my cookie.
You can use whatever fruit you want to create the look you need for this sugar skull sugar cookie.
I had a blast creating my face here! It was fun using all the fruit to really make my sugar skull come to life. It turned out so vibrant and almost too pretty to eat. Almost, I said…
My full recipe for this is listed below.
Non-Alcoholic Margaritas
I’m not going to lie, I was wanting a frozen margarita recipe. Maybe it’s the fact that I like rum and my subconscious brain couldn’t forget about it.
And I found it! With this recipe from Jamie Gellar, this non-alcoholic margarita recipe was perfect for our Coco Movie night. The adults could add in our alcohol if we wanted and the girls really enjoyed it being like a slushie.
Get the original recipe here: Jamie Gellar
If you follow her directions, it was really quite simple to make homemade. I love homemade things. I’m all about flavor so using fresh ingredients really made a difference in the way this margarita tasted.
This recipe was super easy and turned out delicious!
How to Make it Your Own
Looking for ways to make things easier or different from your family?
Dinner: Look for a local restaurant to order out food and margaritas from! If you don’t enjoy cooking or thing seem too hard, don’t make yourself crazy. Order out and enjoy all the fun of immersing yourself in the movie theme without all the fuss!
Busy? Look for ways to make shortcuts to help you save time and energy. Just like I did, buy the premade sugar cookie mix at the store.
Love to bake? Make the sugar cookie recipe from scratch.
Drinks: Use the pre-made margarita mix. Add some rum if you are of age.
It’s all about the fun, so remember to enjoy every part of this, involve your kids in it, and it will be a fantastic night to remember! These nights are yours to own!
Coco Movie Night Crafts
Sugar Skull Face Painting
The girls helped me search for craft ideas and were EXTACTIC to paint their faces like sugar skulls.
I do not have face paints on hand, I did however have a lot of makeup.
I grabbed all my makeup I had and got to work. The girls love the colors teal and pink so I used those colors in particular.
I used what I had on hand vs spending money for one-time fun. And the girls loved it! My oldest was even so upset when we had to remove it before bed that night.
Day of the Dead Masks
Don’t have the supplies to paint faces? Too messy for you?
These masks look super easy and fun! Print out these beauties from Kitchen Table Classroom and have fun!
Dia De Los Muertos Garland
Look to make some decorations for Dia De Los Muertos for your movie night! Happy Thought has a blog tutorial and videos on how to make these to add to your decor for the evening.
The tutorial says to use crepe paper but you can use tissue paper or even construction paper. Honestly, use what you have at home and these will turn out a beautiful decoration for your movie night!
Go Poco Loco!
Now go out and make your movie night yours!
I love hearing from you!
What do you think of my movie night? What did you do differently? Did you change things up or did you do the exact recipes I made?
Reach out to me on Instagram and let me know too!
You can also pin any of my recipes, and craft ideas for my movie nights on Pinterest.
Thanks for having fun with me! I look forward to our next movie night together!
Sugar Skull Sugar Cookie
Ingredients
- 1 pre-packaged sugar cookie dough
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 8 oz package of cream cheese
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Assorted fruits of your choice Limes or kiwi for eyes, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, mandarin oranges, peaches, pineapples, etc.
Instructions
- Pre-heat your over to 350.
- Shape your sugar cookie mix to look like a skull.
- Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown.
- Mix together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract until fully mixed.
- Wait until sugar cookie is fully cooled, then spread your cream cheese mixture all over the cookie.
- Start decorating! Use the fruit of your choice to create a face. Kiwi or Limes work well for the eyes, strawberries for the nose but use the fruit you want to create a fun face on your cookie!
- Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat. Cookie will keep for a few days as long it is covered.
