Carnival is synonymous with joy, happiness, lively and colorful decorations and great music. As Brazilians, we miss this holiday and all the different ways of celebrating it depending on the region you are at or from. So that’s why we decided to make a small Carnival party at home.
You won’t need much! You just need a lively decor, good food, drinks and music, and, of course, friends and family to celebrate with.
Colors
To set the scene, I checked what I had in my box of decor and grabbed a bunch of colored garland, confetti, and some wall dots and carnival masks (I made it myself) that I already had from last year’s celebration (I will add some pictures from last year as well). It was a smaller celebration since the pandemic was more critical back then.
Ps: If the weather is good and warm, it’s nice to have this party outside – in the backyard or rooftop. If not, you can set it up inside, in the living room or kitchen, wherever you can accommodate the party. To do this, move the furniture a little away to make room. We celebrate our carnival indoors since it takes place during the Winter in Seattle.
Dressing Up
Make sure to use a lot of colors, accessories and glitter. For Carnival costumes you can mix things that you already have at home. Abmar and I decided to dress up as Sunflower and Gardener because we already had almost everything we needed for the costumes.
Abmar just needed an apron that I got from Amazon. We already had the yellow shirt and a straw hat at home. For me, I bought a sunflower headband and tulle tutu skirt at Amazon and sewed sunflowers on the skirt and on a yellow top that I already had. And Abmar made me a “vem me regar” (come water me) sign that we later just glued a sunflower on.
Eat
Food wise we made feijoada – a Brazilian must, specially during carnival. We also made a vegetarian version of it with lots of vegetables, smoked tofu and plant based sausages. For sides we had rice, vinagrete, farofa, braised cabbage.
Feijoada is a stew of beans with beef and pork. The name feijoada comes from feijão, ‘bean’ in Portuguese. It is widely prepared in the Portuguese-speaking world, with slight variations. The basic ingredients of feijoada are beans and fresh pork or beef. In Brazil, it is usually made with black beans.
We also set up trays with chips, guac, dip, peanut butter chocolate cups, fruit cups, M&Ms and BRIGADEIRO.
Caipirinha drink
Besides beer, which is a must on Carnival, we set a caipirinha station. There, our guests could pick from a selection of fruits and make their own drinks. It also turned out to be an activity because we taught some of our guests how to make it. Not that we are professionals, but at least we’re Brazilians 🙂
Ps: I used paper and reusable straws. As usual, I tried to produce as little garbage as possible and reuse as much as I can.
Music
Music is a key part of any carnival party. You can find different playlists on Spotify from classic carnival marches (which I don’t recommend so much since their lyrics haven’t aged very well) and samba-enredos to a mix of samba, axé with other contemporary rhythms. Reggaeton and rock can be played in the middle of the party — the important thing is to keep the vibe up!
Abmar is a music enthusiast, (I mean, we are, but I don’t play or sing anything hahaha.) So he, together with our friends, played some samba, choro, pagode and axé.
We also made a Youtube Playlist with carnival music from different parts of Brazil.
Coloring and stickers
For the kids I had coloring sheets with Carnival themed characters and laid out crayons and also some stickers. In the picture above you’ll find a character from a famous Brazilian comic book series and cartoon called Turma da Mônica (Monica’s Gang).
Indeed a fun and happy day 🥳
Xoxo,
Day