Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead- Dia de los Muertos- is a holiday observed in Mexico on November 2. It’s a family time for remembering and honoring dead friends and relatives- a period when the souls of the dead can return for a visit. It’s celebrated with humor, not sadness.

Agenda:
1. Set up my ofrenda:
Families begin to prepare for the Days of the Dead in mid-October. The heart of the festival is the ofrenda, a special table with offerings and decorations. The ofrenda is decorated with arches, candles, incense, skeleton toys, and marigolds. The family also displays some of the dead person’s favorite foods and things, photographs, sugar skulls, and little gifts. 

I've been collecting and making things for my ofrenda for years, but only put up a small ofrenda this year.

2. Make papel picado (paper banners):
The ofrenda needs delicate cut paper banners on the front edge, on the wall behind, and on the ceiling overhead. Mexican artists cut through about 30 pieces of tissue paper at once. They pin the sheets to the table, draw the design on the top sheet and then cut with special stamping tools. We have an easier method.

3. Make sugar skulls:

Candy makers in Mexico sell thousands of alfiñique before the Days of the Dead. They form the skulls by pressing white almond paste into a mold, then they pipe pastel icing onto the candy, and decorate the eyes and mouth with bits of shiny paper or foil. Sometimes they write a name on the forehead.