Looking for a last minute craft activity to celebrate Día de los Muertos with the family? Look no further!

The stores are swarming with DIY Christmas ornaments, but I thought it would be super fun to make personalized ornaments for those who passed on in our family. They are not only great for celebration but they are good for years to come. A great keepsake or gift for those in your family!

With just a few of supplies our ornaments were super easy to make and so fun!

To make these for Día de los Muertos Ornaments you will need:

• Glass or acrylic ornament
• Photo of a loved one who has passed
• mod podge
• scissors
• jewels
• glitter glue or paint/ acrylic paint (we used a combination of both)
• paint brush
• and string or twine!

Follow these easy steps to get started!

 Prepare your photo by cutting it to your preferred shape. Circles work best! Add one layer of Mod Podge evenly and adhere your photo face down. Seal it with another layer of Modge Podge and wait for it to dry.

TIP: Add another layer of paper to the photo the same size. I notice our pictures got a little fuzzy after we added details.

 Once your sealing is dry. Decorate this decor will show thru so if you add letters or certain shapes be sure they are mirrored to the correct view through the ornament.

Wait for it to dry.

 Add decor to the front of your ornament. We used jewels to make crosses and roses.  Swirls and flowers are also common designs for Día de los Muertos, or paint what your loved ones loved best!

Once the back and front of your ornament are dry add the last layer of paint to the back of the ornament on the picture side. Wait for the paint to dry and design a sugar skull!

Glitter glue looks amazing on these little ornaments! The kids loved creating dots all over our ornaments!

Get ready to hang your ornaments or give them away as gifts for others to enjoy!

 Happy Day of the Dead!  ¡Feliz Dia de los Muertos!

Last year was our first time celebrating Día de Muertos.  Since then, a lot has changed in the way I see this holiday.  It amazes me how much of a spiritual impact the celebration of Día de Muertos has given me.  Last year I didn’t know much about it, so I did a little research, applied what I learned to the same beliefs that my husband and I grew up with, and did my best to weave the old with the new.  After having experienced all the emotions and joy that come with setting up and creating an altar last year, I was looking forward to getting started on our altar this year once Fall officially arrived.

What this year’s altar means to me is beyond the expectations of what I first expected to feel.  I knew that it had to be meaningful from start to finish, and it was.  There was no doubt in my mind that it needed to be separate from everything else, and it needed its own space where it can be appreciated.  Last year I was left feeling like I didn’t do our altar justice, so this year I wanted to make our deceased relatives proud. My goal was to create the foundation for an altar that would last us many years.  I wanted it to stand out and be noticed by everyone who walked through our door.  Most importantly though, I wanted my children and husband to be a part of the whole process too.

After much brainstorming and planning, we began gathering all the materials we needed together.  My husband took on the challenge of building the home of our altar(s), which were three large rectangular shadow boxes that would be hung on the wall.  The wood we used came from the box frame of our old bed that we took apart over the summer and saved before throwing out what we couldn’t repurpose.

Here is a detailed list of the materials we used for the shadow box shelf:

• (4) 11 5/8“ Long X 11/16” Thick X 3 3/8” High solid redwood boards
• (4) 21 ¾” Long X 11/16” Thick X 3 3/8” High” solid redwood boards
• (1) 22 7/8” Long X 3/8” Thick X 11” High plywood board for the back
• #6 x 1-1/4” wood screws
• #6 x ½” wood screws
• #16 x 1-1/4” Wire Brads nails
• (4) 2” rectangle brackets
• Staple gun
• fabric
• ¼” thick Quilt Batting
• Picture hangers (20lb capacity)
• ring hangers

Step 1:  Cut the Batting at least ½” bigger than the plywood board, and the fabric at least 1 ½” bigger than the plywood board. Lay down the fabric face down first, then place the batting over the fabric, then place the plywood board over them.  Starting with the middle (lengthwise), pull the fabric up and over the edge of the board, and staple it down.  Do the same with the other sides.  Work your way from the middle – out, leaving the corners last.   When you get to the corners, fold the leftover piece of fabric that hasn’t been stapled like you would a present, and staple it down one or two times.

Step 2: Build two frames separately using the nails first (the shorter redwood boards go on the outside of the frame).  Once you have the frames built, reinforce them with the #6 x 1-1/4” wood screws (one on each end between the nails).  Screw on half of the bracket halfway down the middle of each board with one #6 x ½” wood screw.  Slide the second frame onto the frame with brackets and secure them together with #6 x ½” wood screws again.

Step 3:  Evenly position the upholstered plywood board over one side of the completed frame and secure it onto the frame using the #6 x 1-1/4” wood screws.

Step 4:  Use a ruler to measure how far down, as well as how much inward, you want the picture hangers to be on the back board.  Screw them on with the #6 x ½” wood screws.  Use the distance between the top of the two rings to determine how far apart you need to place the hangers on the wall.

Now that the hardest part is done, it’s time to get creative!  If you’re going to include children in the process of creating an altar for Día de los Muertos, here are a few tips.

1. Find age-appropriate books about Día de los Muertos to introduce them to the cultural festivities if this is their first time.  Talk about the pictures, note the basics as a starting point (i.e., Marigolds, the offering, Calaveras, etc.).  Then talk about who you will be honoring in your altar.
2. Scope your home out for the right spot together as a family and talk about the different options you have.  How much space are you going to need?  How much space do you have?  Do you want it to be on a table, or on the wall, which room should it be in?
3. Once you’ve decided where the altar will be, you can ask the children to draw a picture of some of their ideas.  If they don’t want to do this, or are too young to understand, it’s okay!  Simply talking about it together can be enough.  Just make sure you jot down some of their ideas (if they give you some) so you can plan for them ahead for time.  Remember, this is a FAMILY DIY Project!  Everyone’s ideas and participation count!  No matter how big or small.
4. This one can probably go without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway…Keep breakables and flammables to a minimum!  Children are naturally curious, and they will want to touch everything on the altar, so don’t put anything on the altar you would be upset about if it gets broken.  If you do, educate them on how to handle those items with care.  Lay down some rules if you must.
5. Have fun, be patient, and take your time.  Building an altar isn’t something to rush.  It’s a personal matter that involves lots of love, and only you and your family know what will work and what will not.  Small, large, simple, elaborate… doesn’t matter.  What matters is the time spent together bonding with your loved ones – alive and departed.

Watching my daughter get excited about helping us with our altar made every bit of hard work putting it all together worth it.  This year we talked about her Grandmother more, she asked about the others; who they were, how they died.  “Do we miss them?” she always asks.  Hearing and answering these questions does reawaken the grief and sadness in us, but only for a short while.  It’s part of the process I guess, because you can NEVER forget about the people you love and miss.  Never!  We don’t want to forget about them!  I think that’s why it’s so important to me to do this every year for my family.  It’s the only way my children can get to know their Father’s Mother and it helps keep the memories of her alive.  For that reason alone, I am beyond more than happy to continue this tradition every year.

I hope you enjoyed reading our experience. Below are links to recipes and resources that we used to help us build our altar as a family.

Books about Día de los Muertos

Paper Table Template

Pan De Muerto recipe by King Arthur Flour

Sweet Tamales by Muy Bueno Cookbook

Such is the case with this eBook, Ofrendas: Celebrando el Día de Muertos, that a group of Latina food and craft bloggers (and good friends and even a few SpanglishBaby Familia members!) have put together to offer for FREE! Sí, this amazing work of collaborative art is gratis!

Flip through the pages of this online magazine to find recipes and crafts that go beyond the traditional, while remaining firmly grounded in its origins.

Big congratulations to these amazing mujeres for creating this to enrichen even more the celebration of Día de Muertos:

-Nicole Presley of Presleys Pantry
-Leslie Limón of La Cocina de Leslie
-Maura Wall Hernandez of The Other Side of the Tortilla
-Ericka Sánchez of Nibbles and Feasts
-Denise Cortés of PearMama
-Kathy Cano Murillo of Crafty Chica
-Vianney Rodriguez of Sweet Life

¡Gracias, amigas!

“At first glance, the Mexican custom of El Día de los Muertos — the Day of the Dead — may sound much like the U.S. custom of Halloween. After all, the celebration traditionally starts at midnight the night of Oct. 31, and the festivities are abundant in images related to death.

But the customs have different origins, and their attitudes toward death are different: In the typical Halloween festivities, death is something to be feared. But in el día de los muertos, death — or at least the memories of those who have died — is something to be celebrated.” via SpanishAbout.com

Though we don’t celebrate this holiday in our family it intrigues me and I’m definitely a big believer in educating my children about the world around us even if we don’t necessarily hold to those traditions or beliefs.  What I really like about this holiday is how death is not something to be feared but something to be celebrated.  I definitely want to lean in the direction of celebrating over fear.

Here’s a fun Day of the Dead activity you can share with you class or children as you discover and explore the Latino culture. Note every culture celebrates it differently and in Mexico there is a big emphasis on the colorful skull art.

Supplies:

• contact paper
• masking tape
• tissue paper
• Day of the Dead skeleton (from Spanish Playground) or these boy and girl calacas.

1. I printed off this lovely printable and traced it onto the contact paper with it still in tact.  I left out some of the details as you can see but you can get as detailed as you wish. If your child is older let them trace it. My little one is two so I did the tracing.

2. Then adhere the shiny side of your contact paper to a window by slowly peeling it off and using masking tape around the edges.

3. Then let your child enjoy filling it in with tissue paper.

My two year old really enjoyed this activity.

I first found the Day of the Dead Activity Book last month when I was browsing on Amazon for Día de Muertos books to add to the round up I was putting together. I totally based a book by its cover and, loving what I could see, I immediately added it to my cart and had it within days in my mailbox.

This is one impulse buy I don’t regret.

Karl Jones, author, and Steve Simpson, illustrator, just released this book this year and we’re thrilled they did. The intro offers a concise, yet precise, and beautifully illustrated description of what Day of the Dead, as celebrated in México, and ofrendas are.

The rest of the pages are filled with activities, recipes, crafts, coloring pages, paper figures and even stickers — all with colorful and lively illustrations by Steve Simpson.

This is certainly a book that’s meant to be dug into, torn and scribbled all over, so I might just need to buy another one because it feels and looks like something I want to keep around even as a collectible.

Inside, you will find activities such as:

Day of the Dead Maze

Sugar Skull and Graveyard Cake recipes

Day of the Dead Crossword and Word Find

Papel Picado and Paper Marigold how-tos

Build Your Own Ofrenda paper press-outs

…y mucho más!

The Giveaway

The author has generously offered to give away one copy of his Day of the Dead Activity book to TWO SpanglishBaby amigos. To enter for your chance to win, just tell us what aspect of the Día de Muertos celebration you enjoy the most. Make sure you enter via the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Marigolds, Cempazuchitl (cempoal-xochitl), meaning the flower of twenty petals in Náhuatl, are traditionally known as flor de muerto or the flower of the dead. From deep reds to bright yellows, the marigold’s blooms can reach up to 2-inches in diameter and a stem up to 3-feet tall. During the pre-Hispanic era, the Aztecs selected this robust flower to cover the altars and take part of burial offerings dedicated to their dead.

Now, this beautiful flower is one of the major protagonists during the celebration on November 1 and 2, All Souls Day and Day of the Dead.  Endless garlands are hung on altars as part of the holiday’s offerings to the deceased, denoting strength of sunlight.

Not only is this flower pleasant to look at, but a flavor enhancer to poultry, teas, candies and tortillas.  Celebrate Día de Los Muertos with your tortillero filled with these marigold tortillas.  They are the perfect accompaniment to the festivity’s mole, cochinita pibil or a simple queso fundido appetizer.  ¡Buen provecho!

Tortillas de Cempazuchitl | Marigold Tortillas

Makes 16, 6-inch tortillas

Ingredients:

• 2 cups corn flour
• 1 ¼ cups water
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups fresh edible marigold petals

Instructions:
In a large mixing bowl, combine corn flour, water and salt.  Mix with hands until smooth.  If dough sticks to hands, add water 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency.

Heat a comal or skillet over low-medium heat.

Divide dough into 16 separate equal portions and roll each portion into a ball.

Using a tortilla press, flatten each masa ball between to plastic sheets.  Open the press and evenly distribute marigold petals on the pressed tortilla.  Press the tortilla again gently enough to embed flower petals into the masa.

Place tortilla on hot comal and cook for approximately 1 minute on each side.

Keep tortillas warm in a tortilla warmer or wrapped in a tea towel.

¡Ha llegado ya!, el día de los muertos hay que festejar. Well, it’s almost here. Day of the Dead is celebrated November 1st and 2nd. To get the excitement going we are sharing this coloring story book in Spanish with you! The book introduces kids to basic Day of the Dead vocabulary. Just print it, have your kids color it and then follow the instructions to fold it into a story book. Perfect for home or the classroom!

Click here for a printable version of the previewed coloring story book above. 

For more Spanish educational materials for niños visit Monarca Language and like them on Facebook.

And for more Day of the Dead finds, crafts, printables and recipes visit our Celebrate Día de Muertos page!

I’ve enjoyed sharing cultural holidays with my little girl over the past four years, but Día de los Muertos is one that I’ve held off delving into until now. I recently wrote about my daughter’s obsession with death following my grandmother’s funeral last year. But I felt that after talking so extensively about the subject of loss for more than a year now, I was ready to talk to her about the life of my father, whom she never got to meet, and her great-grandparents. So, I decided that for Day of the Dead, we’d make mini-altars out of shoeboxes and mini-matchbox shrines, and in the process of creating, I could share stories about our antepasados.

I started with a stack of old photos to spark the conversation. I chose photos with our loved ones at various ages to show her the progression of life. I let her pick the one she wanted to use in her altar. She chose a photo of my dad from his years as a high school math teacher. I took a photo of my grandparents together, to use for a mini-matchbox altar, and another of my father and his mother to use for my shoebox altar.

There are many ways to build an altar. In the end, it’s really about honoring your loved ones, not mourning them, so using things like bright colors, glitter and beautiful flowers is key. I took several empty kids shoeboxes and painted them over with brightly colored water-based acrylic paints. I actually lucked out because I had several shoeboxes of See Kai Run brand baby shoes, which come in a cute silver shoebox with a clear opening to see inside – perfect for shoebox altar-making!

I then lined the inside of the shoeboxes with black cardstock. I wanted to stick with some of the essential elements of Day of the Dead, so to decorate the inside of the shoeboxes, we used calaveritas (which I painted over in pink and turquoise), marigolds (artificial), religious imagery, paper-punched Monarch butterflies (we used a Martha Stewart butterfly border) and lots of glitter and glittery embellishments. I used a simple glue stick or regular glue to affix mostly everything, but I did have to whip out the glue gun for the artificial flowers. Finally, I added a flameless, battery-powered tea light, which flickers like a real candle.

The mini-matchbox shrines were even easier to make – just paint over or cover with paper the outside of the matchbox, affix with a glue stick an image of your favorite santo and place an image of your loved one inside. You could also add glitter and embellishments around the outside image. I added a self-adhesive magnet on the back so that we can keep the matchbox shrine on our refrigerator after the holiday is over.

We’ve put our little altars and shrines next to our Halloween pumpkins in our dining room. Yes, we are having a truly bicultural celebration this year! A few days before Day of the Dead, we’ll put out some food and drink by the altars to beckon the spirits. I know they’ll be happy with our offerings, which were made with much love and care.

Have you ever created an altar for a loved one? What do you use to create the altar or shrine?

Contrary to what many could think judging by its name, el Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is mostly a celebration of life. It is a time where we honor and remember our loved ones that have passed away and we do so by celebrating with joy the memory of their lives. In Mexico, colorful altars are created either at home or the cemetery. These altars include skulls and other symbols that represent death but they are lively decorated, full of color and cheerful details, as the idea is to bring to life the positive memories we have of those who have died. Personal objects, mementos, pictures and even favorite foods of the deceased are placed as part of the altar. The whole family gets creative thinking of ways the altar can best represent the memories of those that have passed on and are held near and dear to their hearts. As much importance is placed on creativity, I wanted to share an edible idea that is meant to get your creative juices flowing: Día de los Muertos Sandwich Art.

The shape of traditional sandwich bread is close to the shape of a skull, so just like decorating cookie skulls, you can decorate a piece of bread to make fun and creative sandwiches or toast. This is a great idea to involve your kids and to allow them to learn more about the traditions, but also to become part of the celebration. If you do not partake in the creation of an altar at home but do want make sure your family knows about this celebration, why not try this edible activity for breakfast, lunch or snack time, while telling stories about the lives of our loved muertos.

Here are a few Día de los Muertos sandwich art ideas but remember the possibilities are endless.

Using an apple corer or simply a knife, make two holes on a piece of bread to resemble the eyes. Do the same for the nose and mouth. Spread peanut butter and jelly on another slice of bread and top it off with the cutout sliced so that the jelly shows out, adding color to the face of the skull.

If you want to get even more creative, make an open face sandwich. Have various types of nuts, candy, and fruit on hand and on a slice of bread, use a smooth spread of your choice. The spread will work as a glue that will hold together your work of art. This is a good idea for a sweet treat or snack.

For a healthier version, spread cream cheese to create a blank canvas. Use cold cuts, sliced cheese and veggies to cut out shapes that will give life to the skull.

Over the years, Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, has been making its way to the United States and being embraced by all cultures. All Latin American countries celebrate Nov. 1st and 2nd as Día de Muertos or Día de los Difuntos, but most observe it as a somber day of remembrance of those that passed before us. Mexico, on the other hand, has imbued the celebration with rich symbolism and a festive environment that conceives death as a normal part of life. They also believe that those that have passed before us should be remembered with joy.

In Mexico, Day of the Dead is full of color, symbolism and rich aromas coming from the various typical foods prepared for the occasion. The belief is our muertos (deceased) will visit us during these days to enjoy the foods, drinks and objects they enjoyed in life and are left in an altar for their annual visit.

Altars adorn houses and public spaces and can get very extravagant. Marigold flowers, sugar skulls, candles, papel picado and picture frames, along with food and drinks, can be found on every altar. Each altar is its own work of art.

Día de Muertos is such a beautiful way to teach our children about something as essential as death, a topic that is often difficult to approach, but that all kids wonder about at one point or another. Embrace this holiday to teach your kids that death is nothing to be scared about and we can even be playful about it. Crafts and art are an ideal way to celebrate Día de Muertos.

Click here are 15 festive and colorful Día de Muertos crafts your kids will love doing with you.