While many are busy getting ready for Halloween, we want to spice things up a bit for the bicultural families amongst us with a little Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) feast.

Day of the Dead is celebrated on November 1st in Mexico and some Latin American countries.  It´s a day to remember the loved ones in our lives that have passed on.  We remember them with joy and happiness.

Latinos know how to turn everything into a fiesta and give it color!  Typical Día de Muertos iconic figures include the vibrant calacas, or skeletons, and calaveras, or skulls.  We´ve rounded up the coolest finds around the web of decorations, clothing, accesories and books featuring dancing and smiling calacas y calaveras for your very own Muertos celebration.

Handmade Skull Garland

We found this garland, and the one pictured above, in Raw Bone Studio´s Etsy shop.  You get eight colorful and handmade felt skulls with different whimsical expressions.  Nothing dark or spooky here!  Garlands always set the tone.

They are a bit pricey for $40, but this is something you can store away in your Día de Muertos box and bring out every year.  The memories it will bring your kids every year will surely amount to much more.

Skull Ornament

Nine ornaments made to resemble the typical sugar skulls kids get as treats during this holiday. Each ornament is handmade with soft, lightweight fabric so you can hang these unique pieces anywhere you want to add some Muertos cheer.  We found these at Miss Butler´s Etsy shop for $45.  Think Muerto´s heirloom at its best.

EL FESTIVAL DE LAS CALAVERAS

This book´s complete title is Festival of Bones/El Festival de las Calavera: The Little-Bitty Book for the Day of the Dead. Author and illustrator Luis San Vicente created a bilingual (English/Spanish) book that´s perfect for young readers to learn more about the Day of the Dead and the festive, yet respectful, atmosphere that surrounds it. So festive, even skeletons dress up to party!
Find this book for $10.17 in La Tiendita.

Skull Felt Baby Shoes

Cute, cute, cute!  Franny and June´s Etsy shop has adorable and unique handmade felt shoes that you will want to get for every baby in your life.  They´ve made a girl´s and a boy´s version for  Día de los Muertos decorated with embroidered sugar skulls you´ll want to eat off!  Get a pair for $24 at their online store.

Skull Pendant

A skull pendant with colorful Buri beads from WinkArtisans brings the bling to the holiday and elevates the Day of the Dead calavera to a fashion statement.  Find it at their Etsy shop for $4o.

We still have more Día de Muertos Finds to share with you.  We´ll see you here tomorrow for the second part of this calaca and calavera feast!

Everybody was raving about my newborn son at a recent family + friend’s get-together – and it wasn’t only because some were meeting him for the very first time. The main reason is that he is PRECIOSO (ok, I’m a little biased ) and now he has the clothes for all the world to know!

When I got Latin Baby’s Precioso onesie in the mail, I chuckled because that’s probably one of the terms of endearment I use the most with my newborn son. I used to do the same with my daughter when she was a baby. I don’t even know why that word and not “lindo” or “chulo,” but I must not be the only one if this bodysuit in particular is one of the most popular clothing items, according to Monica, owner of Latin Baby.

The bodysuit is 100% cotton – meaning it’s really soft which is perfect for a newborn. It comes in either light blue, pink or white. The design is available in both bodysuits (sizes newborn, 6 and 12 months) and T-shirts (sizes 2T, 4T and 6T) and for both niñas y niños. They are part of Latin Baby’s “Con Amor” collection which also includes the design “Mi Cariño.”

And, if you’re looking for a baby shower gift with Latino flair, you can also get the bodysuit as part of the online boutique’s Newborn Gift Set which includes a Gordito/a, bib and a gorrito by Los Pollitos Dicen. Another bestseller which you can actually win in the giveaway below!

A Giveaway!!

This giveaway is now closed.  Congratulations to our winner #19: Kristy!

We’re giving away a Newborn Gift Set, like the one pictured above, to one lucky winner!  For a chance to win visit Latin Baby website and come back to leave us a comment telling us what is your favorite product and why.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway.  If you want to up your chances at winning, then click here to learn how to get additional entries.

This giveaway ends Sunday, October 11, 2009 at midnight EST.

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

{Make sure you’re subscribed to the SBFinds feed via email or RSS so that you can be notified of our weekly Finds, special discounts and more awesome giveaways.}

Etsy is my favorite site to browse for original, artistic and unique Finds.  You´ll be happily surprised at the many cute things you can find for our niños and for ourselves that are bursting with attitude and have been created by Latinos y Latinas.

I´m especially fond of supporting artists who are keeping it real by doing what they love.

It was here that I found Miss Butler´s Etsy shop where she showcases her vibrant creations which are all made with fabrics that remind her of her travels thru México and Latin America.

Her Spanish-English bean bag set is so wonderfully unique that I had to share it with you.  Kids like to throw stuff around, that we know very well.  Why not give them these adorable bean bags to release some kiddie tension with?  Or, you can just keep them to yourself-yes, we´re allowed- to use as door stoppers or paper weights.

Each set comes with four bean bags made with colorful fabric prints.  One has a burro on one side and words in Spanish on the flip.  There´s one with a folkloric Mexican niño and niña with a piñata on the reverse.  Another bag will teach them colors in Spanish and English and one more with numbers from 1-6 in Spanish.

This will be one of those things you own that people will be asking about:  “How cute!  Where did you get this?”  Well, since these are handmade and the fabric is so special, this is truly a rare find and you can tell them so.

A Giveaway!!

Congratulations to our winner:  Heather Goldsmith!!

We’re giving away a set of Miss Butler’s bilingual bean bags!  For a chance to win it go to Miss Butler’s Etsy shop, then come back here and tell us what else from her catalog you liked.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway.  If you want to up your chances at winning, then click here to learn how to get additional entries.

This giveaway ends Sunday, September 13th, at midnight EST.

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

{Make sure you’re subscribed to the SBFinds feed via email or RSS so that you can be notified of our weekly Finds, special discounts and more awesome giveaways.}