lorimarsha: El Dia de Los Muertos 2014

Dia de Los Muertos, Oaxaca, Mexico

Maybe it's a past life thing but for many years I've looked forward to El Dia de Los Muertos like a child awaiting Christmas. Although I'm not of hispanic descent, I've embraced the culture and enjoy celebrating the lives of friends and family no longer with us. Around mid-October I climb into the attic and pull down the boxes of catrinas, calaveras, sugar skulls, textiles, family photographs- and so much more- that I've accumulated over the years. These are the makings for my ofrenda, or altar, that I build for the Day of the Dead. A big part of my joy is revisiting this collection of objects.

In addition to building the altar, I transform the house with my collection of handmade pillows, masks, and other objects relating to the holiday - many purchased on my trips to Mexico.


Felted skeletons I found on Etsy


Small collection of calacas, calaveras

This guy looks pretty happy

Every year I do things differently. Sometimes, weather permitting, I build the altar outdoors. We had an abrupt change in the weather this past week so this year I chose the living room.

I begin by layering the textiles over tables, risers and boxes. Then I add the photographs, candles, fresh fruit and flowers. Many friends and family have added to the altar so I continue to include their offerings from past years. This year we added a painting of our sweet dog, Scout, who we lost in January.

Layered textiles I've collected over the years

Our 2014 ofrenda

Our beloved Scout

Paige left us way too soon

I have a few friends over to celebrate each year and this year I decided to make party favors from interesting images of calaveras. I decoupaged them to matchboxes and filled the boxes with M&Ms. It was my first foray into glitter and I think I'll be seeing glimmers of glitter for many years to come. It's everywhere. Oh, and I forgot to hand out the party favors until half of the group had departed. :(

Party favors

Glitter everywhere for days

Another first this year was handmade tissue paper pom poms. I found a great tutorial here and after a total fail in my first attempt, I watched the complete video and the rest turned out well.

Easy to make paper pompoms

On the day of the party I decorated the tables. A friend suggested offering mask painting and although I had no idea whether people would participate, it ended up being a great success. Thanks for the idea, Linda, and all those great art supplies! I also put out paper flowers and butterflies for Frida-style headbands.