Get Ready for Dia De Los Muertos

Don't you love Autumn?  Beautiful trees, hot apple cider, and two fabulous holidays.   Halloween, and Dia De Los Muertos, aka, Day of the Dead.  Since most of you are already super familiar with Halloween, I'll tell you how we celebrate Dia de los Muertos at our house.  It's a holiday to honor our friends and relatives who have died.  Sometimes we have guests, sometimes we don't, but every year we set up an ofrenda (an altar with favorite foods of the deceased, photos, flowers, etc), make some yummy organic Mexican food, and tell stories about loved ones that have passed on.

It's such a beautiful holiday and really makes me feel more comfortable with something we rarely talk about in American culture--death.  It's a way to celebrate those we love that have passed and doesn't it just make you feel better to think there will be a party for you every year with a few of your favorite things?  I think it's brilliant.

You can read about how to make an ofrenda HERE.  And you can find some fabulous decorations and supplies at MexicanSugarSkull.com, which is a wonderful source for all things Day of the Dead including information, inspiration, and beautiful photos (like the one above and to your left). Check out those awesome sugar skull cookies pictured above, wouldn't it be fun to make those?

One note about food--please be sure to get organic corn products as most non-organic corn products are genetically modified.  We generally use all organic foods beans, limes, tortilla chips, tomatoes, cilantro, chocolate, etc. and are lucky to live somewhere where these things are readily available.  I know not everyone has access, so just making sure the corn products are organic is a great place to start.

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STACK THE BONES from Kikkerland

Perfect to leave out the rest of the month, this wooden Skull and Bones Stack The Bones game functions as a game and cool Halloween and Day of The Dead decor.

This is not a Jenga game, but made by Kikkerland and I have never played Jenga, so I do not know how it compares, the bones do seem somewhat lightweight. Players each remove one bone using only one hand, and place it on top without toppling the stack.  The last player to do this successfully wins.  It's appropriate for both little kids and big kids.  I think this would be great in the boardroom  or on a desk as well--studies show that having toys like this around the workplace increases productivity.

Comes in a gift-worthy box--would make a great hostess gift for any Halloween parties you might be attending.

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How to make Dia De Los Muertos Ofrenda

Today we are building our ofrenda (Mexican altar) for Dia De Los Muertos. Day of the Dead is celebrated today and tomorrow and is one of my favorite holidays. We build an altar using our table covered with a bold floral tablecloth, window sills (great for candles), and branches we found outside covered with lights and mexican ornaments. You can use boxes with tablecloths to create depth and dimension. Marigolds are used traditionally, as the smell is said to attract the dead and show them the way.

Once you get your altar up, you can add candles to help light the way for the dead. Then you place foods and items your loved ones enjoyed before they passed on. I like lots of color and candlelight. Place photographs of loved ones on the altar and anything else you think is appropriate.

We do a small vegan Mexican inspired feast consisting of black beans, guacamole, salsa, and chips. I have ambitions to veganize Bread of the Dead (Pan de Muerto) but haven't carried them through yet, same thing for the sugar skulls. This year the plan is to add Mexican wedding cookies to our feast where there will be fruit for my grandmother and oreos for my dad.

I am not a religious person, but I love Dia de los Muertos. I love the idea of celebrating those that we miss and embracing life in this moment. My son gets a big kick out of hearing stories about his relatives he never got to meet and it just makes me feel better about life to have this holiday to look forward to every year.

image courtesy of: http://www.mexicansugarskull.com/

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The Festival Of Bones by Luis San Vicente

Halloween is almost here, happily, but there is another holiday that is every bit as exciting and in many ways even cooler than Halloween: Dia De Los Muertos--Day Of The Dead. This is one of my favorite holidays and such a beautiful way to celebrate life and our loved ones who have passed on. In Mexico, Dia De Los Muertos is celebrated from October 31 through November 2nd. At our house it is celebrated on November 1-2nd.

Children respond to this not with fear, but curiosity and excitement. My son loves Day of the Dead and welcomes the chance to hear stories about relatives he never got to meet. He's also quite happy to partake in the special foods, music and decor.

The Festival of Bones, by Luis San Vicente, is a great way to introduce children to this holiday. The artwork is fantastic. We have three other Day of the Dead children's books, but this one is my favorite. I love that it is bi-lingual and the illustrations are incredible. In the back of the book are some fun facts about the holiday, and recipes for Sugar Skulls and Bread of the Dead. I highly recommend this book. Festival of Bones is published by Cinco Puntos Press where you can also find a variety of bi-lingual books for kids.

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