![]() ![]() In Nahua rituals honoring the dead, traditionally held in August, family members provided food, water and tools to aid the deceased in this difficult journey. Only after getting through nine challenging levels, a journey of several years, could the person’s soul finally reach Mictlán, the final resting place. Upon dying, a person was believed to travel to Chicunamictlán, the Land of the Dead. The Aztecs and other Nahua people living in what is now central Mexico held a cyclical view of the universe, and saw death as an integral, ever-present part of life. How do you celebrate your loved ones that have passed away and teach your children about death? I would love to know.The roots of the Day of the Dead, celebrated in contemporary Mexico and among those of Mexican heritage in the United States and around the world, go back some 3,000 years, to the rituals honoring the dead in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Dia de los Muertos presents a great opportunity to explain to them about death in a positive light and teach them the importance of celebrating life. This is a great way to remember them and to talk about them with my kids. We placed these on a table along with the picture of my grandmother and grandfather both of whom my kids did not get to meet. Arrange the silk marigolds and flowers around the candle and glue in place using the Two Temperature Glue Gun’s low temperature setting.Apply hot glue where candle and pumpkin meet to hold in place. Insert the candle in the hole making sure that the candle extends 1.5″ to 2″ above pumpkin.Paint the sugar skull Day of the Dead inspired designs on the pumpkin with the Black Paint Marker.Spray paint the pumpkins white and let dry.Carve out the circle remove the pumpkins seeds and pulp if you are using a real pumpkin.Center candle base on top of pumpkin and trace around it with the pencil.Artificial flowers in fall colors, if you can find them it would be ideal to use marigolds.Hot-glue gun (I use the Adhesive Technologies Two-Temp Cordless Glue Gun which lets me work with it unplugged for up to 5min).Pumpkins (to make these last you can use artificial craft pumpkins, these are easy to carve and there is no mess!).Materials for Day of the Dead Skull Pumpkins We also strengthen our bonds not only with each other but also with our extended family who is far away and also with the family who is no longer with us. Through these old, new and blended traditions we stay connected to that country and that culture that always is a part of us. Since we move to the US we have also adopted some new traditions. ![]() In Guatemala we celebrate the Day of Dead by getting together with family and eating traditional dishes like Fiambre, visiting the cemetery and remembering our loved ones who have passed away. When we moved to the US from Guatemala we left all of our family and friends behind, we left our country and our traditions and embraced a new life in a new country with new traditions. My kids love decorating pumpkins so we decided to create a set of Day of the Dead inspired pumpkin candle holders which we decorated with flowers and candles as the focal point for our Day of the Dead Altar. I really like that this holiday is a great opportunity to teach my children about appreciating life and the time spent with family and it’s a great way to follow on all of the spooky monster and zombie overload that comes with Halloween. This holiday is all about celebrating life and on that day we remember our loved ones that have passed away. At home we celebrate El Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. These DIY Day of the Dead pumpkins will make a fun centerpiece and are also ideal for a Day of the Dead altar. These Day of the Dead sugar skull pumpkin candle holders are an easy Dia de los Muertos craft project. ![]()
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