Dia De Los Muertos (2)

Traditional decor for the Day of the Dead includes papel picado - beautiful paper cutout flags that can be very ornate. In fact, the beautiful papercuts of Rob Ryan often resemble papel picado, and the craft has influenced many designers and makers. Everything from the colours to the patterns used in papel picado have some meaning. I have lovely everyday papel picado flags made from plastic that I bought at Hadeda in Johannesburg, and a special set of tissue-thin papel picado that a dear friend brought from Mexico for me. They will all be fluttering in my backyard for our Dia de los Muertos celebrations, along with some new papel that the children will be making as part of our lead-up to the day. You can try some too. Mia's blog has a tutorial for creating papel picado in the traditional way, using chisels on layers of tissue paper. On the International Folk Art website you can learn various techniques for creating your own papel picado. Nature Nest has done a lovely roundup of various places where you can find papel picado tutorials and templates. And MirandaMade has a neat little tutorial for sweet valentine themed papel picado easily made with paper punches - this is a nice easy one for the kiddies and they look adorable.