Dia de los Muertos (or the Mexican Day of the Dead) seems to be exploding among young people in the US. I’ve been seeing sugar skull tattoos everywhere, and this Halloween there was an astounding amount of Catrina costumes. I decided to have a themed craft party not only because I love the aesthetic, but I love the sentiment as well. This year I built an altar in my fireplace to honor 4 people:

On the far left is my friend Justin who committed suicide in 2007. He was part of my activist group and had a sweatshirt with a giant patch that said “clean kids get sick and die”. I wrote this to the side of his picture, along with the lyrics to “Maps” (his fave)- “they don’t love you like I love you”. One night we decided to take over the streets of our city as anarcho-cheerleaders dressed in yellow and black stripes. The picture of him and the striped tights are from that night. Also on the altar is the book he loaned me, “Sex, drugs, and Cocoa Puffs” by Chuck Klosterman.

On the mid-left is my grandma, Doris. She was a huge inspiration to me as a crafter, painter, and seamstress. She was also a fountain of knowledge in etiquette, beauty, and hospitality as women were expected to be in the 50′s and 60′s and loved to entertain. She was beautiful and looked like Rita Hayworth in her younger days. I hope in my lifetime I can display HALF the talent she did. Some of her yarn and one of her blankets were on the altar, and I decorated her picture with roses, one of her favorite painting subjects.

On the mid-right is my grandfather Vince, or Bummy. He was an outstanding character, and I’ve been hearing stories about his crazy exploits and personality as long as I can remember. He was a bright, bright soul and must have created a shockwave of influence, because I don’t remember him (he died when I was 2) but I feel like I know him. He loved to ski and hike, so I drew rocky crags on his photo and added some fall leaves.

On the far right is my grandpa Don, who just passed away this year. Don was a hardboiled, good-ol-fashioned Iowa farmer. He was like a figure in a Grant Wood painting. He wore overalls, worked on pickup trucks, chewed tobaccy, and could grow vegetables like no one else. He was quite the character, the kind you’ll never forget. I put some corn, gardening tools, and his Co-Op notebooks on the altar for him.

I also made candy skulls for everyone to decorate. Very easy- just bought the mold at an altar supply store and bought candy melts and frosting tubes at the craft store.

I think I may have started a new tradition here- not only were the crafts fun and meaningful, but we got to reminisce about those we love who are no longer around.