Celebrating Dia de los Muertos with Barbie #barbieproject

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post as a participant In the Barbie Project.

Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos is by far one of our favorite Mexican holidays to celebrate. I take great pride in reminiscing and teaching my kids something new I maybe haven’t mentioned about my grandparents.

I always share with the kids how lucky they are to know both sides of their grandparents. I too was fortunate enough to know all 4 of my grandparents . It is also very emotional time for me  to remember my childhood and reminisce on how great my grandparents were! I miss them a lot and the kids know that.

Little Lady knows how important both my Tata’s (grandfathers) were to me and how special my relationship with my Nana (grandmother) was. That is why every year we participate in the festivities of Day of the Dead.

Every year we make crafts and take out our shoebox altar to remember our loved ones. I thought it would be fun to celebrate with Barbie too! So just like we fix up and decorate our shoe box altar with photos and flowers we did the same at Barbie’s house.

Mini Dia de los Muertos Barbie House Altar

Using a small wooden box and a cardboard jewelry box we built our altar. Complete with a tissue paper table cover, mugs, plates, flowers, photos, a cross, glamourous calaveras, and most importantly mini wooden square photos of my grandparents!

Little Lady asked questions about the foods my Nana made me as a kid and the things my Tata invented. She remembers me telling her about his homemade grinder and how most of the grandkids took a turn grinding tomatoes and chiles to make fresh salsa. My Tata from Tijuana was always giving me a big coin, the amount I can’t remember, but it was always enough to get my favorite bag of chips in Mexico. I realize what I remember about my grandparents  and share with my kids serves as memories for them too. Little Lady loves hearing all about them!

We got Barbie  ready for the festivities too . She rocked a floral crown we made with lose silk flowers and duck tape. The crowns are traditionally worn with face painted like a calavera, sugar skull.

Mini Barbie Floral Crown

With a piece of Duck Tape about 3inches long we added 3 small flowers. We folded over the duck tape to secure the flowers and make it into a headband.  By measuring around Barbie’s head  we got the perfect size for her. It looked really cute on Barbie Little Lady asked me to make one for her too.

Creating an altar is pretty important because it is said that this is the way we invite or lead our loved ones spirits back to us on the day the dead come back to visit the living. While that is a great way of keeping their spirits alive I like to make a small altar dedicated to the lives and memories my grandparents left me. I love including photos and flowers and colorful banners.

Mini Wooden Picture Frames

With 1 inch wooden squares purchased at our local craft store we glued scrapbook paper and a small photo of my grandparents. These were the perfect size for Barbie’s Dia de los muertos Altar!

Mini Celebration Banner (faux Papel Picado )

This was Little Lady’s favorite. She loved how cute the little flags were on her banner. To make it we used colored scrapbook paper, a small scalloped square punch, glue and twine! We punched out 2 squares for each flag and we sandwiched the twine with glue in the middle. This made Barbie’s house very festive!

Mini Wooden Altar for Barbie’s Day of the Dead Celebration

The little wooden box still remained the center of attention for our altar. Make your own with cardboard or even an old jewelry box!

We continued to play getting Barbie’s house ready to celebrate Dia de los Muertos. I can say that this year Little Lady understood a little more of why we celebrate and why my grandparents were so special! Day of the dead will always be a day to remember those we have loved and lost.

Do you celebrate Dia de los Muertos? How do you celebrate this holiday with your kids?