Día de Muertos or Day of the Dead (November 1) is one of my favorite Mexican festivities. It’s a day to celebrate the lives of loved ones that have passed on. On this day, it is believed that those who have passed are able to come back and join their family in the celebration. So, we build them an altar to honor their journey and we decorate it with brightly colored papel picado, paper flowers, marigolds, and the person’s favorite foods, drinks, music and belongings. Sugar skulls are an important part of this tradition, as they are meant to be a representation of a loved ones’ life on earth. Each one is handmade and unique and they come in all different sizes. My mom used to buy them for all her kids and we would leave them up as decorations in our house for the entire month of November. Our team was inspired by these sugar skull candies to create this balloon backdrop – representing a life that was bright and colorful. We added the heart and flower details to help capture a beautiful and loving spirit.

Materials:  Projector, Day of the Dead skull design, 260Q latex balloons (in pink, orange, yellow, wintergreen, light green, tropical teal, caribbean blue, and neon pink), balloon hand pump, scissors, gaffer’s tape

Step 1: Project the design onto a large, blank wall.
Step 2: Fill the lines of the design with balloons, taping them to the wall with loops of gaffer’s tape. You can cut balloons to size by inflating a balloon to the length that you need, knotting both ends, and trimming off the leftovers. For the rounded segments, tie the two ends together to form a loop. Secure the balloons to the wall with a loop at the beginning, middle, and end.

SHOP THIS POST: Giant Diamond Honeycomb, Diamond Honeycomb, 2-Tone Honeycomb, Striped Fan, Giant Round Honeycomb, Round Honeycomb, Cactus Neon Light, Cake Stand, Long Balloons

Styling by Amy Moss
Crafting by Naomi Julia Satake