Project: Dia De Los Muertos/Halloween Party

As my ancestors and immediate family come from Mexico, out of respect, I have to put this out there: Dia De Los Muertos is not and should not be confused with Halloween. It is culturally different and has a lot of meaning and symbolism. I encourage you to do a Google search on it and not be turned/put off by any of the artwork or the name itself. There, I did my part in educating. 

As I mentioned before DDLM is not Halloween so naturally I had some reservations mixing it with our Halloween party but I just wanted to share this event with family and friends and put together a nice altar of our lost loved ones. Some friends did not know much about altars and different aspects of it so it felt nice being able to explain it to them.

According to my Pinterest Board for my DDLM altar/party, I have been planning this party for almost 8 months. In fact, for many weeks during the spring and early summer I was buying patio lights from Target whenever they went on sale to give the backyard some much needed lighting and ambiance. My closet was literally overflowing with lights, decorations, party supplies, etc. I'm happy to finally have my closet back!

I have some really amazing family members that are super talented when it comes to arts and crafts and they were gracious enough to lend me some help and made my vision complete. My cousin made pom tissue flowers for my altar and another friend painted the face of the doll, that is included in Wilton's Wonder Mold Doll Pan, and used La Muerte's face as her example which was perfect because we watched The Book of Life in the backyard at the end of our party. Perfection!

My brother works so hard and I personally think he is the right hand man to the owner of the construction company he works for. He comes home so beat and yet he still put up my lights despite being completely fried and everybody absolutely loved it, me included. It was the final touch and was a cozy canopy when the sun finally set. Thanks bro!

We had a wonderful Mexican dinner catered by D'la Colmena and I made Aqua de Fresa and something I call "Mansion Juice." Read: I made this passion iced tea mixed with lemonade for the first time one summer when I house-sat at this gorgeous mansion. Hence the name. It was literally my dream home. I miss it so much. Anyway back to the topic at hand. I also made a spiced (boxed) cake with whipped cream cheese frosting from scratch. My cousin took a couple of bites and asked, "Is this from The Buttery?" which was a total compliment! Its one of those stores in town that sell scrumptious cakes and other desserts. Thanks cuz!

My family helped out so much, I couldn't have done it without them and they put up with my moods so graciously. I need to learn how to work faster or do work ahead of time because I always leave it to the last minute and then stress out going in hyper speed, whoops. Sorry fam bam!

After dinner we played some games: Pie Face and Pin the Tail on the Donkey and had two pinatas for the kids to beat. We all loved Pie Face that we ran out of time and did not get to the pumpkin carving or the other games I had planned. It was time for our backyard movie night and it was so fun to see a raise of hands when we asked who hadn't watched it before. Almost 1/3 of our friends hadn't and they really enjoyed it. "What is it with Mexicans and death?" was a quote that made us all belly laugh.

My costume was going to be La Calavera Catrina, to go with the theme, but I totally ran out of time. I had her headpiece on, halloween colors in my clothes, and a colorful apron that did not even match yet people started calling me Frida Kahlo. I went with the flow, added a unibrow and viola! Frida I became. This is my second time going as Frida and I love it.

The night was a success. Practically everybody dressed up and I really appreciated it. I loved and appreciated every bodies participation and contributions. This is kind of our official last party until the weather gets warmer (not that it is getting cold just yet but we are anticipating El Nino this year). I am going to miss seeing my family and friends gathered in my backyard. BUT! I am already planning more parties: My best friends birthday party, Christmas, Fat Tuesday, etc.

Uh oh, did I just lose more closet space?