ok….no judgement today.
it's just an art project.
we made another from Deep Space Sparkle.
I showed my kids her post and photos.
we talked about it not being scary skeletons but using skeletons as a another place to make art.
we even looked at this image on google.
![Dia-de-los-muertos-art-rj2[1]](https://www.megduerksen.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/6a00d8341c469c53ef013488b66faa970c-350wi.jpg "Dia-de-los-muertos-art-rj2[1]")
it is happy right…in a weird kind of way?
we started with drawing skulls on white paper.
we used oil pastels.
do you have them? if you keep them away from your dog….they are really cool.
then we just colored designs all over.
we also made flowers on a different sheet of white construction paper.
annie used watercolor paint on hers also.
then after the coloring or painting is finished we cut out our skulls and flowers.
then glued it all to black construction paper.
they are really fun!
my dad got me a Dia De los Muertos t-shirt when i was a kid with dancing skeletons on the front.
i loved it.
or wait….maybe it was his shirt and i would wear it?
either way it was colorful and i liked it.
this project reminded me of it.
sean didn't get to finish his.
we were crafting and craig walked in from work and said "what are you doing? sean has football in 5 minutes."
we just got busy being artsy that we forgot all about our schedule.
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some people asked what kind of watercolor paint we use because the color is so vivid.
it's just the Crayola pack you can buy at any store…even the grocery store.
we just use very little water.
just enough to make it go from a solid to a liquid.
less water means more concentrated color.
hope that helps.
Shawnene Woodall - I started reading your blog because Ashley of “Under the Sycamore” always spoke so highly of you in her posts. I was instantly hooked. You are a delight to follow. I love your “craft Thursday”. In this post you mentioned “Deep Space Sparkle” as your inspiration. So I followed the link. Much to my surprise the author of the blog just happens to be my daughter’s 1st grade art teacher here in CA! Suddenly I felt just how small the world really is. That I could be brought all the home when so far away in the blog-o-sphere.
Amazing
michelle - haha! “no judgment today”! love it.
you are such a good momma.
Ashley B. - That skull pic is my profile pic on facebook! (before I saw it on your site lol) I love it! 🙂 It made me very happy to come on here and see it. I was at a chalk festival (Sarasota, FL Chalk Festival Oct. 30th 2010) a little bit ago and saw someone drawing that pic in chalk. She wasn’t finished with it, but it was by far my favorite of them all. I love Dia de Los Muertos, even though it’s morbid…the bold colors make me so happy. Awesome craft! And again…I LOVE IT! 🙂
Nichole - We didn’t really learn about the day of the dead until I was in college. Then we decorated sugar skulls – it was rather awesome.
the domestic fringe - I love these! My kids and I just made something from Deep Space Sparkle too. It was SO MUCH fun. I had as much fun as my kids. You guys did an awesome. Those are the best skulls I’ve seen in a long time. 😉
Here’s the link to our project…
http://thedomesticfringe.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/artsy-chics/
Come visit!
-FringeGirl
Julie - When I was in high school, our art class “stole” the skeleton from the science dept. ~ we not only enjoyed sketching this skeleton, we’d “dress” him in funny hats and scarves and such and put him at the door for the kids going to lunch to enjoy each day. Those were fun times. I like this craft ~ you guys always do fun stuff!
Stacy - Makes me wish I was still an elementary art teacher!!!(They cut the jobs in our elementary schools.) 🙁 I taught Kahlo and O’Keefe too! I even had some real animal skulls to use for inspiration.
Vicki - I LOVE that your son is all foot ball and boy in one instance and all craft and artsy with his sisters in the next. Awesome. Craft on you crafty crafters!
Beth - I love dia de los muertos. I’ve been kind of leery about doing it at school because I didn’t want parents to freak out. But, really, it’s a very cool way of celebrating those who have come before us. I did an activity at our church once, we went to visit some graves in the cemetery and had family memeber share about the person, we sang some songs there, then we went back to church and decorated sugar skulls. And we had a family from latin America share about what the day means to them. It was very cool. Your skulls/calaveras are awesome!!!
Rebekah Jean - It’s not creepy! It’s a really cute craft. I love how you put them on black paper and added the flowers. Really, really cute!
Karen Gerstenberger - I love the fact that you were all so into your art project that you forgot the time – a sure sign of success! You are giving everyone a gift, by encouraging them to use their imagination and relax. Good job, Mom!
*LuLu* - Good Job Everyone!
sandy toe - I love watercolors…they are fun and not too messy!
sandy toe
Whitney - Not creepy! It’s sort of like Spanish people celebrating the day of the day- bright and cheery! Love it!
Courtney Walsh - football shmootball! 🙂
Love the crazy skulls!
elisa - Oh I love day of the dead stuff. So fun!
Maria - love it. When ds9 was in third grade, they did world themed turkeys…we picked Mexico and turned our turkey into a Dia de los Muertos turkey, marigold and all!
thanks for sharing!
Christy Pair - You might also try liquid watercolors. They are beautiful!
ashley - When I first started reading, Dia de los Muertos was exactly my thought! And honestly, if you think about what it means, you’re just remembering lives past. Makes the skulls a little less scary. 🙂 Thank you for sharing your crafty days!
kristine - i love them! and i don’t think a skeleton could be any more cute! way to go!
Beth Iversen - I did this project at my elementary school with 2nd grade and taught some background about Day of the Dead. It was very successful and all the other grades wanted to do it. Very Fun!! Love Deep Space Sparkle!
april - Looks great…so colorful…glad to see craft Thursay is going strong…have a great day!
Tracy - Meg – I love your art projects…and no, skulls are not scary. I have your art posts tucked away into a special folder for when I actually find the time to do something with my kiddos. Question for you…because I love your ideas…do you display their artwork or tuck it away? I would love to do some of these projects with the kids, but wouldn’t know what to do with them when they were finished (the projects…not the kids).
Becky @ Farmgirl Paints - Those were so good! I love your art days. I need to be better and do that more with my girlies.
MGF - Reminds me that my middle was just studying ‘Day of the Dead’ in school. Great project
Suzanne - Thanks for sharing all your art projects – I always look forward to Crafty Thursdays so, my kids can have Crafty Fridays!
sara @ it's good to be queen - so fun! skulls aren’t scary…death has no sting. 🙂
AshleyAnn - In high school I was assigned a Freda Kahlo focus. For 2 months all my work had to be inspired by hers. Other students got Monet, O’Keefe, Picasso….I got Kahlo. Go look her up. It was stretching and I loved it.
Heather R. - My daughter had a teacher that would celebrate Dia De los Muertos in her class. It was a cool celebration. They would do black construction paper and did colored chalk…I thought it was pretty. I love your ideas. 🙂
Penny - This makes me miss my girls being young and doing crafts together. We didn’t have a set day, but every week at least once, we did crafts and I miss that. I do adult crafts with my friends often, but I miss the kids stuff! Thanks for letting me watch you and your little ones enjoy it! Great job. You are a wonderful Mom, even if you forget about football. Who needs to go get beat up. LOL
se7en - Oh your guys are such brilliant artists!!! I love the finished head pictures!!! Very fun!!!
Amy Lynne - I think your projects turned out great! When I saw that picture I immediately thought of Dia De los Muertos. I saw some pajama pants at Target that had the dancing skeletons and bright colors. They were too cute!
Gemma - Hi Meg!
Ooo this craft is very funky..I like it!!!
Hope you’re having a great day : )
Gemma x