Sparkle Crafts

Marigold Garlands

In the Martin & Sylvia story “Día de los Muertos,” Martin attends his weekly Spanish class the week before Halloween and is curious to see if his teacher, Señora Powell, will do anything special to celebrate the holiday. When he walks inside, he is surprised to find that Señora Powell has her house decorated for a different holiday — Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead.

After Martin learns about the holiday from Miss Powell, he decides it would be fun for his family to have their own celebration at home. When Daddy and Sylvia pick him up from class, they all brainstorm how they might bring a Día de los Muertos tradition into their Halloween celebration: a day of honoring those who have died with colorful decorations, tasty food, interesting stories, and very happy memories.

When my husband's grandmother died a few years ago, our family started celebrating Día de los Muertos as a way to remember people we love who have died. While stories — particularly funny or silly stories — are the heart of our celebration, we always make an offrenda (an offering or altar) as well. Some years it's very simple with just pictures and candles. Other years, though, we make beautiful calaveras (sugar skulls) and put out our loved ones' favorite foods and bunches of flowers.

In addition to being a common courtesy for receiving honored guests, the flowers represent the fleetingness of life. Marigolds are traditional for Día de los Muertos because their scent and vibrant color are said to help the spirits of the dead find their way to the offrenda. African marigolds — which look like big golden pom-poms — are more typical in Mexico, but you may find that French marigolds are easier to find in the United States. (And if you can't find either, my third choice would be to look for chrysanthemums, which are available at every grocery store and pumpkin patch everywhere in autumn.) Strung into a garland, as the instructions below set out, a bucket of marigolds can make a pretty offrenda into a truly beautiful one.

Whatever external trappings you decide to add to your celebration, I hope you enjoy a day of telling stories of loved ones who are gone but not forgotten.

Día de los Muertos Marigold Garlands

Materials

Marigold blossoms (see below for amounts)

Embroidery floss

Upholstery needle

Scissors

Directions

The amount of marigolds you will need depends on the length of the garland you'd like to make. Generally speaking, if you're using African marigolds, you will need seven flowers for every foot of garland. If you're using French marigolds, you will need ten flowers for every foot of garland. Gather the number of marigolds you need and keep them in a bucket or bowl of water nearby as you work.

Thread an upholstery needle with embroidery floss. The floss should be whatever length you want the finished garland to be, plus one foot. (The extra length of floss will give you something with which to hang the garland.)

Start by snipping off a flower blossom right at the point where the stem begins to fatten into the receptacle. String the first flower, leaving about six inches of excess floss at the end of the garland. If you're using African marigolds, run the needle vertically through the center of the flower. For French marigolds, I like to string them horizontally.

Whatever method you use, keep stringing flowers — pushing them right up next to each other — until you have 6 inches left at the other end of the embroidery floss. Tie a slip knot at both ends to hang the garland.

If you're not going to hang your garland right away, it's best to keep it in the fridge. Lay it in a baking dish in a single layer, give it a quick spritz with water, then very loosely tent the top with plastic wrap. Wrapped this way, the garland will keep quite well for 24 hours and tolerably well for a little longer than that.

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