We shared this mantel last year, and thought it would be fun to share again. We love anything fun and colorful and free! Enjoy!
We’re back today with a really fun post on something that we adore! We joined up with some fab sites to share some of our fave Halloween ideas, so be sure to check in with their awesome projects below. If you’ve tuned in this week, then you know that this space is completed! We couldn’t be more thrilled. And when we were thinking of Halloween ideas, we decided that the whole scary bugs or dark colors on a wall thing, while we love them, isn’t really our jam this year. We wanted bright and colorful and educational, too. So we decided to do a Halloween mantel!
Clearly we took a little visual inspiration from Día de Muertos or Day of the Dead.
We thought it was a great opportunity to bring in a little color on our own this year, and teach the kiddos about other cultures like this one, and what they are all about around different holidays. This is actually a beautiful way in which the Mexican people honor their loved ones who have passed on. We adore their amazingly bright and colorful take on things, the way they honor their ancestors, and decided this was a great way to incorporate education into our home, for something a little different.
So we used a combination of paper flowers that we hand made – also known as Mexican cempasúchil (marigold).
It’s the traditional flower used to honor the dead. {Affiliate links to products linked below!}
Along with this beautiful garland I found here – Papel Picado which demonstrates the fragility of life. I never knew that, and it makes them even more incredible to me… their designs are so intricate and beautiful.
We loved complementing the space with some bright candles found here + here along with some pretty candlesticks. {black + wooden hurricanes}.
I also hand-painted a bright and colorful sugar skull – which makes for beautiful art, but also has a significant meaning as well to their celebrations. I could never explain it succinctly, so if you’re curious about more of this and the history behind it, check it out here. This site is amazing for all things Day of the Dead and the educational component that comes with it.
Would you like to give paper flowers a try with your fam?
Here’s what you’ll need:
Tissue paper
Twine
Scissors
Pipe Cleaners
Take about four pieces of tissue paper, and lay them out flat.
Fold them in half, and cut.
Fold them in half again, and cut one more time, but do not join this grouping together.
You should have about twelve small sheets per section to accordion fold.
Join in the middle once accordion folded, with a pipe cleaner as shown.
Trim out the edges to round them off, for more of a floral look.
Carefully fan them all out by pulling carefully to each side.
Mount using your twine and pipe cleaners – enjoy!
We love our bright, colorful take on Halloween and something educational this year. We especially love this bright, colorful painting!
Want the art? Get it here! Just click and download and print!
Prints up to large and in charge sizes like you see here.
If you use it, we’d love to know – share on instagram with the hashtag #thehandmadehomefreebies!
Did you learn anything new about Day of the Dead today? What’s your culture’s favorite way to celebrate in October? We’d love to hear.
Have an inspired day!
Today I’m joined by a talented group of blogging friends who are also sharing their Halloween DIY ideas with you! Just click on the links below the images to be taken to see their full post…
DIY Potion Bottles with Printable Labels at The Happy Housie
DIY Halloween Prop from $2 Flatware Box at Confessions of a Serial Do It Yourselfer
DIY Halloween Centrepiece at House by Hoff
Modern Farmhouse Halloween Entry at Tatertots and Jello
Halloween Nougat Candy at A Pretty Life
DIY Halloween Floral Headband at Two Twenty One
Halloween Mantel with Free Printable at The Handmade Home
Painted Hudson’s Bay Blanket Pumpkins at The Heathered Nest
DIY Halloween Flag at Cassie Bustamante
Poison Apple Pumpkins at All Things With Purpose
Easy DIY Halloween Wreath at Modern Glam
Ghost Rice Krispie Squares at Life is a Party
How to Make a Halloween BOO Sign at My Sweet Savannah
Silly Spider Cookies at She Gave it a Go
Creepy Halloween Wreath at Hallstrom Home
DIY Potions and Magic Halloween Sign at Lolly Jane
Paper Staircase Mice at Sincerely, Marie Designs
Spooky DIY Eyeball Terrarium at Paint Me Pink
DIY Minimalist Halloween Wreath at Lemon Thistle
DIY Salt Dough Garland at Aratari at Home
this is so fun and colorful and i LOVE the artwork!
Thank you so much Cassie!
Just beautiful and I learned something too! XO
Awe thank you so much Christy! We did too. The more we read up on the subject matter the more we are in awe of their culture. Feeling kinda lame to be honest. I want to celebrate in more meaningful ways like they do! I’m an art nerd so to see all the symbolism behind what they do is so beautiful. Thanks for dropping by today!
So colourful and fun for Halloween!
So stinkin darling, you guys! XO
I <3 <3 <3 the painting! Will you be offering it as a high-quality print of that same size in your studio? Or can you offer suggestions on how to best use the printable to get a high-quality frame worthy print?
Thank you so much, Terry! Yes! You can download the print onto a hard drive or disk, and take it to your fave local printer. They should be able to print it to a very large high quality size based on the quality file we’ve provided. It’s available to you for free so that you only have to pay for printing charges. OR at home in a smaller size which should be pretty straight forward. Pro printers can give you some insight as to what they prefer as well but the PDF should work out just fine. I hope that helps you! ;} Enjoy and happy celebrating!
Thanks so much! I want it to look GREAT because it will hang all the time, not just for the season! 🙂
YAY! You’re too sweet + I’m so glad you can use it!
I love all the colours and that artwork is so much fun! Thank you for sharing on the blog hop.
Love love love, all those colors are wonderful!
Thank you so much!
Ashley, I learned so much from this post, and I think their holiday is so wonderful and meaningful. I didn’t know much about it before we saw Coco, and then I was kind of embarrassed that my shallow depth of knowledge came from a Disney movie 😬…but it was such a great introduction to want to learn more. The print is amazing. I may try to get it printed, too! Happy Halloween!
SAME. It made me want to dig more. Thanks so much friend!