Halloween and Day of the Dead blog carnival
October 20, 2007 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under Creativity, bags & scarf & mittens & hat, crafts, crochet
The Arts and Design Channel of the b5 blog network has a monthly showcase. This month, I’m hosting it, and I’ve opened it up to other bloggers as well as b5 bloggers… welcome to the Carnival!
I am going to start off with my own Halloween and Day of the Dead postings – *G*
A few months ago, I saw a wonderful show on PBS. It was about the Day of the Dead, and was incredibly inspiring. I fell in love with the imagery of the Day of the Dead, and have been finding it healing on one hand, and at times, challenging, on the other….. I’ve been making all kinds of skull shaped spoolies as I work with this intriguing mix of fascination, healing, whimsy and challenge…….
I designed a necklace that is spoolknitted, and then allows the spoolie to be slipped on and off the cord to be spooled with or worn as the necklace. Because I knew I had this blog carnival coming up, I made the necklace (part 1) and (2nd part) for a Day of the Dead skull spoolie.
As well as skull spoolknitters that are puppets, I’ve been making crochet hooks that are skull shaped, too…
My Halloween posting was for a link to the free pattern for the Tunisian crocheted wall hanging or lapghan that I designed for Caron yarns: Halloween crochet
And, now the Halloween and Day of the Dead postings that other people have sent me the links fo:
Barbara Hynes did a fabulous Day of the Dead quilt
Darren gives some advice for fab photos at Halloween
Kaytee posted pics of her gorgeous Day of the Dead bracelets
and her Halloween bracelets
Cyndi has great ideas for magic wands
Chloe has given splendido tutorials for a Halloween bag:
and she found some great cross stitch patterns for Halloween.
Mary Emma has some Halloween quilting suggestions for a spooky bee….
Tammy has some polymer Pumpkin beads for you to make.
And, last but not least, Joshua lights up Halloween in a unique way!
You’ve still got 10 days to get those Halloween and Day of the Dead projects done! Enjoy!
) Noreen
You’ve done a great job with the Showcase, Noreen. I’m pleased to be part of it.
Thank you so much, Mary Emma! I really appreciate you participating in it and your support of it!
) Noreen
Prin Learns About Day of the Dead
We recently took Prin (my Gulliver hook/doll, made by Noreen) along to the Mexican Fine Arts Center in the predominantly Mexican neighborhood of Pilsen in the South Loop area of Chicago. Prin has never had a cultural experience quite like the “Day of the Dead,” so we thought it would be a great awakening for her.
For Alan and I, it is a tradition to see the annual display created by invited artists at the national museum. An added benefit is that we also have lunch in one of the many authentic Mexican restaurants! This year we had a friend, Miriam, visiting from Columbia. She enjoyed the exhibit thoroughly and said she had heard of the “Day of the Dead” but had never seen what it means “face to face.”
Overcome by the number of skeletons, portrayed in both serious and comical forms, Prin never imagined that such a form could be beautiful! The array of colorful exhibits bring joy to everyone’s hearts, but Prin, being a doll, was particularly thrilled to see other doll forms which felt familiar and quickly became her friends.
Unfortunately, no photos were allowed within the exhibit, but there was plenty of interesting backdrops in the gift shop named “Tzinzuntzan.”
Mexicans have a very different way of looking at death than we Americans. To them, death is a part of life, not something to be afraid of. Each year during All Soul’s Day (Nov. 1 and 2) they believe that their loved ones who have died visit them. For their reception, “altars” are prepared in their honor with their photographs and adorned with aromatic flowers, candles, colorful tissue paper, sugar skulls and most importantly, the favorite food of the deceased. A huge feast is prepared and families gather in local cemeteries to eat, tell tales about the life of their loved ones and celebrate, rather than mourn, the dead. In this culture, people are more at peace with death.
As you can see by the pictures, it is both interesting and colorful. Prin is already looking forward to returning next year!