Sugar Skulls

Decorated sugar skulls

molding sugar skulls

Since yesterday was Halloween I thought it would be fun and appropriate to blog about something that pertains to this holiday. In the Hispanic culture the day after Halloween is known as “Dia de Los Muertos” or Day of the Dead, and there are a lot of creative works in preparation for this day. I have always loved the decorated sugar skulls that are used in celebration for this holiday, and to me they are little pieces of art. I decided to do a little research on how they are constructed and the meaning behind them.

A drawing that I liked of a sugar skull

I found out that Italian missionaries brought sugar art to the New World in the 17th century. Sugar skulls are seen as traditional folk art from Southern Mexico. These sugar skulls represented a departed soul, the name is written on the forehead and the skull is then placed on a gravestone or home ofrenda to pay tribute to the return of the spirit. The main purpose of sugar skulls is to decorate the altars and tombs but is sometimes eaten. Sugar/ chocolate skulls are made in molds and then decorated by hand. I love that there are really no limits to how creative you want to be when decorating sugar skulls and there is no limit of how much color either. From the pictures I have looked at swirl and floral type patterns are very popular in terms of decoration. I think traditions like these are really beautiful and allow families to be creative but also commemorate someone who has passed that was important.