Day of the dead

i sometimes go and have a picnic on the graves of my deceased relatives (or any persons grave)....but then again i do this all year round not just on the second of November lol. you can do that but also include food and drinks your deceased relatives enjoyed, but also leave a gift using sugar skulls and marigolds. many people also make private altars for them. another tradition i do, which is a Native American tradition, is make "crowns" to put on graves...the crowns are made of crepe paper flowers..

Thanks for the suggestions. She has sort of adopted a grave, for teenagers who died in a fire years ago, in a nearby cemetery so I think she will enjoy something like that. Any idea where we can get those sugar skulls? I won't be on for a while but I will check back for more suggestions when I get a chance.

Samhain is technically a couple of days before Day of the Dead, but we celebrate it for several days. During the celebrations we always have our own version of Day of the Dead. We have an "ancestors feast" where we make and eat foods that were favorites of our deceased relatives. We save a bit of each food on a plate and burn it in a bonfire after the meal so the smoke can symbolically take the food to the spirit realm. During the meal we keep the plate on an altar with pictures and other reminders of our loved ones. We talk about our relatives and tell stories about their lives. Sometimes we decorate gravesites or picnic in the cemetery as well. This year we have been discussing the possibility of doing a cemetery clean up as part of our Samhain celebration. Basically, anything that you do that helps you honor and remember your deceased relatives works for Day of the Dead.

There are lots of places to get the skulls and the molds for making your own skulls online. We bought our sugar skull kit from hearthsong.com

We always celebrated it in my spanish classes.

You can make little bread people or "Pan de la muerto."

That's really sweet that your girl has a adopted a grave for it.

We celebrated it growing up bt then again I grew up in texas. These ideas are good ones.

if your christian stay away from it.

why would she have to stay away from it if shes christian??????

Thanks for your answers. I hadn't thought of making our own sugar skulls or bread people. I am not a Christian & neither is my daughter, but I too, am confused as to why someone would suggest I stay away from it if I were. It is mostly celebrated by Christians.