day of the dead tween

08.10.14

My sister was here in August so I was planning way ahead when I did this Day of the Dead sugar skull look. But it’s something that I really wanted to do with her since I saw her recreate the look I did for

NBC Latino

It was one of those long work days where I just had enough. I could not bare to be in front of the computer anymore. I looked over at my sister and said “Do you want to do a Day of the Dead face painting with me?” She immediately lifted up her head from her phone (these tweens and their phones, I tell ya) and gave me the biggest smile ever. I took that as a yes so I grabbed my face painting supplies (and my enormous collection of gems) and got to work.

I used and Kryolan’s Rainbow Wheel for the heart. For the eyes, you can use regular eyeshadow. For the nose and designs I used Ben Nye MagiColor in black.The hair flowers and gems are from Michael’s Arts & Crafts.

I think a half face is perfect for a kid, especially if you want to add gems and small details. It can take a quite a bit of time, and most kids may not want to sit for that long … Or if you feel like you must spread your face painting wings, you can torture your child like I did last year – Full face, gems, the works. You can see my son’s Day of the Dead look here. It was a three hour ordeal but my son was super cooperative. He really wanted to see the finished look, and it actually was a really great time (albeit long). In general, anything art related is fun to do with your kids. And if it’s tied into cultural, even better.

If you’d like a more how-to version of this post,