By: Kelsey McNally

To the many people of Mexico, death is considered the passage to a new life. This is why the celebrate day of the dead. Day of the dead is a celebration that last for many days. This holiday is celebrated with many actives that celebrate the after life and the passage to a new life. This is why deceased are buried with many of their personal objects, which they would need/want in the afterlife. Many times even their pets are sacrificed so they would accompany their masters on their long journey to a new life.

For my day of the dead project, I decided to make paper flowers. Now, a know that paper flowers are not as big a deal as real flowers, so I decided to explain both, and their importation to the special holiday

Flowers were discovered from the Aztecs because of there passion for flowers and their poetry spoke of flowers. Moctezuma I, their emperor, considered the flowers very important that he sent his people to plant more of the, and when they were done growing, they would transport them to Oaxtepec. There forty families who came from all over, helped take care of them in the garden.

All different kinds of flowers are used, culturly or not, for the celebration. The important thing is there smell, because it is said that the smell is what the dead is satisfied by,and they use it as a way to communicate the richness of the family. Another way they are usedis to be scattered around the altar in the house of families in Mexico. They are also on freshly cleaned gravesites.

In the 16 century, the first paper mill was made for the U.S.A in a city near Mexico city because of the Spanish conquest in few years earlier. This conquest give Mexico the right to the paper from Spain. Later on, a thinner and more colorful paper was introduced. This paper was called papel de china (tissue paper). This was used to make paper flowers and flags. These flowers were used to decorate churches when real flowers where not available. Now paper flowers are used all over the world, not only Mexico!

The paper flowers are used to decorate the atlas of families homes. They can also be sting into a garland, which is little flower on stung together with twine, and three-inch lengths of drinking straws cover the twine between the flowers.

I searched how to make day of the dead flowers and many results came up, but my favorite was a step-by-step website. I will show you the steps

1.Cut 6 to 8 sheets of tissue paper to approximately 7 x11 inches. You can use a single color or different colors of tissue paper.

2.Pile the sheets together. Make a ¾ inch fold on one short side of the rectangle. This will define the width of the folds in the succeeding steps.

3.Fold the paper accordion-style (back-and- forth folding).

4. Trim off any excess paper after the last fold.

5.Round out both ends of the folded paper. 6.Tie a pipe cleaner around the center of the folded paper.

7.Spread open one side of the folded paper so that it opens up like a fan. 8.To create the flower petals, slowly separate each layer of tissue toward the top center of the flower.

9. Work your way one layer at a time until you've separated all the layers on one side of the pipe cleaner. 10. Next, open up the opposite side like a fan.

11.Separate the tissue and bring it towards the center one layer at a time, just as you did in Step Once all the layers of tissue have been separated, you'll see how pretty and fluffy your paper bloom is.

 ature/mexicantissuepaperflowers/mexicantis suepaperflowers.html ature/mexicantissuepaperflowers/mexicantis suepaperflowers.html  the-dead-el-dia-de-los-muertos-traditions- and-projects/ the-dead-el-dia-de-los-muertos-traditions- and-projects/  guide.com/mexican-paper- flowers.html#.UowORDaA2M_ guide.com/mexican-paper- flowers.html#.UowORDaA2M_