Every year, as October turns to November, something beautiful happens in Mexico. Families gather to remember the people they've lost — not with grief and mourning, but with marigolds, candles, favorite foods, and photographs. The spirits of the dead are welcomed home. The mood is warm, even joyful.
This is Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) — observed on November 1st and 2nd — and it is one of the most meaningful cultural traditions in the world.
In the United States, awareness of this holiday has grown enormously in recent years. That's largely a good thing. But along with greater visibility has come confusion: between Día de los Muertos and Halloween, between decoration and genuine honoring, between appreciation and appropriation.
This guide is about doing it thoughtfully.
What Día de los Muertos Actually Is
Día de los Muertos is not a Mexican version of Halloween. While both holidays happen near the same time and both involve themes of death, they have completely different origins and meanings.
Halloween has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain, later adopted and adapted by the Catholic Church. Día de los Muertos blends pre-Columbian Indigenous traditions — particularly from the Aztec calendar — with Catholic practices around All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.
The central belief: on these two days, the veil between the living and the dead is thinner. The spirits of loved ones can return home to visit. Families build altars (ofrendas) to welcome them back — filling them with things the deceased loved in life: their favorite food, a glass of water for the journey, photographs, candles to light the way home.
It is a celebration of life through remembrance. Not a scary holiday. A loving one.
The Ofrenda: Heart of the Celebration
The ofrenda (altar) is the most important element of Día de los Muertos. If you want to participate in this tradition meaningfully — whether you have Mexican heritage or not — the ofrenda is where to start.
A traditional ofrenda includes:
Photographs
Pictures of the loved ones you're honoring. This is the foundation. The ofrenda is personal — it is literally for someone specific.
Marigolds (Cempasúchil)
The vibrant orange-yellow marigold is the signature flower of Día de los Muertos. Their strong scent is believed to guide spirits home. Use fresh marigolds if possible — arrange them in a path leading to the ofrenda, or scatter petals across the altar surface.
Candles
To light the way for returning spirits. Traditional ofrendas use many small votive candles. White candles are most traditional, though colored candles are also used.
Food and Drink
The favorite foods and drinks of the person you're honoring. A cup of coffee if they loved coffee. A beer, a glass of agua fresca, or a small plate of their favorite dish. Pan de muerto (a sweet egg bread) is a traditional offering.
Personal Objects
Small items connected to the person — a book they loved, a piece of jewelry, a toy for a child. These invite the spirit to linger.
The Four Elements
Many traditional ofrendas incorporate representations of the four elements: water (for the journey), wind (papel picado, cut paper banners), earth (food), and fire (candles).
How to Incorporate Artisan Pieces
Mexican folk art and handcrafted pieces have always been part of Día de los Muertos altars and home decoration. Here's how artisan pieces fit naturally:
- Milagros: Small metal charms placed on the altar as offerings or symbols of prayers for the deceased
- Ceramic bowls and plates: Used to hold food offerings and marigold petals on the altar
- Decorative figures: Small ceramic or painted figurines — a frog, a bird — placed as decorative elements around the altar
- Woven placemats or fabric: Used as the altar cloth, layering texture and color
If You Don't Have Mexican Heritage
This is a question many people ask honestly and thoughtfully. Here's a straightforward answer:
Building an ofrenda for someone you've lost — a parent, a friend, a pet — drawing on Día de los Muertos traditions is generally considered respectful, especially if you approach it with genuine intention and some knowledge of what you're doing. The tradition has always been about love and remembrance. Those feelings are universal.
What to avoid:
- Using Día de los Muertos imagery purely as Halloween decor (skull-painted faces as costumes, etc.)
- Buying cheaply made, mass-produced items that profit from the imagery without supporting Mexican artisans
- Treating the ofrenda as a "display" rather than a genuine act of remembrance
Choosing handmade pieces from Mexican artisan families, learning what the symbols mean, and building an altar in genuine memory of someone — that is participation, not appropriation.
Building Your Altar: A Simple Starting Point
You don't need a lot of space or a lot of objects. A small shelf, a side table, or even a windowsill can hold a meaningful ofrenda:
- One or two photographs of the person you're honoring
- A handful of marigolds in a small vase or scattered on the surface
- Two or three candles
- One small food or drink offering
- One personal object that belonged to or reminds you of the person
Keep it simple. Keep it personal. The intention matters more than the scale.
After November 2nd
The artisan pieces you use for a Día de los Muertos altar don't have to come down with the altar. A hand-painted bowl, a set of milagros, a ceramic figurine — these are year-round pieces that continue to honor Mexican craft traditions every day they're displayed in your home.
Browse our collection of handmade Mexican decor — pieces made by artisan families in Puebla, Guanajuato, and Estado de México.