A Different Kind of Doll! Below you will find info to make your own Day of the Dead doll or "Calacas" If you live in Mexico, Latin America, Southern California or many other places with traditions strongly influenced by the Latin American and Mexican culture you will soon find yourself surrounded by the celebration of the Day of the Dead on All Saints Day and All Souls Day. This lively tradition, which celebrates and honors departed family members, is growing in popularity and I recently read that it has spread to Europe as well. In honor of this tradition I thought it might be fun to make a Day of the Dead doll or "calacas". But to do that properly you will need the skull face. The ancient people of Latin America saw the skull as a symbol of life, not as a symbol of death as we generally perceive it today.
Note: This pattern is similar to Sherry's Ayala gypsy pattern so if you already own that pattern you can adjust the face instructions for the mold below.	Celebrate Day of the Dead by Sherry Goshon She is the perfect way to celebrate...she is a 32" doll with fashion figure...she has articulated fingers...and needle sculpted breasts...what fun to play with fabrics...Sherry made her legs out of striped fabric so she appears to have on stockings...she has on wild butterfly bloomers...red slip for that bit of naughty....wonderful  DOD fabric for her dress and an over skirt of crushed velvet....she has a crushed velvet head wrap with lots of flowers for the festive touch...and her waist sash matches her stocking and embellished with more flowers...and notice the tattoo on her chest.. it's a rose applique... What will you come up with for your doll? Note that this pattern is for the body and clothes only.  The skull is made from the mold listed below.   $21.00 Add to Cart (This project is probably not for beginners as it is assumed you have worked with clay heads before)
(The recipe for making the sugar version is included )	Skull Mold This mold is designed for making the molded sugar skulls used to celebrate the Day of the Dead in Mexico.  But they can also be used with paper clay to create a head for a Day of the Dead doll. The mold is two pieces so you can make a flat skull face to apply to any doll body that you would usually use a flat mold for.  Or you can mold the back half for a 3 dimensional skull. The mold makes a  4" skull. $13.00 including shipping Add to Cart
	Paper Mache Painted Skull If you want to make a Day of the Dead doll but don't want the hassle of molding the skull, here is a premade paper mache skull painted in black & white.  It is about 5" tall and is 3 dimensional, not flat backed. The possibilities for embellishments are endless! $15.00 Add to Cart
This chair and doll were made by Michele Memmott in my cloth doll club (Sisters of the Cloth) using patterns by Christine Shively	Need some Ideas for Day of the Dead? Christine Shively used her Chair pattern to create this wonderful Day of the Dead chair $9.00 (comes with a different cover photo) Add to Cart