Creating Mexican art can be lots of fun too.  Everyone’s heard of a piñata, but have you ever made one?  Have your students decorate your classroom and halls with murals, festive flowers, Oaxacan sun faces, and papel picado.  Sound interesting?  Check out “Mexican Arts and Crafts”.

Mexican Arts and Crafts

            Mexico is full of various types of arts and crafts.  There is jewelry made by silversmiths in Taxco, terra-cotta pottery made in Talavera by crafts workers, hand-blown glassware by the artists in Jalisco, woodcarvings in the Oaxacan Valley, and Mayan murals.

            Mexican art uses wild colors and bold designs.  Here are some ideas of projects for children of various ages:

• A clay or terra cotta pot (or flowerpot) can be painted brightly with enamel to create Mexican pottery.

• A Mexican style mural can be created by first drawing a detailed sketch on paper.  Then place a grid over the sketch.  Draw a much larger grid on the background on which you will paint.  Each student can then work on transferring a block of the sketch to the matching block on the wall.

• Mexico is home to many types of snakes.  Mexican children even have a popular toy snake made from wood.  A similar twisty toy snake can be made from buttons.  Lay buttons of assorted sizes in order from smallest to largest.  Thread a needle with heavy thread twice as long as the snake you wish to make, plus 6 inches or so.  Tie the thread so that it won’t pull out of the buttons, and then insert the needle through one hole in the largest button.  Continue threading the buttons, until you reach the smallest.  Then work your way back to the largest button through the opposite holes.  Tie the ends of the thread in a knot to make the snake’s tongue.

• Papel picado (pierced paper) banners and flags have been used to decorate for festive occasions for over 400 years in Mexico.  To begin this project, cut a rectangle from tissue paper then fold down a 1-inch hanging flap along the length of the paper.  Fold the paper in half crosswise so that the flap is on the outside.  Fold the paper in half 2 more times up to the flap.  Shape the outer edge with scissors and then cut designs along the folded edge.  Unfold the paper once and cut the bottom folded edge.  Open the flap folded down.  Hang the banners on string and glue the flaps down.  (To make flags, make tiny papel picado banners and glue them onto toothpicks.  These can be stuck into sandwiches, cake, fruit, etc.)       

• Piñatas can be fun to make and to break!  Start with an inflated and tied balloon. Take newspaper strips that are 1-2 inches wide and dip them in a flour and water paste (1 part flour to 2 parts water).  Apply 4 layers of strips to the balloon, allowing layers to dry between applications.  Leave 3 inches at the tied end of the balloon for the opening.  (Various shapes can be added to the balloon with rolled up or scrunched up newspaper and paste – be creative!)  Let the form dry completely and deflate the balloon by snipping a hole in the exposed end.  Fill the piñata with candy or toys and put several coats of papier-mâché over the opening.  Let it dry completely.  Attach twine, circling the piñata from top to bottom in several loops.  Use masking tape to hold the twine in place.  Make a large loop at the top, and make the knot a sturdy one.  Decorate the piñata with tissue paper.  (Remember Mexicans enjoy wild colors and bold designs!)  Paste the tissue paper on with craft glue.  Tassels and ruffles can be added as well.

• A bouquet of paper flowers, maybe even Mexico’s native marigold, makes a festive display for any occasion.  Take a 4-foot piece of yellow crepe paper streamer and fold over about 2 ½ inches at one end.  Continue folding the paper over on itself until you reach the end.  Snip through the folded edges on both sides to make a fringe.  (The cuts should reach almost to the center.)  To create a stem, pinch the paper in the middle and twist one end of a pipe cleaner around the center of the paper.  Fluff to form a blossom.  Cut leaf shapes from green crepe paper and glue a 1-inch piece of pipe cleaner to each.  Let dry and then wrap the leaf stems to the main stem.    

• To mark the occasion of the birth of a child, an Ojo de Dios (God’s Eye) can be made in their honor.  Each section of yarn in the ojo represents a new year of life.  Begin with 2 straight sticks and yarn in colors that have special meaning to you.  Cross the sticks in the middle and lash them together by wrapping yarn around them, first one way and then the other, until the yarn forms a rounded hump.  This is the “eye”.  Bringing the yarn from behind, carry it over and wrap it completely around one of the spokes of the cross.  Carry the yarn to the next spoke, and do the same.  Continue this way until you wish to change colors.  To change colors, tie on a new length of yarn near a spoke to hide the knot.  Finish the ojo with a knot.  Tie a hanging loop from the back.

• An Oaxacan-Style Sun Face makes a fun ornament to hang on a Christmas tree or even just on the window.  Using scissors cut a sun shape with rays from the pie pan.  Place on a folded dishtowel or cardboard, and draw designs all over the sun with a blunt pencil.   Press just hard enough to make an impression, but don’t poke through.  Turn the sun over and color the raised designs with permanent markers.  Poke a hole in one of the rays, and attach a hanging string.

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