DIA DE LOS MUERTOS CRAFT: Story Box

(click on image for a closer view)

Take a spin by the toy section to pick up some figures, give them a makeover and then stage them inside a glittery shadow box. You can go as small as a mint tin or larger with a cigar box. Either way, you'll have a worthy piece of art!

My box is called "Recuerda me" (Remember me), it is about a ballerina who was in love with a musician. They lived in the southwest. She dreams of him in the afterlife, and knows he is thinking of her too. Come Nov 1st, her spirit will return to Earth and linger at their romantic hideaway, where she knows he is waiting for her with a beautiful ofrenda in her honor...

Supplies
• Any collection of small boxes.
• Scrapbook paper or fabric.
• Magazine pictures.
• Small dolls from the dollar store.
• Small found objects.
• Glitter, hot glue, white craft glue, paint.
• Mardi Gras beads or other accents.

Directions
Using black paint, coat the inside and outside of the box, let dry. Line the back with paper/fabric, using white craft glue. Paint the doll to look as sweet-and-scary as you want - it can be a vampire, a skeleton, a pumpkin head, a witch, a zombie, etc. I made mine for Dia de los Muertos.

Glue the doll in place and add found objects to give the box personality. Trim the inside and outside edges with the Mardi Gras beads or accents. Add a hanging attachment to the back.

Tips
Make several of these boxes in different shapes and sizes and display them together in a modular pattern. Add captions, speech bubbles or titles to make them funny. Use more than one figure in several of the boxes, just to mix it up.