Creating Papel Picado
Students in Latino Pop Culture courses begin the new semester learning about Papel Picado, intricate paper cutouts with designs symbolizing holidays like Dia de los Muertos, Christmas, birthdays, other special occasions... and students creating their very own!
What is Papel Picado?
Papel picado has been traced back to the 16th century, and has evolved from amate paper to tissue paper, demonstrating adaptability through time. Hispanic and Latino culture is well known for its vibrant colors, especially Mexico.
A student reported that: “Papel picado is a plethora of different shapes such as flowers, skulls, crosses. They sometimes include images such as different famous Latino figures.”
The colors used in papel picado have symbolic meanings
- Purple is for mourning
- Red is about love or honoring people
- Yellow is for sunlight and life
- Orange is tied to marigolds and the Day of the Dead
- Blue is for peace and the sky
- Green is all about nature
- Pink is for happiness and parties
How to Make Your Own
The first step to creating your own papel picado decorations is to fold the paper by starting with a square of tissue paper and fold it in half twice. Next you place a template or design on top of the folded paper. Then you use sharp scissors to carefully cut out the design.
Unfold the paper, punch holes and use a small punch or chisel to make holes along the edges of each piece. String the pieces together and then hang the banner in any desired place.
Will you try them?
¡Buena Suerte!
