Dia de los Muertos Masks

Amber Allison of Bling Out Your Dead in Los Angeles, CA, creates one of a kind Dia de los Muertos inspired masks. These masks are highly detailed and truly works of art. I love that the 3D elements are incorporated into the mask, vs. just along the top like many Dia de los Muertos masks. With Fall quickly arriving, it's that time of year to start thinking about Halloween and Dia de los Muertos. You can see more of her work on the website, Facebook page, and Etsy shop.

Bob the Deceased Builder Bag

Dawn "had fun giving new life to an old bag and Bob the Builder got a cool skull makeover." "Bob the Builder" has been airing for over 10 years, and perhaps it's time for a new look. I wonder what Bob the Deceased Builder would be using his equipment for? Perhaps up-keeping cemeteries, constructing mausoleums, and visiting ship graveyards, hoping to get a pirate ship up and sailing again. I think we need a new spooky kids show like this. Go to Dawn's blog, Potionsmith, to see the before photo and what supplies she used for the makeover.

Slashø Skull

Slashø has been a long time fan of Skull-A-Day, but is now here to turn into a contributor for us. This tall sugar skull is a great way to start.

I'm getting a kick out of this elongated fellow. Possibly an animated version of a skull of one of the Nazca people, but definitely something I could see appearing in an episode of Adventure Time(yes, I have kids!).

Let this be a lesson to the rest of you. Slashø shouldn't have waited so long, and neither should you! Submit those skulls for the world to see. Thanks for sharing your skull with us, Slashø, no matter how long it took.

Sugar Skull Bunny

Dawn Donut told us: "I created some Easter coloring pages. That is if you like your Easter
sprinkled with sugar skulls."  There are more styles available to color HERE.

Hop-Along C says:

It certainly does not feel like spring has arrived in many parts of the country, but hopefully a weekend full of brightly colored eggs and sugar skull bunnies can make for brighter days ahead.  Thank you for sharing your work with us. 

Skull Makeup Trio

Crystal Overland of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a makeup artist. She created these skull makeup looks.

We get a variety of skull makeup submissions from various talented artists, but rarely from an artist that specializes in makeup. I like seeing the different skulls that Crystal created. The soft shading of the two anatomical skulls add to their eeriness. The last one is modeled after a Dia de los Muertos sugar skull. It still has some soft shading, but the opaque paints help define the influence. You can see more of Crystal's work on her website and Facebook page.

Stained Glass Sugar Skull Candle Holders

Faith Spicer-Jenkins of Kent, England creates stained glass sugar skull candle holders.

I'm fond of stained glass when it's back lit, especially with candles. The colors radiate onto the surrounding surfaces. I'm sure the skull casts and eerie beautiful glow. I bet this would be more gorgeous in a dark room. You can see more of Faith's work on her FB Page and blog.

Jingle Bells Skull

Nadia Gunwaldsen created this artwork, titled "Jingle Bells". According to her Etsy shop, her pieces are created by carving into wet joint compound that is applied to a board. Then, she paints the images and glazes them.

I come across a lot of Dia de los Muertos inspired artwork. It's rare that there is one that I love and even more rare for it to be textured like Nadia's is. I love her unusual use of materials mixed with a favorite motif. The texture reminds me of plaster paintings and embossed metal. This piece has a nice balance of beauty in both touch and sight. If you like this piece, check out Nadia's Etsy shop  for more original and printed pieces.

[BONUS] Skull Mail

A couple of treats turned up in the Skull-A-Day mailbox this week...

We got our official certificate and image for the skull that we sponsored as part of the Mütter Museum's Save Our Skulls campaign! There's still time to pick one of the 139 Hyrtl Skulls to “adopt.” Save a 150+ year old skull & have your name in the Mütter Museum! Details are HERE.

I also got a set of the wonderful edible sugar skulls that were recently offered as part of a giveaway here from the Tierra Dulce Shop and I can attest that they are as delicious as they are beautiful!  Thanks guys!

Sugar Skull Chocolate Cake

Heather Walker is part of Your Local Market Co-op in Stratford, Ontario. She said "our baker, Katelyn has made a custom Sugar Skull Chocolate Cake for the tattoo studio down the street from us. I thought it was too beautiful not to share!"

I love seeing skull baked goods. In the past, Heather shared with us the skull cookies that Katelyn made in their Co-op. The people at the tattoo shop are very lucky to have such a talented baker close by.

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Set of Tierra Dulce Vegan Sugar Skulls

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating!

Don't forget that you have until 11:59:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time TONIGHT, to be entered in our current contest giveaway for two sets of six edible vegan sugar skulls from Tierra Dulce Shop. There will be two winners! One set per winner. Follow the link to the original post HERE, or click on the ad in the sidebar.

You don't have to wait until the end of the contest to get some delicious sugar skulls. You can purchase Tierra Dulce's sugar skulls in their Etsy shop. If you are a fan of their Facebook page, you can find out where they will be selling their little sugar skull critters!

[CONTEST REMINDER] Win a Set of Tierra Dulce Vegan Sugar Skulls

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating!

Don't forget that you have until 11:59:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time Wednesday, November 14, 2012, to be entered in our current contest giveaway for two sets of six edible vegan sugar skulls from Tierra Dulce Shop. There will be two winners! One set per winner. Follow the link to the original post HERE, or click on the ad in the sidebar.

You don't have to wait until the end of the contest to get some delicious sugar skulls. You can purchase Tierra Dulce's sugar skulls in their Etsy shop. If you are a fan of their Facebook page, you can find out where they will be selling their little sugar skull critters!

[CONTEST] Win a Set of Tierra Dulce Vegan Sugar Skulls

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! Thank you for participating!

Tierra Dulce Shop was formed by two sisters, Ana and Martha, with an interest in candies and sweets. Through some experimentation, they created vegan edible sugar skulls. Though Dia de los Muertos has recently passed, these delectable treats are available year round in their Tierra Dulce Shop on Etsy, Candy Babel in Portland, Oregon, and at various arts and crafts shows in Los Angeles, California. Ana and Martha would like to share their sugar skulls sweets by giving away six sugar skulls each to two Skull-A-Day fans!

PRIZE INFO: Each skull is handcrafted and decorated with a special blend of icing that is vegan and very delicious made all out of sugar. Each winner will receive 6 sugar skulls!

HOW TO ENTER: Leave a comment below telling us what your favorite sweet treat is.

CONTACT INFO: If you win, we need to contact you. With your comment, PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL. Entries are only valid with this information.

WHERE TO ENTER: All entries must be made on this blog post, on Skull-A-Day.com. You can NOT enter this contest by commenting on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

CONTEST CLOSES: 11:59:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time Wednesday, November 14th, 2012. 

NUMBER OF WINNERS: Two randomly chosen winners

PRIZE SHIPS: USA and International

IF YOU DON'T WIN: You can purchase Tierra Dulce's sugar skulls in their Etsy shop. If you are a fan of their Facebook page, you can find out where they will be selling their little sugar skull critters!

Dia de la Abby: #80 Dia de la Muertos Skull Makeup

Recently, I went to a Dia de los Muertos themed event. I've been wanting to do a new skull makeup, so this was the perfect excuse to do a quick one.

I chose to do a simple sugar skull using white cream makeup, black eyeshadow, and different eyeliners. To see how I created this skull, go to the tutorial. For the costume, I wore a black tank, a hand painted ribcage corset, a black eyelet ruffle skirt (which reminded me of Mexican skirts), skeleton gloves, skeleton stockings, and skull print boots. I wanted to wear a more skeletal looking costume, so thankfully my wardrobe had those pieces already. If you've been following my work for a while, then you might recall my skull, sugar skull, and anatomical skull makeups. Each one has it's own tutorial. I love playing with makeup, and skulls, so this probably won't be my last one that I share here and on my blog.


On Thursdays in the 6.0 year, I will post my own Dia de la Abby creations. On Thursdays in the 4.0 and 5.0 years, I posted my Dia de la Abby creations and occasionally tutorials with instructions on how I made my pieces. Hopefully you feel inspired by my posts just as I was by Noah's Skull-A-Day 1.0 daily project. Want to find me elsewhere, follow me on Facebook, my Blog, Google+ and/or Twitter.

Mummy/Sugar Skull

Straight out of Orange County, CA comes Dany Hernandez with this half mummy, half sugar skull that emanates the liveliness of death.

Even though the skull is a symbol of death, Dany has managed to take it one step further by separating and then combing lively skulls, and morbidly deceased ones. The shriveled and dried looking mummy gives extra life to the sugar skull, and the opposite holds true as well. Be sure to check out Dany's FB page for tons of other skulls as well. Thanks for sharing your symbol of duality, Dany!

Sugar Skull Drawing

Lisa Hawson, from Surrey in the UK, created this Dia de los Muertos inspired skull.

Dia de los Muertos is only a few more weeks away. This festive drawing reminds me of the sweet decorative sugar skulls made for the two day celebration. Though the festival's roots are in Mexico, many people in other countries celebrate it as well. I'm not of Mexican decent, but there is something about honoring my ancestors and heritage that is alluring. I plan on celebrating with my family, and perhaps drawing a few skulls myself. For more of Lisa's work, check out her blog and website.