Looking for new ways to celebrate the Days of the Dead this year? From October 31 through November 2, many cultures pause to celebrate the entire circle of life by remembering those who have gone before us: All Hallows’ Eve leads into All Saints’ Day on November 1, and Dia de los Muertos reaches its heart on November 2.
The spirit of the observance is the part worth borrowing, whatever your background: death is not to be feared. These days become a celebration of remembrance and reflection, and a renewed commitment to live life fully. Few holidays on the calendar manage to be this joyful and this meaningful at the same time.
What the Days of the Dead Celebrate
At the center of the tradition is the belief that remembering someone keeps them close. In many homes, families set up an ofrenda, a remembrance altar, with photographs of beloved relatives, marigolds, candles, sweet treats, and even a favorite beverage. Sugar skulls, brightly decorated and often smiling, capture the holiday’s whole outlook in one object: a symbol of death rendered in color, sweetness, and affection.
The visual language is unmistakable. Marigold orange and pink against deep purple and black, intricate skull face-painting, papel picado banners, and candlelight everywhere. It is one of the most beautiful decorating traditions in the world, and it is built entirely around love for particular people.
Marigolds, monarchs, and candlelight
Three symbols do much of the holiday’s storytelling. Marigolds, the flor de muerto, are believed in tradition to guide spirits home with their color and scent, which is why petals line paths to altars and doorways. Monarch butterflies, which arrive in central Mexico each year around the start of November, have long been associated in folklore with returning souls, an image that gives the season one of its gentlest emblems. And candles simply mark the way: one flame per remembered name is a common practice, and a windowsill of small lights says everything the holiday means.
The ofrenda, piece by piece
A traditional altar is assembled with intention. Photographs of the remembered sit at the top. Water is set out for thirsty travelers, salt for purification, and bread, fruit, or the person’s favorite treats as an offering. Marigolds and candles frame it all, and in many traditions the altar rises in tiers. None of this requires expertise to honor at home; even a single framed photo with a candle and a flower is an ofrenda in spirit, and building one as a family is itself an act of remembering.
New Ways to Celebrate the Days of the Dead
Whether you grew up with the tradition or are approaching it with respectful curiosity, here are ways to make the days meaningful at home:
- Set up a memory table. A full ofrenda or a simple arrangement: photographs, a candle, a small dish of someone’s favorite candy. The scale matters less than the naming of names.
- Cook a remembered recipe. Make the dish a loved one was famous for, and tell the stories that go with it while it is on the stove. Food is the fastest road back to a person.
- Hold a story circle. One evening, one candle, and everyone shares a memory of someone they miss. Laughter is not just allowed; it is the point.
- Take a memory walk. Visit a place a loved one cherished, or simply walk their favorite route with the family.
- Craft with the kids. Paper marigolds and papel picado banners are simple afternoon projects, and they turn the decorating itself into an act of remembrance.
- Build a memory playlist. The songs a grandparent hummed, the album that always played in a loved one’s kitchen. Put it on while you decorate and the room fills with the right company.
- Write the unsent note. Some families place short letters to the remembered on the altar. It takes five minutes and tends to be the part everyone remembers doing.
The food of the season
Food carries this holiday the way carols carry December. Pan de muerto, the traditional sweet bread decorated with bone-shaped strips of dough, is the season’s signature bake, usually served with hot chocolate or atole. You do not need a bakery-perfect loaf for it to count; a family baking afternoon, flour everywhere, someone reading the recipe wrong, is precisely the kind of memory the holiday exists to make. Set a piece on the memory table and the tradition is complete.
Decorating for the Days of the Dead
St. Nick’s has long carried carefully selected pieces for the season, from skull-motif ornaments to Day of the Dead figures, chosen because they treat the tradition with the affection it deserves.
Collectors have some delightful options. Old World Christmas makes a Dia de los Muertos stacked skulls glass ornament, sugar-skull ornaments appear alongside the Halloween collection each season, and the Hollywood Nutcrackers line dresses the classic nutcracker in full Day of the Dead face paint and finery, which is exactly the kind of cultural crossover a collector’s shelf loves.
A themed tree makes a striking centerpiece too. If you already read our Halloween tree guide, the Days of the Dead variation is simple: marigold orange and hot pink against the black branches, skull ornaments, and paper flowers tucked between the lights. It carries the display gracefully from Halloween night through the first days of November.
Light does a great deal of the work in this holiday, and it does not all have to be candle flame. A strand of warm white string lights along a memory table gives the same golden glow without an open flame near photographs and paper flowers, which matters in homes with kids, cats, or enthusiasm. Save the real candles for the moment everyone gathers, and let the string lights carry the rest of the evening.
Keeping It Respectful
The Days of the Dead belong to a living tradition, and the difference between celebrating it and costuming it comes down to intent. Decorating with sugar skulls while telling your own family’s stories honors the spirit of the holiday; treating it as a spookier version of Halloween misses it. If the tradition is new to your household, learn a little of its history, credit where it comes from, and let remembrance stay at the center. Done that way, it is a holiday with room for everyone who has ever missed someone, which is everyone.
A Season of Remembrance, However You Keep It
Whether you set up a full altar with photographs and marigolds or simply hang one skull ornament that makes you think of someone who loved this season, the Days of the Dead offer something the rest of the holiday calendar rarely makes room for: a set-aside moment to remember out loud. And unlike most traditions, this one gets richer as it gets older; every year adds a story, a photograph, a recipe card in familiar handwriting.
Whether you invite friends for a festive gathering or just want a quiet, meditative evening, St. Nick’s has carefully selected pieces to make the holiday meaningful and beautiful. Browse the seasonal collection online or visit the Littleton store, where the skull ornaments hang a shelf away from the Santas, which feels exactly right for a store that celebrates the whole calendar.
Frequently Asked Questions
The observance spans October 31 through November 2. All Hallows’ Eve leads into All Saints’ Day on November 1, and Dia de los Muertos reaches its heart on November 2, the day most closely associated with remembering departed loved ones.
They share dates and some imagery, but not a mood. Halloween plays with fright for fun; the Days of the Dead celebrate remembrance, welcoming the memory of loved ones with flowers, food, candles, and stories. One is spooky by design, the other is joyful and reflective by design.
An ofrenda is a remembrance altar. Traditional elements include photographs of loved ones at the top, water, salt, bread or favorite foods, marigolds, and candles, often arranged in tiers. A simple version, one photo with a candle and a flower, carries the same spirit at any scale.
Marigolds, called flor de muerto, are held in tradition to guide spirits home with their vivid color and distinctive scent. Petals are scattered along paths and around altars for exactly that reason, and their orange sets the holiday’s entire palette.
Sugar skulls turn the symbol of death into something bright, sweet, and affectionate, which is the holiday’s whole outlook in one object. They are often decorated with color and even names, celebrating the remembered rather than mourning them.
Keep remembrance at the center. Learn a little of the history, credit the culture it comes from, and let your decorating accompany actual remembering: stories, photos, a favorite recipe. Treating the holiday as a spookier Halloween is the one misstep to avoid.
Set up a memory table with photographs and a candle, cook a dish a loved one was famous for, hold a story circle where everyone shares a memory, or take a walk somewhere a loved one cherished. The common thread is saying names out loud.
Skull-motif ornaments come through each season, including glass pieces like Old World Christmas’s Dia de los Muertos stacked skulls, and the Hollywood Nutcrackers line includes figures in full Day of the Dead face paint and finery. They appear alongside the Halloween collection online and at the Littleton store.
Beautifully. Marigold orange and hot pink against black branches, skull and butterfly ornaments, and paper flowers tucked between the lights make a striking remembrance tree, and it carries a Halloween tree gracefully into early November instead of ending it on the 31st.
Monarchs arrive in central Mexico each year around the start of November, and folklore has long associated their return with the souls of the departed coming home. The image gives the season one of its gentlest symbols, and butterfly ornaments carry it into home decor.
Find It at St. Nick's
St. Nick’s Christmas and Collectibles has been Littleton, Colorado’s Christmas store since 1976. Shop online, visit us in person, or call 1-800-875-8865 with any questions.
