¡Guest Blogger Casa Haus!

Hi! 

This is Rocio Jimenez from Casa Haus and I am very excited to be guest blogging while my dearAnneke is on vacation. I am a Mexican designer and interior stylist, and a huge DIY lover (actually, I am a crafter for Deco Hogar, a Latinamerican TV show you can watch here and a one of Little*HausMagazine's founders and editors).

I love this time of year because it's the beginning of the holiday season, starting with one of Mexico's largest celebrations: Day of Dead. This fun and colorful festivity is widely celebrated accross the country on November 2nd, with altars lovingly displayed to remember those gone in a joyful way. Day of Dead is actually becoming very popular and trendy, so today I'm going to show you how to make sugar skulls, a traditional favor you can use to decorate this time of year.

This is a very easy recipe with simple ingredients and no need for molds, and I love how pretty they turn out. Also, this is a very fun activity to make with kids.

I was able to make 3 non-hollow skulls out of these ingredients.

To make the skulls, mix the egg white, corn syrup, a few drops of vanilla and a few drops of lime with a fork in a bowl. Then sift the powdered sugar on the mix. Incorporate with a wooden spoon, and then use your fingers to form a rather dry ball. The key is to feel the dough a little dry, because if it’s very malleable you’ll shape it nicely, but the figure will deform as it dries. Divide the dough in three.

To make the figures, keep working the dough with your hands. If you feel it is very dry, try adding a few drops of lime. Don’t add to many drops, just the ones you need to shape it into a ball. Using the tips of your fingers make the “eyes”, use the tip of your paintbrush to make the “nose”, and then use a fork for the teeth. If you want to shape the dough on a board, dust it with cornstarch first.

Let them dry for at least 3 hours before painting them. I used gel food coloring, which worked just as paint with the fine paintbrush, then dusted colored sugar on a few spots while the gel was still wet.

Let it dry again for a few hours, and enjoy using them for your altar, or as treats for friends and family this Halloween season :)

All photos by Rocio Jimenez (Casa Haus)

Making the sugar skulls is easy, but just in case, Here’s a step by step video for you. It's in Spanish, but it's pretty self-explanatory. Hope you like it!!!!