Big Paper Marigold

The marigold is an essential part of any Day of the Dead celebration, and if there is one color that is generally associated with the Dia de Muertos, it is the bright orange of its flowers, which warmly welcome the souls of our beloved departed at the cemetery and unleash their concentrated magic on the Day of the Dead altar. Since Tagetes erecta does not bloom in our latitudes when we need it most, we turn to the ancient Mexican tradition of handcrafted paper flowers. Our larger Paper Marigold comes from a long-established family business in Mexico City that has been practicing this craft for three generations and, among other things, supplies these flowers to our two most knowledgeable U.S. colleagues in the field of Dia de los Muertos supplies. 

To make a Paper Marigold in our standard size, an approximately 150 cm long strip of orange crepe paper is tied in a wavy pattern around the end of a wire using a sophisticated technique and then secured with a wire loop, some green crepe paper, and glue. To ensure safe transport, the flowers were tied together with a thin rubber band. This can be easily removed; then unfold the flower and gently fluff it up with your fingertips to reveal its full beauty. 

The blooms on this larger model have a diameter of about 16 cm , the stem is just over 40 cm long and made of thicker wire than our standard model. Of course, the stem can also be shortened to your liking. In the last photo above, we’ve clearly illustrated the size difference between our two artificial flowers.