Families spent a sweet Saturday at Generator makerspace, exploring Day of the Dead, the traditional Mexican holiday, forming and decorating sugar skulls with festive flair. Small hands plied into piles of slightly soft sugar, packing handfuls into 2-piece molds that were then set out to dry. Once partially dried, the halves were scooped out, then glued together to form a 3D candy skull. Makers wanted to know – “Are the skulls edible?” Yes, but definitely not recommended eating – they eventually dry hard-as-rocks and are not teeth-friendly!
Hearing this, makers were then free to decorate the skulls using a mix of frosting “glue”, edibles and craftables such as beads, sequins and feathers. Some opted for the artistic, making careful passes of colored royal icing from tubes fitted with starred tips. Others went for the gory, the gruesome, the goofy, with skulls sporting everything from crooked gum teeth to elaborate candy mohawks.
Parents were only too happy to have this Festival of Frosting play out anywhere but in their own house, as anyone who’s decorated Gingerbread Houses will understand. The sentiment “It’s the perfect space for this kind of activity” was expressed over and over – we here at Generator agree, and hope to invite you to many more like these!
