Create your own Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera collage for Dia de los Muertos using colored paper, scissors and markers.
I have an obsession with Frida Kahlo and I’m not ashamed. She will always be my muse–with her creativity, her passion, her style and her life. I love Frida Kahlo and Dia de los Muertos so much, I had to share this with fun paper collage project with you all.
If you don’t know what a collage is, it is simply a design of assembled cut paper. What I love about collage is, you can create pretty much anything you envision and all you need is colored paper and scissors. No wonder Henri Matisse called it “painting with scissors”.
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I wanted to create a portrait of Frida and her husband Diego in true Dia de los Muertos fashion: calavera-style.
What you’ll need:
You will need multiple sheets of cardstock in lots of different colors. Patterned paper, cut paper from magazines (they have the best colors) and painted paper work well, too. The size is dependent on the size of our overall collage. You will need one large sheet of paper for your base. We chose a 12 x 12-inch sheet in blue. I like to use a glue stick because it dries fairly quickly and I can pull up a piece of paper and reposition if needed. More experienced crafters can use rubber cement, but make sure you have proper ventilation. That stuff stinks!
When working on your collage, start with your large, basic pieces as your foundation. You may also lightly trace your skeleton shapes with a pencil before cutting it out. Be creative with the details, such as: flowers in the hair, scallop shapes around the eyes, clothing, earrings, etc. You can also use There are no rules.
Together with my 11 year-old son, we created this collage of Frida Kahlo and her artist husband Diego Rivera in celebration of Dia del los Muertos.
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