Celebrating Cinco de Mayo!

By FPL_Staff

Did you know Cinco de Mayo isn’t actually the celebration of Mexican independence? In truth, it commemorates the victory of the Mexican army over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War in 1862. It’s a small holiday in Mexico, but in the United States, it has become a general celebration of Mexican culture.

“Cinco de Mayo” means “the fifth of May” which is coming up this Thursday. Let’s celebrate by making a traditional Mexican paper decoration called papel picado!

Supplies:

Tissue paper

String

Tape

Scissors

Steps:

1. Cut your tissue paper into squares or rectangles of the same shape and size. The number of pieces and their size is up to you.
2. Fold each piece into a square or triangle.
3. Cut shapes into the folded tissue paper, like you do when you make paper snowflakes, leaving one edge alone (you will need that edge to put tape on).
4. Unfold your shapes and flatten them by placing them under a heavy book for a little while.
5. When they’re nice and flat, lay them all down in a row with the untouched edges at the tops. Lay the string across the top edges and tape the string to the paper. Leave some string at the beginning and ends of the row so you can hang it.
6. Now hang your papel picado where it can be admired! Remember, tissue paper is delicate so be gentle when you lift it from the floor.

Resources:
Craft photos courtesy of: Create Craft Love, opens a new window
History.com: Cinco de Mayo, opens a new window