Gnombre (Retired)

Dia de Muertos, Day of the Dead, is a Mexican holiday to remember loved ones who have died. The observance originated with the ancient Aztecs. Now, the holiday spans October 31-November 2 to coincide with the Catholic holidays of All Saints’ Eve & Day and All Souls’ Day.

Family and friends gather to commemorate their lost loved ones, but this holiday is not a sad occasion at all. There are colorful parades, dazzling costumes, music and dancing, with much feasting and drinking.

Celebrators paint their faces into skulls or wear intricately designed skull and demon masks. They hand out sugared skull candies called calaveras. They believe that the dead walk among them at this time, so they also build altars with offerings of the dead’s favorite foods.

Gnomes celebrate many of the same holidays as humans. Many gnomes keep Christmas decorations in their tree-root homes all year. Gnomes can live to 500 years old, so they have great reverence for their elders and those who have passed on before. Our Day of the Dead gnome is wearing his skull mask, his Mexican sombrero (with gnome top), and a colorfully decorated jacket for the festive Dia de Muertos parade.

No, that’s not your imagination, you can hear him celebrating on your bracelet. He loves to sing once he gets a couple of thimbles of tequila in him!