Papel picado ("perforated paper," "pecked paper") is a traditional Mexican decorative craft made by cutting elaborate designs into sheets of tissue paper. Papel picado is considered a Mexican folk art. The designs are commonly cut from as many as 40-50 colored tissue papers stacked together and using a guide or template, a small mallet, and chisels, creating as many as fifty banners at a time. Papel picado can also be made by folding tissue paper and using small, sharp scissors. Common themes include birds, floral designs, and skeletons. Papel picados are commonly displayed for both secular and religious occasions, such as Easter, Christmas, the Day of the Dead, as well as during weddings, quinceañeras, baptisms, and christenings. In Mexico, papel picados are often incorporated into the altars (ofrendas) during the Day of the Dead and are hung throughout the streets during holidays. In the streets of Mexico, papel picados are often strung together to create a banner that can either be hung across alleyways or displayed in the home. Origins In early Mexico, Aztec people chiseled spirit figures into bark. Aztecs used mulberry and fig tree bark to make a rough paper called amate. This custom evolved later into the art form now known as papel picado. Near the middle of the nineteenth century, Mexican people first encountered tissue paper at hacienda stores and adapted it to the craft. Nowadays, artisans usually layer 40 to 50 layers of tissue paper and punch intricate designs into them using a fierrito, a type of chisel. San Salvador Huixcolotla San Salvador Huixcolotla is a municipality in the Mexican state of Puebla and is considered the birthplace of papel picado. This town is known for having a large community of craftsmen who produce high-quality papel picados. In Huixcolotla, papel picado is primarily created for the celebrations of the Day of the Dead. However, papel picados are also crafted for many other holidays and special events. It was in Huixcolotla that its townspeople took colorful papel de China (China paper) and began crafting intricate patterns. Over time, the tool used to make papel picado has changed from scissors to chisels because of the greater precision and detailing they allow. Traditionally, the art of making papel picado has been passed from generation to generation. By 1970, it became common for those in Mexico to decorate their streets with papel picado and used them to decorate their