MexicoEtc Miniatures

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Just about any life-size item is reproduced in miniature somewhere in Mexico. We travel far and wide to find our miniatures, many of which can only be found in one particular locale.

These mini-food items are all to scale and some are very unique.The folkart of Mexico does not just include lifesize art. Miniatures such as MexicoEtc offers are also considered folk art - an art that is perilously close to being lost forever. Unless the craftsmen who make these tiny objects find new outlets to sell their work, they will be forced to abandon a craft that may have been in their families for generations. When you purchase miniatures from MexicoEtc, you not only purchase an excellent product but you also help the artists whose livelihood depends on continuing to sell their work.

Wholesale Pricing: We offer wholesale and large quantity discount pricing.

Please e-mail Marianne Carlson at mariannecarlson@gmail.com with your particular requirements.
(Click on the pictures to see enlarged view.)

SILKSCREEN YOUR SERAPES
The serapes can be easily silkscreened with your company logo, etc. for parties or events. Special pricing is available for large orders.The size of the printable area is noted in each serape's description.
NOTE: Although we do not provide silkscreening but are happy to ship right to your printer to save you
time and additional shipping expenses.

Mexican cloth is still woven on back-strap telares a pie (looms) – tied on one end to a tree or post and held taut by a belt around the weaver’s waist. Although lana (wool) is the primary fiber of Mexican tejardores (weavers), algodón (cotton), lino (flax) and henequen (sisal) are also used. In the town where we live, Ajijic, you can see Conchita daily sitting on the ground outside her modest home with her loom strapped to a telephone pole. She hauls her huge bundles of weaving down by the lake on a handtruck, carefully hangs them on ropes strung between trees, and then patiently waits for someone to buy.

These miniature serapes make great rugs for dollhouses – if they are not exactly the size you want, simply cut them. Because they are hand-woven, you can pull threads to remake fringe if desired.

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

Día de los Muertos’ customs include all types of skeletons depicting every aspect of daily life, edible goodies presented as skulls, coffins, etc. made from sugar, chocolate or amaranth seeds. Pan de Muerto (bread of the dead - see our Food section) is sold in various sizes topped with bits of dough shaped like bones or humanoid figures called animas (souls). All of these wares are destined for the buyer’s ofrenda de muertos (offering to the dead).

The ofrenda is commonly a table set up in the home as an altar displaying pictures of the departed, favorite foods and drink and brightly decorated with fresh flowers and candles. These enticements as well as burning copal incense, the guiding light of candles, drum and flute music, are all offered to the departed so they might join the living in celebrations of, not death, but the continuum of life.

Graves are cleaned and decorated and the family holds vigil all night to ensure that their dearly departed recognize them when they come to partake of the feast offerings. People from all over the world travel to Mexico during Día de los Muertos to observe this endearing holiday.