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DIY

Marigold Smudge Sticks for Day of the Dead

October 3, 2017
How to make marigold smudge sticks to cleanse your environment and prepare your home to welcome loved ones for Day of the Dead celebrations.
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marigold flowers sitting on a wooden table with a red vase of marigolds behind it.

It’s October! The season of welcoming guests into our homes is soon upon us, so before things get way to hectic let’s take some time to prepare.

Many of us have pre-holiday tidying rituals like getting the carpets cleaned or refreshing the linens but cleansing the spirit of your home and filling your space with positive, loving energy is another way to reset and start the holiday season off right.

Orange and green flowers tied in black and white string and wrapped in parchment paper.

Traditionally in Native American cultures, smudge sticks were used to correct the energy in the home. The smoke from the smoldering herbs will attach itself to the bad aura in the room and removes it as the smoke dissipates.

Dried marigold smudge stick with smoke coming off of the end sitting on a ceramic plate.

During Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead the smudge stick has a couple of other purposes. Lighting a smudge stick a day or two before the holiday will clear the air for loved ones so they may feel safe to return home from the land of the dead. During the actual Day of the Dead celebrations, smudge sticks can be used to perfume the air and guide our deceased loved ones back to us as well as speak to those who have passed through the sense of smell, giving us an herbal connection to those who have gone before us.

Marigold flowers wrapped around dried sweetgrass and tied with red and white string.

Mexican sage and sweet grass are most commonly used in traditional smudge sticks. The sage is used to clear the space of negativity and illness and the sweet grass fills it up again with tranquil positive energy. To my smudge sticks I have also added marigold flowers. Marigolds are the symbolic flower of Dia de los Muertos and are known to lead the dead back to us with their bright color and rich, intense aroma. Many people also believe their delicate petals represent the fragility of life.

Dried sweetgrass, red and white string, and a marigold flower sitting on a wooden table.

Here’s What You Need To Make the Marigold Smudge Sticks

  • Sweet grass braid
    • You can find this in many herbalist shops or online.
  • Fresh Marigold flowers
  • Kitchen twine
  • Scissors

How to Make the  Marigold Smudge Sticks

Green leaves from flowers piled on a wooden table with orange buds next to it.

Cut your sweet grass braid the length you’d like your stick then starting from the blossom, trim several marigolds the same length. Wrap the marigold stems around the sweet grass and twist the twine around to secure the blossoms to the sweet grass. The blossoms will shrink as they dry so make sure you wrap the twine around tightly.

Once you reach one end, repeat and go back down again until the bundle feels secure. Cut the twine, leaving a couple of inches at the bottom and tie it tightly to the bundle. Trim any excess string.

Let the sticks dry at least 2 weeks in a cool, dry place before burning. Smudge sticks will last up to a year.

More Day of the Dead Crafts To Try

Paper Flowers decorating a Day of the Dead altar with a woman's photo on it.

How To Make Paper Flowers

Skulls sculpted from sugar and a skull mold sitting on a kitchen counter.

Super Easy Sugar Skulls

One More Thing

Did you love this post? I want to know! Leave me a comment and snap a photo for Instagram. Tag @holajalapeno so I can see your beautiful creation! Your feedback is super important to me. If you run into trouble shoot me a message on Instagram and I’ll walk you through it.

Also, don’t forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter, lots of good stuff there too!

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Photo montage of two images of marigold smudge sticks in different steps of preparation.

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Kate Ramos
Kate Ramos

 

11 Comments

  • Avatar
    Reply Yvette October 4, 2017 at 9:06 am

    Wow this is absolute genius! I love this idea. Very pretty!!

    • Avatar
      Reply Kate Ramos October 4, 2017 at 9:38 am

      Thank you so much Yvette!! I love to use these smudge sticks to clear the air and then I keep them on our Dia de los Muertos altar to light during the season.

    • Avatar
      Reply Rory Lassanske September 6, 2019 at 3:15 pm

      How cool! Love this fantastic idea of making marigold smudge sticks. Just on time for día de los muertos.

  • Avatar
    Reply Vanessa September 6, 2019 at 6:27 am

    What a beautiful tradition! I did not know that you could make smudge sticks with Marigolds. Such a fantastic idea!

  • Avatar
    Reply Blanca D September 6, 2019 at 9:18 am

    I would love to do this! I planted a lot of marigolds this year and they have lots of flowers. I hope they last until November, last year they died early due to freezing temperatures.

  • Avatar
    Reply Andy September 6, 2019 at 11:36 am

    I feel that El día de los muertos is a incredible tradition. I hope see it and living in Mexico one day.

    • Avatar
      Reply Rory Lassanske September 6, 2019 at 3:15 pm

      How cool! Love this fantastic idea of making marigold smudge sticks. Just on time for día de los muertos. ????

  • Avatar
    Reply Mary September 6, 2019 at 6:24 pm

    Que lindos !! Quiero hacerlos yo siempre tengo sage !!

  • Avatar
    Reply Fabiola Acosta September 7, 2019 at 7:44 am

    Ohh thanks for the amazing idea. I’m going to do that…. I love it!

  • Avatar
    Reply Joni Smith October 31, 2019 at 6:26 am

    What do you think about these smudge sticks dried? Say as a gift for someone else? Or perhaps one to use and another to be saved for future usse?

    • Avatar
      Reply Kate Ramos November 4, 2019 at 7:12 am

      Hi Joni,

      They would make a wonderful gift. The idea is that you make them when the flowers are fresh, but then let them dry completely before burning. Once dried they last forever.

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