Shop Small Business Saturday at Coast Hwy Traders

Saturday, November 25th 2017

This Nov 25,2017 we want to share Small Business Saturday with you! It’s a holiday shopping tradition that celebrates small businesses like ours. And it wouldn’t be a celebration without customers like you joining us.

So mark your calendar for Nov 25 — the Saturday after Thanksgiving — and get ready to #ShopSmall at Coast Hwy Traders.

We have many unique items from around the world. Coast Hwy Traders supports fair trade and our local artisans. Shop Outside the Box this holiday season and come to Coast Hwy Trades for your holiday shopping!

Coast Hwy Traders

530 S Coast Hwy 101

Encinitas Ca

760-944-1381

Black Friday Trunk Show at Coast Hwy Traders

Friday, November 24th 11am to 4pm

530 S Coast Hwy 101 Encinitas , Ca 92024

Local jewelry artisan Linda Deremo is hosting a special one – day trunk show. Her jewelry is truly unique and one of a kind.

Handmade jewelry is a perfect gift for that special someone on your holiday list.

Shop Outside the box this holiday season and support local businesses and artisans!

Coast Hwy Traders

530 S Coast Hwy 101

Encinitas Ca

760-944-1381

Day of the Dead Altars

Day of the Dead is celebrated from October 31st to November 2nd. The celebrations include festivals, visit to grave sites, and preparing the altars or Ofrendas for lost loved ones. Ofrendas can be set up near graves or where the loved one actually died. They are also set up in the home where people believe the spirits will visit.

In Morelos, Mexico the altar is set up in a bedroom with chairs or a bed for the dead to rest on. The living then sleep on the front porch. This is not done out of fear but they want to make the dead comfortable. The altars filled with flowers, candles and much more. Below is a list of the items you would find.

Day of the Dead Altars

Candles…..one for each dead family member. Lighting the way the for the spirits.

Beeswax Candles

Skulls made of wood or sugar…..sometimes marked with the names of the dead family member.

Soap and Small towels….for the dead to wash

Water Jug…for drinking

Salt….a symbol of life

Incense

Bread…Pan de Muertos (Bread of the Dead) is a sweet egg bread and is flavored with cinnamon and anise seed (tastes like black licorice). The bread is then glazed with honey or sprinkled with red or pink sugar. The bread will sometimes be shaped like people or animals.

Pan de Muerto

Flowers…Marigolds (going back to the Aztecs) are used because they are the symbol of the harvest and they are also know as the flower of the dead. Their bright color and strong smell reminded the Aztecs of the sun. You can see the petals scattered from the graves to the home, like a path for the spirits to follow. These bright flowers are colorful enough for the spirits to see after living in so much darkness.

Marigolds….flowers of the Dead

Chocolates

Pictures of the loved ones that have past

Small toys or miscellaneous items the loved ones enjoyed

Coast Hwy Traders

530 S Coast Hwy 101

Encinitas Ca

760-944-1381

Here in the United States on Halloween you can see ghosts, goblins, princesses and pirates. In Mexico the influence (possibly) of Halloween can be seen in the Day of the Dead celebrations and the many people who bring Jose Guadalupe Posada La Catrina to life.

Jose Guadalupe Posada La Catrina

In Mexico’s capital many celebrations of the Day of the Dead can be found. They highlight the color, local food, Mexican folk art and crafts of the city. The traditional La Catrina with the European style hat can be seen walking around the festivals in the flesh.

People use face paint to create in elaborate fashion La Catrina and the human skull. They use white paint as a base and then black is used to represent eye sockets, nose openings and teeth. Then colors and patterns are added like the decorations on the Day of the Dead sugar skulls. The paint can also extend to their bodies too.

Costumes are also added to the human version of La Catrina. You can see La Catrina as a bride, Frida Kahlo, or in various forms of Mexican traditional dress. These very real depictions of the La Catrina can be attributed to the Mexican culture views on death.

Death is apart of life and should be embraced. Vibrant colors, flowers, wedding veils add life and warmth to the human skeleton of La Catrina.

Coast Hwy Traders

530 S Coast Hwy 101

Encinitas Ca

760-944-1381

La Calaveras Catrina by Jose Guadalupe Posada

Jose Guadalupe Posada created the lovely and timeless La Calaveras Catrina (The Catrina Skull) or just La Catrina. Posada was a Mexican revolutionary graphic artist in the late 19th-20th centuries. La Catrina has the European style ornate hat that was popular among the upper classes in the late 19th century. Many of the indigenous women of the time were so influenced by the European styles they started not wearing their traditional clothes and even wore makeup to make their skin look lighter. La Catrina was Posadas reminder to all that regardless of class or stature death equalizes everyone in the end.

La Catrinas made of paper mache at Coast Hwy Traders

The La Catrina is made from all kinds of materials including clay, wood, and paper mache (cartoneria). She is a prominent figure in Day of the Dead celebrations. She is featured in Day of the Dead altars, decorations, including large paper mache skeletons imitating the living.

Posada’s La Catrina has become the image of Death in Mexico and icon of the Day of the Dead celebrations.

La Catrina Statue

Wedding Day La Catrina

The Coast Hwy Traders Mascot…La Catrina

La Catrinas at Coast Hwy Traders

Coast Hwy Traders

530 S Coast Hwy 101

Encinitas Ca

760-944-1381

Popotillo Art…Straw Art

Popotillo (little straw) is the craft of creating colorful images using the thin stalks of various grasses. 

This beautiful craft is labor intensive. An 8×10 image can take 2 or 3 days, depending on the complexity and all the space that must be covered in straw.

The use of the hands, or in the case of very tiny pieces, tweezers to place the bits of colored lines has not changed, but there has been some modernization. Traditionally, the straw or grass is collected, dried and colored either by the crafts person. Originally, vegetable dyes were used and straw colored this way still can be found, but most are now colored using aniline dyes, as the color lasts longer.

The straw pieces are applied on paper, poster board or other surfaces, not by cutting the straw first, but rather applying the straw and snapping it where the artisan wants the line to end. The traditional adhesive is beeswax or Campeche wax, but other glues are sometimes used. After the image is completed, it is usually coated to make it shine. In the past, this was done using egg whites, but today commercial varnish is used.

Popotillo crafts are truly works of art and can be admired and purchased at Coast Hwy Traders.

Coast Hwy Traders

530 S Coast Hwy 101

Encinitas Ca

760-944-1381

The evil eye is a curse believed to be cast by a malevolent glare, usually given to a person when they are unaware. Many cultures believe that receiving the evil eye will cause misfortune or injury.

Talismans created to protect against the evil eye are also frequently called “evil eyes”

Disks or balls, consisting of concentric blue and white circles (usually, from inside to outside, dark blue, light blue, white, and dark blue) representing an evil eye are common.

The evil eye or ‘Mal de Ojo’ has been deeply embedded in Spanish popular culture. In Mexico and Central America infants are considered at special risk for the evil eye and are often given an amulet bracelet as protection. Typically there is an eye-like spot painted on the amulet.

One traditional cure for the evil eye in rural Mexico involves a curandero (folk healer). The healer sweeps a raw chicken egg over the body of a victim to absorb the power of the person with the evil eye. The egg is later broken into a glass with water and placed under the bed of the patient near the head. Sometimes it is checked immediately because the egg appears as if it has been cooked. When this happens it means that the patient did have Mal De Ojo. Somehow the Mal De Ojo has transferred to the egg and the patient immediately gets well.

In some parts of South America the act of ojear, which could be translated as to give someone the evil eye, is an involuntary act. Someone may ojear babies, animals and inanimate objects just by staring and admiring them. This may produce illness, discomfort or possibly death on babies or animals and failures on inanimate objects like cars or houses. It’s a common belief that since this is an involuntary act made by people with the heavy look, the proper way of protection is by attaching a red ribbon to the animal, baby or object, in order to attract the gaze to the ribbon rather than to the object intended to be protected.

purchase your Evil Talisman at Coast Hwy Traders…

Coast Hwy Traders

530 S Coast Hwy 101

Encinitas Ca

760-944-1381

I recently visited Oaxaca, Mexico. From eating crickets to experiencing world class art this trip was a once in a lifetime!

I visited the Oldest church in Oaxaca. It was built in the 16th century. When I was outside at noon, I heard music and was surrounded by Ava Maria. It was so cool because there are not any speakers. It was like it came from the sky!

Beeswax candle making is a lost art. In Oaxaca it is alive and well. Just Gorgeous!

In Oaxaca they use dried crickets in salad dressings, on top of tostadas, and in guacamole.

They tasted salty!

Oaxaca has large paper mache figures they hang outside their stores.

The paper mache figures are also uses in parades.

Coast Hwy Traders

530 S Coast Hwy 101

Encinitas Ca

760-944-1381

I was recently in Oaxaca, Mexico when I came across a Mexican Wedding procession! It was delightful!

The band leads the bride and groom, family and guests down the street. Everyone would pause in the street to dance and celebrate. The guests carry the saran wrapped gifts on top of their heads! Looks like the Bride and Groom will have plenty of pots and pans and dishes!

Good luck to this beautiful couple!

Watch Wedding Procession Video Below

Oaxaca Wedding

Coast Hwy Traders

530 S Coast Hwy 101

Encinitas Ca

760-944-1381

The Tree of Life (Arbol de la Vida) is a clay folk art sculpture from Central Mexico that started in the colonial period.

After the Conquest, the Spanish destroyed religious figures and replaced them with Christian iconography. The original purpose of the Trees of Life was evangelical, specifically the story of Adam and Eve. A reminder of original sin.

Trees of Life are a traditional wedding gift because of the relation to the first human couple (Adam and Eve). They are also considered to be a talisman for the couple for fertility.

As mentioned above, the traditional Trees of Life are based on the first couple, Adam and Eve. You will see many trees of life with images of the couple, usually naked except for fig leaves. The couple is positioned at the base of the tree and often a snake can been seen.

Many variations of the traditional Trees of Life can be found. For instance, a tree of life from Metepec will branch out like a real tree and a tree from Puebla will be more stylized with branches bending inward onto the body of the tree.

Themes of the Trees can vary depending on the artisan. Themes can range from the four seasons, death, chocolate, local dances and food.

Whichever style you choose or prefer they are remarkable symbols of the Mexican heritage created by talented local artisans.

Coast Hwy Traders a Fair Trade Buyer

Coast Hwy Traders purchases all there Trees of Life from Mexico handmade by local artisans. Coast Hwy Traders is a responsible fair-trade buyer.

This Fabulous tree of life is $175.00 and is available at Coast Hwy Traders

Coast Hwy Traders

530 S Coast Hwy 101

Encinitas Ca

760-944-1381