An employee at the Reynoso family workshop sews by machine a traditional "papel picado" banner in San Salvador Huixcolotla, Mexico, on Oct. 1. | AFP-JIJI

San Salvador Huixcolotla, Mexico – In a workshop in the Mexican town of San Salvador Huixcolotla, three men use small hammers and chisels to punch holes in thick sheets of tissue paper ahead of the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival.

The multicolored paper perforated with intricate folk art designs is known as papel picado (pecked paper).

It is a central element in the lavish altars erected for the deceased on Nov. 1-2 and is also used to festoon homes and streets.

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