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Papel Picado arose from early Mexico, the Aztec people first chiseled spirit figures into bark, which later became the art form now known as Papel Picado.  The  Aztecs used mulberry and fig tree bark to make a rough paper called "Amatl". Nowadays, artisans usually layer 40 to 50 layers of tissue paper and punch intricate designs into them using "fierritos", a type of chisel.