Happy Mardi Gras!
I have so many wonderful memories of Mardi Gras from growing up in New Orleans. I remember some of the costumes I wore, the ladder seats we sat in, scavenging the ground for beads, watching the St. Aug band play, and eating Popeye’s chicken.
Those memories spurred me into having our own little Mardi Gras party despite the fact that we are 600 miles from the real event.
Like most parties I host, I was planning on decorating and cleaning right up to the minute when guests walk in the front door.
This time that plan backfired on me.
Our party was set for 4:00 on a Sunday afternoon. I thought…plenty of time to cook and work on things. That’s a great plan exept that I became sick at 6:00pm the night before the party. I mean, I went down quick and was in bed by 8:15.
In came my superhero husband. He cleaned and cooked up a storm. Without him there would have been no party. I was still in bed when it was only one hour until the party and went back to bed about an hour after the party.
So, our decorations were minimal. Not my best work but it is what it is. After all, I’m pretty sure everyone was there for the crawfish pasta and king cake, anyway.
My mom sent the adorable mask along with Mardi Gras plates, napkins, and shirts for the party. The mask was placed in a flower vase filled with purple beads. I added the gold signs which read, “Let the Good Times Roll,” and the same in french,”Laissez Le Bons Temps Rouler.”
The only other decoration I put up for the party was the “Parades” sign. I actually wasn’t able to finish the sign since I got sick so the last parade, Crescent City, has a lighter coat of paint than the others.
And no I haven’t gone back to complete the sign. I got things to do.
I remember getting up early on Mardi Gras day to get to our spot on the parade route. First came Zulu and the thrill of them throwing decorated coconuts, Rex with the huge cow float, and then the truck parades, Elks and Crescent City, which each had over 120 floats in a row.
Steps in creating the sign:
1) Paint large board purple
2) Print out the names of the parades and arrange on the board.
3) Take the slip of paper with the parade name on it and turn it over. Color the letters with a white crayon (you are coloring on the back of the paper).
4) Turn the paper over so that the crayon will make contact with the board.
5) Trace the letters with a pen onto the board.
6) Lift the paper up and you will see a faint outline of the parade name.
7) Color inside the letters with paint.
Go here to see our Mardi Gras wreath.
Do you have any favorite Mardi Gras memories?
The work in the beginning was tedious but I eventually got the hang of it and moved at a quicker pace. Once I finished putting on all the words I modged podged it so it would have a protective covering.