When I was young my mother use to make so many magical moments for us. We would celebrate many different holidays and she would take time for us to find out about different cultures and traditions. It was so interesting to be exposed to so much even living in a small farming community in Idaho! It brought the richness of the world into our home and made each day magical and full of wonderful and treasured memories!
This year as I am thinking about Mardi Gras, and New Orleans, and thinking how far away it is from San Diego where I live. I would like to join the celebrations in New Orleans but that is not realistic for me this year. Even though I can’t go — still I think it would be fun to learn more about Mardi Gras and have some fun at my house too!
Maybe if you don’t live in New Orleans, or don’t usually celebrate Mardi Gras you like me, would like to know more and celebrate too. The following are some ways you can join in the fun even if you are not in New Orleans.
Here are some Mardi Gras Resources:
Some Mardi Gras History:
Some of the origins of Mardi Gras can be traced to Medieval Europe, however the origin of the Mardi Gras as we celebrate it today with things like Kings, Mardi Gras colors, and brass bands are traced to New Orleans, USA. The earliest reference to Mardi Gras “Carnival” in New Orleans, appears in a 1781.
A group of businessmen, in 1872 invented a King of Carnival — Rex — to parade in the first daytime parade. They introduced the Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold; the Mardi Gras song, and the Mardi Gras flag. The Mardi Gras colors and the symbolism – purple represents justice; green, faith; and gold, power. Find out more about the history of Mardi Gras at this link: History of Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras Food:
One of the easiest ways to celebrate Mardi Gras if you don’t live in New Orleans is to make some Mardi Gras food and share it with your family and friends. This way you can even be a part of the fun from far away!
You might start off with making a King Cake which is part of the Mardi Gras Tradition. Originally, King Cakes were a simple ring of dough with a small amount of decoration. Today’s King Cakes are much more festive. After the rich Danish dough is braided and baked, the “plastic baby” is inserted. The top of the ring or oval cake is then covered with delicious sugar toppings in the traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold. The tradition of having King Cake Parties has evolved through time, and the person who receives the slice of cake with the baby is asked to continue the festivities by hosting the next King Cake party. All of this might be fun to do with family or friends.
If you would like to try to make a King Cake – here is a company that sells a mix – Make a festive King Cake to celebrate Mardi Gras from King Arthur Flour Company
Or order a pre-made cake from one of these New Orleans companies:
The Haydel’s Bakery -King Cake
The Manny Randazzo’s King Cake
Other food you might want to try for your New Orleans and Mardi Gras party are: Po-Boys, Jambalaya, and Gumbo
Hot tips! If you are pressed for time or new to such recipes you might want to try Zatarain’s Jambalaya mix or other New Orleans mixes, which can usually be found in most grocery stores and are easy to make!
Other helpful Links from Zatarain’s for your Party like Mardi Gras Party guides, or decorate a Mardi Gras masks to wear to your party, or play a trivia game, or decorate play size Mardi Gras Float!
Don’t forget to take photos and scrap all the fun!
It is fun to try new things and learn about other places, so if you don’t live in New Orleans or celebrate Mardi Gras – you might want to learn more, have your own party and celebrate!
Have fun! And remember to digitally scrap all those precious moments with your family and friends, and yes, even your pets!
And if you don’t have a reason to celebrate, then take a few moments and create a little magic at your house this year, you will be glad you did!
Cheri
PS. if you like this idea but think it is too late for this year — remember, if you are doing it at home then you have more flexibility with the date and time — you can do it any day this month — maybe even this coming weekend?!
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Here are the kits that where used in today’s blog article:
The Mardi Gras Scrapbooking Kit is a digital scrapbooking kit full of sparkles! It’s time to party with the Mardi Gras Digital Scrapbooking Kit! Mix and match bold colored papers with festive supplies for the perfect celebration! The digital Papers in this kit are 12×12″ size. Kit includes digital papers, Mardi Gras themed embellishments!
The Mardi Gras Digital Scrapbooking Kit is a fabulous kit made for Mardi Gras parties! Mix and match bold colored papers (in green, purple and gold/yellow colors) with festive supplies for the perfect celebration! So what do these incredible Mardi Gras colors means? The Purple symbolizes Justice, Green symbolizes Faith, and the Gold/Yellow symbolizes Power.
The Mardi Gras Digital Embellishment Scrapbooking Kit is a fabulous kit filled with the “fun stuff” for party scrapbooking projects that need Mardi Gras inspired digital embellishments! Mix and match the bold embellishments to create the perfect digital scrapbooking celebration page!
Use this flamboyant kit and fill your pages with sparkling beaded necklaces, dazzling masks, sparkly, metallic bows and bookplates (which can also double for fantastic photo frames too), and flowers!
The Mardi Gras Digital Paper Scrapbooking Kit is a fun kit filled with 
Mardi Gras Colored Papers for party scrapbooking projects! Mix and match the bold purple, green, or gold/yellow colored digital papers to create the perfect digital scrapbooking celebration page! Paper size is 12×12″ great for larger scrapbooking projects! Create fantastic backgrounds- just in time for Mardi Gras or other party/celebration themes with this paper kit! Bonus: Embellishment Kit Included in this kit too!
Use this flamboyant paper kit and fill your pages with sparkly, metallic fun digital papers. Create Mardi Gras scrapbooking pages with King Crowned paper in purple, green and gold/yellows.
