Happy Mardi Gras!

Even though the weather tried to put a damper on our party, we still had a great Mardi Gras weekend.  Saturday the weather was cold and windy in north Louisiana and rainy in south Louisiana.  I think the big Saturday night parades in New Orleans had to be re-scheduled for Sunday. 

But in Louisiana, we don’t let a little rain keep us from celebrating Mardi Gras!  We had a beautiful day Sunday and a good time was had by all at the local Highland parade.  Here are a couple of the floats:

In honor of Fat Tuesday, I’m reposting the

Mardi Gras History & Fun Facts 

I posted last year.  Enjoy!

• When is Mardi Gras?  The Mardi Gras season begins on or after the Epiphany (or Twelfth Night)  and ends on the day before Ash Wednesday (Mardi Gras=French for Fat Tuesday) source

• Why do we celebrate Mardi Gras? Mardi Gras is a period of abandon and merriment that precedes the penance of Lent.  Although originally of pagan content, the traditional carnival celebrations which precede Lent in many cultures have become associated with the season of fasting if only because they are a last opportunity for excess before Lent begins. source

• When was the first Mardi Gras parade in Louisiana?

  The Mistick Krewe of Comus made its parading debut in a torch-lit procession on the night of Mardi Gras with two floats, costumed maskers and brass bands in 1857.  A group of businessmen and civic leaders invented a king of Carnival, Rex, in 1872. source

• What’s the deal with the beads and coins?  The throwing of trinkets to the crowds was started in the early 1870s by the Twelfth Night Revelers.  In 1884, Rex started using medallions instead of trinkets. These medallions are represented by today's doubloons. Doubloons are usually aluminum and anodized in many different colors. They depict the parade theme on one side and the Krewe's emblem on the other.  source Other throws may include stuffed animals, small toy/trinkets, and even food like Moon Pies and hot dogs!   Try yelling “Throw me something, Mister!” at the float riders and see what you can catch! As a float is passing, instead of just waiving and glancing quickly from rider to rider, zero in on a single rider. Establish eye contact, flash a big smile and make a lot of noise.  Watch out while trying to pick up throws from the ground, you may get your fingers smashed as it is customary to step on a bead/doubloon on the ground, then bend down and pick it up.

  

• Why all the purple, green and gold?  Rex selected the official Mardi Gras colors in 1872. The 1892 Rex Parade theme Symbolism of Colors gave meaning to the colors: Purple represents justice; green, faith; and gold, power. source

  

• Who’s in charge of the parades, and how do I attend one? Krewes, or bands of people, construct their own floats and/or organize themselves to parade during Mardi Gras. The first krewe, formed in 1857, was called the Mystick Krewe of Comus, and the second krewe – the Krewe of Rex – was not established until 1872.  source Most Krewes developed from private social clubs that have restrictive membership policies. Today, in order to obtain a Parade Permit, all Orleans Parish Clubs must sign Affidavits agreeing not to discrimate in terms of membership, but many of the more established Krewes continue to allow membership by "invitation only."  source Krewe members are assessed fees in order to pay for the parade and/or ball. Fees can range from thousands of dollars a year per person for the most elaborate parades to as little as $20 a year for smaller marching clubs.  source Check the parade schedule for your town to find out when and where the parades are held.  Best of all, they’re FREE!!

  

• What is a King Cake?  The king cake of the New Orleans Mardi Gras tradition comes in a number of styles. The most simple, said to be the most traditional, is a ring of twisted bread similar to that used in brioche topped with icing or sugar, usually colored purple, green, and gold. Some varieties have filling inside, the most common being cream cheese followed by praline. Popular bakeries such as Gambino's, Haydel’s, and Randazzo’s, feature original recipes and types of king cakes.  The cakes have a small plastic baby (sometimes said to represent Baby Jesus) inside, and the person who gets the piece of cake with the baby has various privileges and obligations (such as buying the cake for next year's celebration).  source

Mardi Gras Fun Facts

• The average rider in a parade spends $600 to $800 just on throws, with some high rollers spending $2,500 or more. For a mega-parade like Endymion, with over 2,000 riders, that means upwards of $1.5 million of goodies tossed in a matter of hours.

• Float parades were banned from the French Quarter’s narrow streets in 1973.

• More than 500,000 king cakes are sold each year in New Orleans between January 6 and Fat Tuesday, and another 50,000 are shipped out-of-state via overnight courier.

• The super parades of Endymion and Bacchus, scheduled for the Saturday and Sunday before Fat Tuesday, feature a combined total of 75 floats, 60 marching bands and more than 250 units. Their 2,300 members toss more than 1.5 million cups, 2.5 million doubloons and 200,000 gross of beads.

• One of the most photographed objects in all of Mardi Gras is the Boeuf Gras float in the Rex parade. Since the Middle Ages, the bouef gras (fatted bull) has been the symbol of the last meat eaten before Lent. While once a live bull was included in the procession, now a huge papier-mache' figure appears.

  source source

You can see all of my Mardi Gras posts HERE.  Happy Mardi Gras!

Spirit Friday: Embellished Bayou Goes Wholesale

I’m so excited to have just finished my first wholesale embroidery order for a shop in Baton Rouge, LA!  Here are the things I sent:

I’ve been taking a few items here and there to a local boutique on consignment, but this is my first “big” wholesale order, and hopefully she’ll be a repeat customer!

Obviously, LSU and Saints merchandise is very hot right now, so I catered my items to that market. 

These items will be available in my Etsy shop soon!

The Tigers have a huge game this weekend, and I’m pretty nervous about it.  Who knows how they will do….maybe this is a sign of good luck and they will pull off a big win!

 

Geaux Tigers, Beat Auburn!!

Spirit Friday

Well, that was a difficult loss for the Saints last weekend, but we still love our boys in black!  I made a couple new Saints things with my embroidery machine this week and thought I would share. 

The first is a custom Travel Tumbler:

Love the sequin fabric for the appliqué! 

And a “Who Dat” fleur de lis dishtowel, perfect for football season!

And of course I can’t leave out the Tigers! This football tee really turned out cute.

Thanks for looking, have a great weekend!

Geaux Tigers, beat the Vols!

Shopping in NOLA

As I mentioned in my previous post, my sister and I spent a couple days shopping in New Orleans.  Having lived in NOLA for a few years pre-Katrina, it was great to go back and see everything getting back to normal.  Of course we hit the hot spots, like the French Market:

Magazine Street:

and Royal Street in the French Quarter:

When I lived in New Orleans, I had no idea of some of the great places that were right in my backyard.  We started out at Jefferson Variety Store, which supplies a lot of the Mardi Gras krewes with their beads, throws, and fabric for costumes.  I was on the hunt for some unique fabric and trim, and I found it there!

Check out all the hats available for purchase along the top shelf!

Another favorite spot was this lighting store on Royal Street.  Crystal chandeliers were dripping from the ceiling around every corner!

The crystals on this one pictured below were a golden brown.  If I had a formal dining room and couple thousand dollars to spare, it would have come home with me!

Another place I had never been but had heard lots about was Angelo Brocato’s.

The perfect pit stop for an afternoon snack of gelato and a cannoli!  YUM!Our last stop on our way out of town was Gordon’s of Metairie, which used to be right around the corner from my old townhouse.  It’s kind of like a Hobby Lobby without the fabric/crafts.  Their window displays caught my eye with all that turquoise blue that is so popular now.  

I really wish we had one of those where I live!

It was a quick trip, and while we made the most of our shopping time in New Orleans, I could have spent several more days there!

Sharing today’s post with:

French Quarter Lace

I spent a couple days last week with my sister in New Orleans.  One of my favorite things about the city is the beautiful iron balconies in the French Quarter.

It’s always interesting to see how people decorate their balconies with plants and flowers.

Most of these condos/apartments don’t have an outdoor space (aside from a shared courtyard perhaps), so they have to make do with the space they have.

While researching my genealogy in high school, I learned that one of my ancestors was an iron-worker and some of his work can be found in the French Quarter.  It’s so neat to think that a piece of my history could be on any one of these balconies!

Tomorrow I’ll share more details from our shopping adventures!   

Sharing today’s post with:

       

Mardi Gras Week: Favorite Memories and Photos

Today is the day when I’ll share some of my favorite Mardi Gras memories and photos.  Feel free to join up your own Mardi Gras posts at the end of this one. 

Like I said, I’ve been doing Mardi Gras since I was a baby:

I just found that photo the other day, that’s me and my grandmother at my first Mardi Gras parade.  She used to dress up every year when she was able.

And here’s my most recent Mardi Gras, last year:

Yes, I am eating a hot dog that I caught in a parade! Trust me, in Louisiana, it is perfectly acceptable to eat food that is thrown at you. 

Even Gidget gets in on the Mardi Gras fun:

They have parades especially for pets.  She hasn’t been in a couple years, but hopefully we’ll get to go again this year.

One year in college a good friend of mine’s family bought a “parade package” at a local New Orleans restaurant.  That was the best, because we had access to a huge buffet and drinks, clean bathrooms (usually very hard to come by during Mardi Gras), plus a primo spot on bleachers along the parade route.  This is definitely the way to do Mardi Gras right if you have the means to do so.  Here we are getting ready to go:

That’s me in the crazy mask. I made quite a haul that year:

Another great way to do Mardi Gras is to set up shop in the neutral ground and tailgate with friends all day.  This year there were kids with us, so we had a ladder seat for us them:

One of my favorite parts of parades are the marching bands and dancers.  Those high school kids really know how to get down!  They wear cute little boots and strut their stuff!  Here’s a look at some of the fun costumes I’ve seen over the years:

And some floats:

Yes, that is a giant toilet.  Don’t ask.

That is a Saints float from at least 5 or 6 years ago.  Who Dat!!

The Smokey Mary float from the Orpheus parade has six cars and takes up more than a city block :

Sometimes it can be a drag when the parade stops in the middle due to a break-down or flat tire.  One year my husband used this opportunity to talk a rider into giving him some very special hot pepper beads:

Ok, I know what you all really want to see….the celebrities!  Most of the larger parades usually have celebrity riders or kings.  And I’ve gotten quite the collection of celebrity photos over the years.  You’ll just have to trust me on this.

Nicholas Cage:

Jon Lovitz:  

Luke Perry:

 

  Hulk Hogan (impersonator):

     

Ha, Ha! Are you jealous of my photography skills and close proximity to major celebrities?!?

I had so much fun looking back on all my Mardi Gras memories.  If you have any to share, or any kind of Mardi Gras blog post, please link up, grab a button, and link back to this blog!

Be sure and come back tomorrow for Mardi Gras crafts.