Mardi Gras Blog Hop - Feb. 21st

Welcome to our Mardi Gras parade. I must warn you though while you may enjoy jumping up to catch beads, doubloons, cups, stuffed animals--whatever! Please yell at the float riders "Throw me something, Mister!" as you go along the parade route. There are many Mardi Gras floats (projects) to see and admire and we hope you have a great time at the Mardi Gras..

There are 2 wonderful sponsors for this year's Mardi Gras Hop and I ask that you take a few minutes and check them out as you walk down the parade route.

• $15 Gift Card for Treasure Box Designs (http://www.treasureboxdesigns.com/). They are asking you to stop by their blog and checking out their Guest Designer projects and leaving a comment at http://treasureboxdesigns.blogspot.com/. They are a part of the parade route!
• $50 Gift card from Anita Meadows Cannon

Our hostess for this year's parade (hop) is the lovely Lynne and if you started at her blog, then you have chosen the correct parade route but if you happened upon our Mardi Gras by accident I ask that you go back to the beginning so you see all the colorful, happy floats (projects.)

Let me invite you to my Mardi Gras Ball...

 Everything on the front of this card I designed myself and used my eClips and Sure Cuts A Lot to cut out. That includes the words, beads hanging from the words and the Fleur De Lis. I used yellow glitter glue to create the swirl pattern in the upper right hand corner of the card and gold shimmer mist all over the card.

Mardi Gras runs from Epiphany through mid-night Fat Tuesday and there is more to it then a parade. I have a good friend who goes each year to a Mardi Gras Ball. Balls are private affairs thrown by the krewes (committees) for members and invited guests and require formal dress (tuxedos and ball gowns.) Some of the balls have a theme now and ask you to dress according to their theme.

I'm sorry but due to sickness I didn't get to finish designing and making my mask. I did create a Mardi Gras jester hat just for the fun of it.

Now on to another Mardi Gras tradition. The tradition of the King Cake. Carnival is traditionally observed in the Southeastern region of the country, particularly in Mobile, Alabama, the towns and cities of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, southern Louisiana and New Orleans. In this region, the king cake is closely associated with Mardi Gras traditions and is served throughout the Carnival season, which lasts from Epiphany Eve to Fat Tuesday.
 
The cake has a small trinket (often a small plastic baby, said to represent Baby Jesus) inside (or sometimes placed underneath), and the person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket has various privileges and obligations.

My plan is to make this cake using three containers of Cinnamon roll dough and then, since I couldn't find the baby Jesus anywhere, I will add a plastic coin to the lucky piece.  Our whole house has been fighting the ick all weekend so I may not get this done as planned but I will in the near future if not today.

The King cake has the three colors of Mardi Gras: gold, purple, and green. Rex, the King of Carnival, selected the Mardi Gras colors and assigned meaning to them in 1892. Purple stands for justice, green for faith, and gold for power. The person can also be crowned King for the day and it is their turn to supply the cake for the next King Cake celebration. Here is the crown I made for my king or queen.

As you can see I also got the traditional beads for the celebration. My plan was to make the cake and crown and along with the beads visit my daughter's class but probably won't happen now. Oh well, there's next year.

Thank you for coming to my Ball and enjoying the festivities of Mardi Gras. I love comments and followers.
: )

Your next stop is Angela.

1. Lynne - http://slasewcraftiness.blogspot.com/
2. Edwina ~ http://edwinascreations.blogspot.com/
3. Rachelle-http://creationsbyrachelle.blogspot.com/
4. Kimberly Pate ~ http://scrappingrookie.blogspot.com/
5. Inga Klaus ~ http://mommahobbit.blogspot.com/
6. Kari - http://purplefuntastickcreations.blogspot.com/
7. Dena - http://missdjones.blogspot.com/
8. Gill - http://creationsbygillm.blogspot.com/
9. Haidee-http://created2bunique.blogspot.com/
10. Janet S - http://www.ladyluvbug.blogspot.com/
11. Ashley - http://theglamoroussideofscrapping.blogspot.com/
12. Lisa Woodward ~  http://mycraftyspaces.blogspot.com/
13. Rhonda - http://craftingwithblue.blogspot.com/
14. Anita`  http://www.anitaandbugs.blogspot.com/
15. Katie ~ http://www.ktsangels.blogspot.com/
16. Theresa - http://scrappinginheels.blogspot.com/
17. Susan - http://susanascorner.blogspot.com/
18. Laura- www.lauraleesdream.blogspot.com/
19. Jearise - http://lorbysworld.blogspot.com/
20. Angela-http://creativecraftin.blogspot.com

Information for this blog was gathered from the Mardi Gras New Orleans and  Wikipedia - King Cake