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Set
up poles, bottles and other objects for your guests to try
and throw Mardi Gras necklaces around. Award more points for
harder to hit targets.
After Christmas sales are a great time to get beaded garland
(in the traditional Mardi Gras colors of gold, green and purple!)
Have
blank masquerade masks available for your guests to decorate.
Award prizes for Best Overall and Most Original. For more
outgoing guests, inform your guests ahead of time (in your
invitations) that there will be a mask design competitions
so that they can be working on them BEFORE the party and show
up with them.
Play
a few rounds of Mardi Gras bingo. This also a great game to
play throughout the evening, giving out squares as the party
progresses. You can either create your own Mardi Gras themed
bingo boards or download them from the Internet HERE.
Hang
up different New Orleans street signs about your party area
- especially Bourbon Street!
Holding a juggling contest among your guests! It's amazing
how many closet jugglers there are out there. For the less
skilled, time each participant to see how long they can keep
the three balls in the air.
Ask
around to anyone you know (or a friend of someone you know)
who plays a horned instrument. It would be great if they could
play a piece at your party. However, even if they are unable
to (or don’t want to) ask if you can borrow their horn(s).
They look great as table centerpieces!
Balloons
are great decorations for a Mardis Gras party. For a great
effect, consider stringing helium balloons together on a thin
thread in strands of 6-8 balloons a piece. Weight them down
to create a ‘column’ of balloons. These look great
for your guests to walk past as they enter your party space
- sort of creating a hallway or gauntlet of balloons!
Take
a look in your holiday box of decorations (asking around to
friends and family also works.) At Christmas time they sell
all green Christmas Tree lights and at Halloween time they
sell purple ones. These are great to use throughout your party
space (as those are two of the three main colors for a traditional
Mardis Gras party - yellow being the third.)
Play
a few rounds of Mardi Gras bingo. This also a great game to
play throughout the evening, giving out squares as the party
progresses. You can either create your own Mardi Gras themed
bingo boards or download them from the Internet
Visit
your local party supply store (or check out different sites
online) and purchase inexpensive party masks (think masquerade
ball.) You have the option to decorate the masks in a traditional
Mardis Gras style (if you have the time and energy) however
leaving them alone will also work. On the inside of the masks,
write all of the party information details with a black Sharpie
- they make for great Mardis Gras party invitations!
Ahead
of time make ice cubes using different colors of drink mix
- yellow, green and purple. You can use lemonade, Kool-aid
or any drink mix that you’d like just so that you have
the three different colors. Once you have the ice cubes made,
set them in a bowl to be used by your guests. It’s advisable
to separate the colors/flavors of ice cubes in three separate
bowls as they will melt slightly…the mixture of the colors
at the bottom of the bowl could be a bit visually unappetizing.
For refreshments serve lemon-lime soda or gingle ale. Each
guest can then take one of the ice cubes to flavor their drink!
It’s a lot of fun to do and the Mardis Gras colors will
be all over the room!
When
selecting your food choices, consider traditional New Orleans
style food. A Cajun jambalaya can be a great choice because
it’s easy to make and party favorite. There are lots
of simple recipes online that can be easily followed. For
a more adventurous crowd, consider using alligator meat in
the jambalaya (found at specialty food stores.) You don’t
need a lot (because there are so many different ingredients
in jambalaya) and it could be a real adventurous dish taking
people to real South!
Remember
that it considered good luck to receive the piece of cake
with the baby inside if you are considering serving Mardis
Gras cake!
Purchase
cheap plastic gold coins to be used in every activity and game
(finding the coins, earning the coins through winning different
games - including earning coins for simply participating in
certain activities.) At the end of the evening, allow each guest
to ‘buy’ raffle tickets with the coins that they’ve
earned throughout the night. Now you can raffle off different
prizes (or a single prize) as the grand finale to your party.
Consider giving each guest one free coin as they enter you party
so that they will feel like they’ve already ‘started’
collecting
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