Spring Colors in Work Wreath Forms

Work wreath forms are available in a rainbow assortment of colors to coordinate with any theme or holiday. The pretty spring colors are perfect to usher in Easter and summer festivities.  Check out all the yummy candy  colors available at MardiGrasOutlet.com.

What are Work Wreath Forms?  A work wreath is a basic round wreath form that comes with pre-attached wire tips. These wire tips are used to attach craft and floral supplies (like garland, ribbon, floral sprays or ornaments)  to easily create a personalized one-of-a-kind wreath. The work wreath forms are available in 24 inch or 30 inch sizes in assorted colors to coordinate with various themes.

A wreath form  works well with  21" wide deco mesh garland. Combine the deco mesh garland with ribbon, decorations and accessories for a designer wreath with a low cost! Both the poly deco mesh and work wreath form are weather proof and durable, making them perfect for outdoor use.

You can easily create a wreath with a work wreath form in as little as 10 minutes. The pre-attached wire tips make it very simple, no messy glue. See ideas using work wreath forms here: WORK WREATH FORM IDEAS.  Or see a video tutorial on creating a wreath with these wire forms here: WORK WREATH VIDEO TUTORIAL.

With all these fun colors, you can get really creative. Here are some ideas for each of  these brightly colored work wreaths.

Orange work wreaths for luau or Mexican fiestas wreaths.

Pretty pink work wreath forms for baby shower or birth,  Easter, princess party or Mother's Day wreaths. Available in hot pink also.

Turquoise work wreath forms for pool party, luau or summer-time themed wreaths.

Lime green work wreath forms for Easter, Spring, tropical party wreaths.

For our complete selections see the links below:

work wreath forms

poly deco mesh 21" rolls

work wreath garland

Be sure to send us your work wreath creations. We love to be inspired by your creativity.

Cajun Crawfish Centerpiece Ideas

Crawfish season is here!
It is time to "Let the good times boil."
Here are some fun centerpiece ideas for a crawfish boil or a Cajun theme party.

Small mesh crawfish sacks are great for centerpieces. They are festive and inexpensive (less than $1 each).The plain white label area on the crawfish sack can even be personalized for your event. Either hand write something clever or print a large white sticker label for the area.

Crawfish Print Kraft Paper comes on a 24-inch wide by 50ft roll, and can be used as a cute & easy table runner, instead of used newspaper. It's great for gift wrap, crafts and decorating for your crawfish boil as well.

A miniature wooden pirogue filled with Spanish moss adds another Louisiana touch. Fill this pirogue with Louisiana food products like Tony Chachere's seasoning and hot sauce. Your guest can take the Cajun food items home as party favors.

Scattered around the centerpiece are realistic looking plastic crawfish.

We also included this fun Cajun Survival kit, filled with quintessential Louisiana items like creole seasonings, alligators, Spanish moss, Mardi Gras doubloons and red beans. The Cajun Survival kit comes with funny anecdotes on the history of these items and why you may need them if you are not in Cajun country. This survival kit is a great party favor as well.

In this second centerpiece option, a cotton boll floral spray is added in place of a crawfish sack. Cotton is an integral part of Louisiana agriculture and southern history making it the perfect accent for a Cajun themed centerpiece.

For more crawfish boil party supplies and centerpiece options, see the full selection here:

Crawfish boil supplies

Cajun Novelties

Louisiana and Cajun party supplies

Just arrived for crawfish season-our exclusive design-crawfish cups.

These fun frost-flex 16-ounce cups with red crawfish motif are great for crawfish boils! 

Here are some more tutorials and ideas for Crawfish centerpieces:

Create a Crawfish Balloon Decoration

Mesh Sacks Centerpiece

Crawfish Boil Tablescape

Happy St. Patrick's Day Wreath Tutorial

Are you wearing green today? It is Saint Patrick's day! In honor of the occasion, we created this green St. Patrick's Day wreath accented with a gold shamrock. See below for the tutorial.

To add to last year's Irish blessing post, we offer you another Irish blessing on Saint Patrick's Day.

An Old Irish Blessing

May love and laughter light your days,

and warm your heart and home.

May good and faithful friends be yours,

wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world

with joy that long endures.

May all life's passing seasons

bring the best to you and yours

 Here are the supplies and the tutorial for this precious St. Patty's Day wreath:

Supplies:

Green 24" work wreath form

Green crushed lame' fabric roll (10yd roll)

Gold 2mm aluminum craft wire

Gold Poly deco mesh tubing

Tutorial:

Pick a starting point on the inside circle of the work wreath form. Use two of the tips on the work wreath to attach the end of the green lame fabric from the roll.

Continue around the wreath, bunching the lame fabric and attaching in with the work wreath form tips. Try to be consistent on the length between tips for a uniform look.

Continue around the entire inner circle. Fluff the fabric as you go around.

Pictured here is the work wreath form with the inner circle complete.

Move to the outside circle of the wreath. Continue attaching the fabric around the wreath with the wire tips provided.

When you get back the the place you started, attach the fabric into that same set of tips for a complete circle.

Cut off any excess fabric. When we finished, we had about 4 feet left on the roll of lame fabric.

This is what the finished work wreath will look like.

To create the gold shamrock, use 2mm aluminum gold craft wire and gold poly deco mesh tubing.

Cut a length of wire, approximately 4-5 feet long. Insert the gold craft wire into the center of the gold deco mesh tubing. Once it is all the way down, you can begin to bend the wire into a shamrock shape.

Start by creating the top leaf  of the shamrock, then bend the shape of the right and left leaves. Wrap the wire around the center point  when all three leaves are formed to secure.

Create a stem by making a long tight loop at the bottom.

Once you have the shamrock shape finished, bend/shape the wire to perfect your shamrock. Make sure to add the heart shaped indentations in each leaf for a true shamrock shape.

Attach the shamrock to the wreath with three of the tips on the wreath form.

And your festive Saint Patrick's Day wreath is complete! Luck of Irish to you this year !

Here are even more tutorials on how to use the work wreath form:

Deco Mesh Christmas Wreath Video

Football Door Decoration

Halloween Wreath with Deco Mesh

Pumpkin Door Decoration

Candy Cane Stripe EZ Wreath

Gear up for Saint Patrick's Day with Lighted Irish Beads!

With Mardi Gras behind us, it is time for the Saint Patrick's Day parade season. There is a big St. Patrick's Day parade in Baton Rouge. As with any parade in Louisiana, there will be lots of parade throws and beads. Flashing St. Patrick's day beads, like this lighted Action bead, are sure to be a popular item at the parade this year. Check out Mardi Gras Outlet's selection of St. Patrick's Day beads, to see all the fun varieties. Whether you are riding in a St. Patrick's day parade or just celebrating the day, green beads are a must.

Here are some photos from last years 2010 Baton Rouge St. Patrick's Day parade. If you are in the area, come out and enjoy the fun. This year's parade rolls on Saturday, March 19.

With plenty of green and lots of family and friends, the Baton Rouge St. Patrick's day parade is always fun!

There is no better perch for kids at a parade than a ladder seat. It is great for catching lots of green beads! This ingenious invention was discovered in New Orleans (created for Mardi Gras). It is basically a wooden box seat fastened on top of a folding wooden ladder. It can hold up to three small children. The fancy ladders have wheels on the bottom so you can move them to the parade easily.  Our version even has cup holders. The kids love this high perch for the parade!

The Baton Rouge St. Patrick's day parade attracts lots of people and is very family friendly.

Where ever you live, I hope you get to enjoy a beautiful spring day and a parade for St. Patrick's Day! Don't forget your green St. Patrick's Day beads. And as always, Let the good times roll! 

Happy Mardi Gras 2011

Mardi Gras King Cake Cupcakes

Mardi Gras and King Cakes go together like beads and parades, but sometimes it can be hard to get a traditional Mardi Gras King Cake. If this is the case for you, don't let that spoil the fun! Inspired by the current gourmet cupcake craze and our traditional Mardi Gras King Cake, we created a gourmet Mardi Gras king cake cupcake that you can enjoy no matter where you live.

With simple ingredients like, vanilla wafers and icing, you can create these tiny cookie Mardi Gras king cakes. They fit perfectly on top of a cupcake. With a tiny king cake and king cake baby on top, these Mardi Gras cupcakes are great for Mardi Gras parties any time of year. But with Mardi Gras just days away, these cupcakes are a great way to bring the Mardi Gras King Cake tradition to you.

While our king cake cupcakes are definitely more cake than traditional king cake (which is more of a cinnamon roll), they do contain a special surprise just like a traditional Louisiana style Mardi Gras King cake. A tiny plastic baby is usually hidden in a king cake. This surprise that awaits someone in a piece of king cake is supposed to symbolizes the baby Jesus. Tradition dictates that the person blessed with the king cake baby hosts the next king cake party or brings the next king cake to work, school or meeting. In our version, everyone gets a special King Cake baby (on top), but only one person gets the special surprise treat. In one cupcake is a chocolate candy center. How fun! Whoever gets the chocolate center cupcake can host the next party!

The tiny plastic king cake babies are not safe to bake in the king cake. They would melt. The king cake babies are traditionally added after the cake is baked by inserting them in the bottom.  A piece of candy or other edible treat is a better choice for cupcakes. For more information on the history and traditions surrounding King cakes and King cake babies see this post on, Twelfth night traditions or our About Mardi Gras page.

For even more Louisiana Recipes, visit our Recipes page.

Here is how we created these cute Mardi Gras King Cupcakes:

Use any flavor cake/cupcake batter you prefer. We chose a basic vanilla cake mix and added a touch of cinnamon to mimic the cinnamon flavor of a traditional king cake.

To create the "king cake" surprise, drop a chocolate "kiss" into one lucky cupcake. As it bakes it will sink so ideally you want it just on the top of the batter.

Our simple un-iced cinnamon cupcakes.

To create our tiny cookie king cakes, we used plain vanilla wafers.

Icing transforms these cookies from plain vanilla wafers to mini king cakes.

Step1: Using white icing, create a circle around the edge of the cookie.

Step 2: With purple, green and yellow icing, add a rectangle section of each color icing.

Step 3: Continue around the king cake, mimicking the colored icing/sprinkles on a traditional king cake.

Step 4: Finish the cookie  off with some edible sprinkles.

With a small amount of icing, add the plastic king cake baby to the center of the cookie. Place your mini king cake cookie on the top of your cupcake.

Not only are these king cake cupcakes cute but the yummy cookie king cake is edible as well. And your guests will love breaking into their cupcakes to see who got the prized cupcake.

Create a new Mardi Gras tradition in your area! Host a Mardi Gras party and serve these King Cake cupcakes. You never know who will get the prize cupcake and host the next event. What fun!

Here are even more Mardi Gras Cupcake ideas:
Mardi Gras Cupcake Toppers
Striped Mardi Gras Cupcakes

Mardi Gras Jester Coloring Page

Fat Tuesday, the official day of Mardi Gras, is just around the corner. In honor of the big celebration, here is another Mardi Gras coloring page, a jolly Mardi Gras jester. If you can't be in a city that celebrates Mardi Gras, create your own celebration at home. Just remember is to "Let the good times roll!"

To download and print this coloring page, simply click on the link listed below.  The Mardi Gras Jester coloring page opens in a PDF format. Print as many copies as you like.

Mardi Gras Jester Coloring Page

For other free, fun coloring pages, click here: Mardi Gras coloring pages.