Whimsical Wire Crowns to celebrate Three Kings Day!

 

Celebrate the arrival of Carnival season and Three Kings day (January 6th) by crafting your own small whimsical crown. Made with aluminum craft wire, these precious tiny crowns can be used as decoration on a tablescape, cake topper or worn as a fascinator on a headband. We've created two versions, one with a thick-gauge aluminum wire, and the other filled in with thin gold floral wire.

 Don't you think they are both fit for a king? 

 

Put the crowning touch on a king cake with a tiny gold wire crown.

 

Attached to a plain headband, this gold crown is a very cute accessory or fascinator, perfect for  Mardi Gras, Halloween,  Princess parties or any time you want to king/queen for the day. Keep scrolling for the simple tutorial.

SUPPLIES

To purchase these products from www.mardigrasoutlet.com, click on the individual product link below for a complete supply list.

• Gold 2mm Aluminum Wire 
• Gold Floral Wire 
• basic Headband
• wire-cutters/pliers

Cost/Time

The cost of two the two basic wires is $6.50.   This does not include the cost for the headband or wire cutters. We only used about 1/6 of the roll of wire.  The wire crown took under 15 minutes to make.

STEP 1: MAKE A ROUND BASE

Cut a 16 inch to 18 inch piece of 2mm Aluminum Craft Wire with wire cutters. Fold the wire in half. Finally, create a circle and loop the two ends together. Use pliers to press and twist the wire ends together securely.

This finished wire crown will have a 2.5 inch diameter base, and will be about 3 inches tall. You can alter the size of the crown to your liking.

STEP 2: MAKE THE SPIKES

Fold the aluminum wire into zig-zags that are about 4 inches tall. We made 5 spikes, but you can form more or less, and vary the height of the spikes. Use the pliers to pinch the top and bottom spikes so that they come to a point.

Then bend the bottom ends so that they curve up like hooks.

STEP 3: SECURE THE SPIKES TO THE BASE

Curve the row of spikes to follow the round base. Use pliers to start pinching the hooks around the round base, with the end on the inside. Space them out evenly.

Bend the tips of each spike outward for a crown shape.

STEP 4: ATTACH TO THE HEADBAND

Cut two short lengths of the gold floral wire and wrap it around the crown's base and the headband to secure the crown.

OPTIONAL STEP: FILL IN THE CROWN SPIKES

We simply used more of the thinner floral wire and wrapped it around each spike. Keep wrapping until it looks filled in.

We hope you all had a wonderful Holiday and a Happy New Year.

Let the good times roll as we ring in Carnival season wearing a crown- of course!

 

 

 

Mardi Gras Wedding Theme

Choosing a Mardi Gras theme for your wedding brings a fun party atmosphere of jazz, music, good food, great times and the mantra of "laissez les bon temps rouler" to your event. Don't think that it has to be over the top, or that you have to be in New Orleans to have this unique theme. Small touches of Mardi Gras for the reception, decor, favors, invitations, cake and food all add up to make for a memorable Mardi Gras event.
(photo: bicoastalbrideblog.com)

Purples, greens and golds are the traditional Mardi Gras colors. Masks, fleur de lis, crowns and jesters are common symbols. Set the tone by choosing a wedding invitation with these colors or themes. You can find a big selection of Mardi Gras invitations ranging from traditional to modern here.

(photo: theknot.com)

Incorporating a Mardi Gras theme into your bridal party attire is easy. Mardi Gras masquerade masks add a festive touch and come in a huge variety of shapes and colors. The bridal party can carry feather masks and wear purple and green like this sophisticated group pictured below. The bride stays traditional in white and wears a white or silver mask like this one.

Another great Mardi Gras tradition is the second line parade, which you can read more about  here. The wedding pictured here has a real brass band marching with the wedding party to the reception. The bride carries a lace parasol which you can find at this site. How fun to parade into the reception hall, tossing Mardi Gras beads to guests!

          (photo: theknot.com) 

At the reception continue the Mardi Gras theme by serving spicy entrees such as gumbo, jambalaya and crawfish etouffee. Check out our selection of  Louisiana food and drink mixes for more Cajun dishes or see our Louisiana recipes page for ideas.

Serve your guests some Louisiana favorites such as beignets, pralines or king cake. Instead of a typical groom's cake, serve Mardi Gras king cakes. This is a great way to bring in a Mardi Gras theme while keeping a traditional wedding cake. Coordinate the wedding cake with your Mardi Gras theme. The beautiful wedding cake seen below, is decorated with a harlequin diamond pattern, beaded details and masquerade masks. End your meal with a champagne toast to the new couple in these beautiful fleur de lis toasting glasses! Find them at this site.

           (photos: theperfectdetailsblog,blog.mardigrasoutlet.com)

Carry the Mardi Gras theme throughout the decorations and centerpieces. Below are a range of ideas. 

Clockwise from top left: A rich table-scape theme with purple table cloths, gold napkins and  venetian masks; learn how to make this beautiful centerpiece here; a simple and clean table-scape using beads and floral sprays; throw beads; a d.i.y. floral centerpiece with submersible aqua-lights; and easy decorating with sprinkled doubloons and a jester mask as favors for the guests.

       (photos: joelatter.com, theknot.com, theperfectdetailsblog,blog.mardigrasoutlet.com.)

Browse this blog for more Mardi Gras decorating tips and ideas, and visit Mardi Gras Outlet for the products you have seen here plus many more!

Some more helpful posts on a Mardi Gras Wedding:

Wedding Welcome Bags

Mardi Gras Outlet featured in Wedding Magazine

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

Epiphany ushers in the 2011 Mardi Gras season today!

Carnival season officially begins today on Epiphany. Mardi Gras Krewes host parties to start off the fun. The tradition of King Cakes served at both offices and homes alike begins today as well. With Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, on March 8th this year, we look forward to many weeks of Mardi Gras fun in 2011.

Epiphany and what it means to Mardi Gras

Even though most of the themes surrounding Mardi Gras involve Bacchanalian pursuits like eating, drinking, and throwing things (beads and parade throws), the true basis of Mardi Gras is grounded in religion.  The Carnival season is dictated by dates on the church calendar. The start of the carnival season each year is signaled by 12th Night or Epiphany. Epiphany is the 12th day after Christmas,  the day the three kings bearing gifts arrived to the Christ child.  Some people believe that the true 12 days of Christmas (as in the Christmas carol) were intended to be these 12 days after Christmas leading up to Epiphany.

Carnival Season 2011
The start of Carnival is always on Epiphany (a date that does not change), but the date of  "Fat Tuesday" or Mardi Gras changes each year because the end of carnival is signaled by another date on the church calendar, Lent. Lent is the six weeks leading up until Easter. With the date of Easter changing each year, the date of the start of Lent and end of Mardi Gras changes as well. The Mardi Gras season is extra long this year with Fat Tuesday falling on March 8th. Mardi Gras is usually in the month of February. It is unusual for is to be as late as March. This gives us more weeks in the carnival season this year and more time to celebrate Mardi Gras 2011.

In honor of Epiphany and the beginning of carnival, celebrate with a king cake party. What a perfect way to usher in Mardi Gras 2011...king cake and  New Orleans chicory coffee.

Authentic Cajun and Creole Foods

To create a true Louisiana experience, you have to incorporate Cajun or Creole food. So Mardi Gras Outlet has expanding our selection of Louisiana products to include a larger variety of food and drink mixes. Now your experience of Louisiana at home can be close to the one you have right here in Louisiana. Bring that Creole taste home with any of our simple mixes for Louisiana favorites.

A trip to south Louisiana is not complete with out sampling a few of our favorite unique dishes. Recently a special French family came to visit us here in South Louisiana. Of course, we served them the requisite crawfish, crab and shrimp but we added in boudin balls, gumbo and bread pudding to complete the meal. It got me thinking about how fun and unique it is to live in a place so rich with food culture and history.

All the new food products we offer are mainstay meals in Louisiana, but the some of the funny names may sound unusual and exotic to someone from outside the Louisiana culture. For posts on Louisiana Foods, see our Louisiana Foods page where we explain a few of these exotic dishes, offer a little history and show you how the food mixes look when you prepared at home. I hope it will inspire you to bring a little piece of Louisiana to your kitchen.

We also made some beignets with Cafe Du Monde's Beignet mix. Click here to see this new blog post.

Here are a few of the new food items offered at Mardi Gras Outlet in our Louisiana/Cajun products. See the Food and Drink Mixes page at Mardi Gras Outlet for a complete listing of all the products available.

Top row: Cafe du Monde French Roast Coffee, Cafe du Monde beignets, Cafe du Monde Chicory/Coffee

Second row: Louisiana hot sauce, Slap ya mama hot sauce, Creole Jambalaya Mix, Crystal extra hot sauce

Bottom row: Slap ya mama spicy seasoning,  Pat O'Briens Hurricane cocktail mix,  Steen's Cane Syrup,  Mam Papaul King Cake mix , Tony Chachere's famous seasoning blend

I love the pretty graphic presentation of these food products. Create a Louisiana themed centerpiece with these printed food boxes, bags and tins. I envision the striking color combination created with the bright yellow Café du Monde tins piled on a table. Use these empty tin coffee containers for flowers, cutlery or to serve beignets. Just like the table shown in our crawfish boil table-scape post, a table centerpiece of  Cajun and Creole food products piled in baskets or pirogues creates a festive Cajun table-scape that is both practical and pretty!

Bon Appetite!

Better start cooking…I plan to!

Credits:
Photo Beignets: Fork Lift
Photo Cafe du monde coffee tin: Cinco Drive

Twelfth night rings in a King Cake tradition!

Epiphany.... Let's eat Cake!

 

Epiphany, the 12th day after Christmas, celebrates the visit of the three kings or wise men to the Christ Child. It signifies the end of the Christmas season. And ushers in the beginning of the Mardi Gras season which will last until Mardi Gras day, or Fat Tuesday!

For most people around the world, this New Year week signals a time to cut back, reorganize and slim down. But not for us down here in Louisiana. With Lent fast approaching at the end of Carnival Season, we go ahead and pull out all the stops for another few weeks.  In south Louisiana, the tradition of King Cakes begins.  (King Cakes are yummy cinnamon roll-like cakes with icing and sugar on top.) Today starts the cycle of King Cake parties. But be careful while you eat,  there may be a plastic baby in that piece of cake!  The person who receives the piece with the baby -- to symbolize the baby Jesus -- in their piece of cake must bring the next King Cake, or host the next King Cake party. It is a fun tradition that people look forward to all year long. Offices, classrooms and homes around the south are slicing into King Cakes today.

So bring a slice of Mardi Gras home to your city! Bake yourself a King Cake with a King Cake baking mix or order one from a Deep South bakery to be shipped to you. Good times are here! Life is short. Eat Cake. Let the fun begin!

If you are having a King Cake party, you can find the King Cake platter pictured at the top at MardiGrasOutlet.com.

2011 Update:

New! Check out this adorable King Cake necklace, perfect for an inexpensive party favor for Mardi Gras or King Cake parties.

Also, we also made some tasty King Cake cupcakes! Click here to see directions on how to make these. They are very simple to make.