Alligator Coloring Page

To download this free printable coloring page, click link below for the full sized PDF file:

Alligator Coloring Page

For even more free printable coloring pages:

COLORING PAGES

Crafts for Kids: Masquerade Masks

For a great kids craft project, create personalized masquerade masks. Kids love creating  masks that they can play dress up in or wear at a party.  Create masks during the party as a party craft or create them in advance and decorate for the party with the custom creations. Coordinate the mask and accents to the color scheme and theme of your particular party.

Making a mask is a fun activity for a Mardi Gras party, but it does not have to be limited to a Mardi Gras theme. This craft could be great for all different types of parties.

 Here are some ideas:

 Sweet sixteen or Quinceañeras masquerade masks

Masked superhero birthday bash

Bug masks for an insect party

Monster or Wild Things masks

Favorite childrens book characters
Animal masks: cow, duck, pig, etc. 

 Bird , Owl  or Cat

(Martha Stewart created these with our plain paper mache masks. Click the links above to see how.)

Sample Supplies:

Start with a basic  paper mache masks or fabric masks and  festive decorations like gems, glitter, feathers, confetti, ribbon or mardi gras beads.

A paper mache mask allows children to color, paint or use markers. They could also cover the mask in fabric or decorative paper (attach either with spray adhesive or fabric glue). Using markers allows them to keep decorating with out any down time. With paint or glue, allow time for the mask to dry before you move on to adding accents.

They can glue on feathers or ribbon.

Accent with sparkly glitter balls

or confetti  and  faux jewels

Mardi Gras beads make great accents. Use strands of standard throw beads to add definition or outline shapes. Here the eyes of the mask are outlined in metallic gold beads.

The finished masquerade mask creation!

Proudly modeling her mask creation!

There are lots mask shapes, styles and colors available. To see the full selection of masks you can decorate,  click here: MASKS

Poly Deco Mesh Bow: Video Tutorial

Versatile poly deco mesh is one of our favorite craft products because it can be used in endless applications. Wrap gifts, decorate for parties, create wreaths or garland. The sky is the limit with this fun mesh. Decorative poly mesh is also water proof so it is great for outdoor applications as well as indoor.

This synthetic deco-mesh fabric comes on rolls of various widths and lengths. The standard mesh size, we use in this video tutorial, is 21” wide by 10 yards (30 feet). A wide range of colors and patterns are available to match any color scheme or holiday theme.

One of the most basic ways to use poly deco mesh is to create bows. This short video tutorial shows how to create a large poly deco mesh bow out of the Mardi Gras striped poly deco mesh. With these basic instructions you can easily create designer quality bows perfect for gifts, wreaths, chairs and more!




For the complete selection of poly deco mesh products available, see: Mardi Gras Outlet.com

For more ideas and tutorials using poly deco mesh, see all the deco mesh POSTS.

Click here for all of our deco mesh video tutorials, including how to make a wreath, garland, wall tree and more!

We have also made a deco mesh bow using 10" wide deco mesh. Click here to see this new blog post.

Deco Mesh Bow Tutorial with 10" Mesh

Lobster Themed Party Ideas

On the hunt for lobster party ideas or decorations? A few simple items can make your New England clambake, lobster boil or seafood celebration a fun and memorable event.

Before the party even begins, start off the theme with lobster and seafood invitations. New England clambakes have a long history; pictured above is a clambake from a 1964 Life magazine.

Continue the lobster theme to the table settings and the decor with some lobster claw food picks, seafood cracker and a pewter casserole dish. Lobster wall decor and hangings can activate the dining area atmosphere even further. Pair these with a simple color palette of navy blue, white and accents of yellow for a fantastic design.

At the end of your party, leave your guests with a themed lobster party favor to take home. A lobster bottle opener, plush toy or a unique lobster-shaped soap are all adorable gifts that guests will love.


You can find even more lobster themed items for your party by visiting MardiGrasOutlet.com.

DIY Mardi Gras Pinwheels

Need a unique touch to your Mardi Gras party? Easily customize place cards, cupcakes, beads, drink stirrers and everything else with these whimsical DIY pinwheels. 

Supplies:
Scissors
Removable Party Mount or Glue
PGG Foil Streamer (2" x 25ft)

1. First, cut out a square of the foil streamer. You can make sure the square is even by folding up one corner to make a diagonal, and using the straight edge as a guide.
2. Fold the other diagonal, and unfold the square.
3. Cut along each of the folds 3/4 of the way from corner to the center.
4. Place a small square of party mount (I cut one into 4 pieces for the right size) or a dab of glue in the center.
5. Bring one corner edge to the center, and press firmly. Repeat with the same corner edge all the way around.
6. Make more and start decorating!

Glue your pinwheels onto these basic green border placecards for a festive touch.

Create Mardi Gras cupcakes! These pinwheels make for cute food picks to top cupcakes; simply glue a pinwheel to the top of a toothpick.

Easily customize your own Mardi Gras Beads. Adhere a few pinwheels onto these blank disc beads.

Make fun Mardi Gras drink stirrers by attaching a pinwheel to the tops of some wooden paddle stirrers.

Crawfish Phyllo Triangles Appetizer

Crawfish Phyllo Triangles is a great crawfish recipe that I wanted to share with you. This recipe would be perfect to use with left-over crawfish from a crawfish boil. Spicy leftover crawfish tails are wonderful in recipes because they add a rich layer of seasoning and spice. In addition to the the crawfish, you could add in leftover andouille sausage or onions from the crawfish boil. C'est bon!

Doesn't the crawfish filling look yummy?

The food photography is beautiful. Thank you to the food blog, The Way The Cookie Crumbles for sharing the wonderful photograph and tutorial for this recipe.

I made a few changes to this recipe, adding in some creole seasonings. Here is my Louisiana version of this Crawfish appetizer recipe. Both versions are adapted from Emeril Lagasse's,  Cocktail Crawfish Turnovers.

Crawfish Phyllo Triangles Recipe

Ingredients

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup chopped onions

2 tablespoons chopped green bell peppers

2 tablespoons chopped celery

1 1/2 teaspoons creole seasoning (Slap Ya Mama or Tony Chachere)

1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole milk

1/2 pound cooked, peeled crawfish tails (coarsely chopped if large)

1/4 cup grated Pepper Jack cheese

2 tablespoons chopped green onions

2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

1 (17.3-ounce) package frozen puff pastry/phyllo (2 sheets), thawed in the refrigerator

2 egg yolks, beaten with 2 teaspoons water

Directions

Make filling: Heat the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onions, bell peppers, and celery in the butter. Season with creole seasoning. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are slightly soft, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the flour and stir until the mixture is lightly golden, about 3 minutes. Add the milk, and continue stirring until the mixture is smooth, about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat. Add the crawfish tails, cheese, green onions, and parsley. Stir to mix well. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Phyllo dough. To make each crawfish appetizer triangle, set one sheet of phyllo on a clean lightly floured work surface and brush melted butter on half of the sheet lengthwise. Fold the phyllo on its long axis in half. Brush melted butter on half of the phyllo lengthwise again, and fold on the long axis once more. You should have a long narrow strip of phyllo with 4 layers.

Triangle Filing. Place a tablespoon of crawfish filling on the bottom corner of the strip and begin folding the dough over the filling. Continue folding until the dough is completely wrapped around the filling. Brush a little butter on the end to seal it down. Repeat with remaining phyllo and filling. Brush the top of each crawfish triangle with egg yolk for a pretty shine when baked.

BAKE. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Place the triangles about 1- inch apart on the sheet and bake until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before serving. Makes about 24 triangles.

Crawfish Cooking Tip- When cooking with crawfish tails- brighten up the flavor by tossing the crawfish tails in a splash of fresh lemon juice before you add them to a recipe.

We have even more crawfish, cajun and creole recipes to inspire you! Click here to see all of them

Create a Crawfish Balloon Decoration

What's hot right now in Louisiana- Crawfish Boils! It is the perfect way to celebrate a graduation, engagement or birthday!  Create your own crawfish decorations out of inexpensive air-filled red latex balloons in two sizes. This creative crawfish balloon decoration is quick and easy to make.

Customize your crawfish balloon creation with added accessories fit for your theme. Add a veil and tiny top hat to two crawfish for a bride/groom pair or a festive party hat for a birthday crawfish boil.

 Attach a small mortar board/graduation cap for a graduation party. This crawfish sized graduation cap was easily created out of black construction paper.

Supplies:
one (1) red 12" latex balloon
seven (7) red 5" balloons
red pipe cleaner
2 googly eyes
double stick tape
balloon air pump (optional)
black marker (optional)

Basic supplies and an instruction sheet  are available in the

Create a Crawfish Decoration Kit

Tutorial: How to create a crawfish balloon decoration

  Fill the larger 12" red latex balloon with air. Tie

 Inflate three (3) of the 5" balloons to the standard uniform size. They are fully inflated when they start to get a pear shape. Inflate the remaining four (4) 5" red latex balloons about half way (size of the balloon on the far right).

Create each arm out of one (1) 5" balloon filled to standard size and one filled half-way. Tie the necks of these two balloons together for each arm.

Using double sided tape, attach each of the arms/claws to the body of the crawfish. Position the arms as shown. Neck of the large balloon faces forward.

Create the tail out of one regular size 5" red latex balloon and two smaller 5" balloons. Tie the balloons together at the neck of the balloons as shown.

Attach the tail to the rear of the large balloon with a piece of double stick tape as shown.

Add two googly eyes above the neck of the 12" balloon body. Wrap the red pipe cleaner around the neck of the balloon to form an antenna.

Draw lines on body, tail and claws as shown on the illustration below.

Your custom Create-a -Crawfish balloon decoration is complete

*Air-filled balloon tip*
A small amount of water in the main air-filled balloon will help to weight down the centerpiece if you are using the crawfish as a decoration outside or  in a windy location. Or you can anchor the crawfish to the table with double sided tape.

A kit with the basic supplies and instruction sheet is available:

Create-a-Crawfish Balloon Kit.