Mardi Gras DIY Dress Up Station and Centerpiece

For the record, I did receive product from Oriental Trading (you know…THE party supply place) to facilitate this post, but I was totally going to do this anyway so it’s kind of a score for me. As always, all opinions, ideas, and photos are all entirely my own!

I’m so excited! It’s that time of year again. Most people wait for Christmas, or birthdays, or Valentine’s Day. Me? I look forward to Mardi Gras on the island every year and it starts tomorrow, February 21, 2014. It’s just so much fun. Bright colors, masks, beads, parades, and parties everywhere.  Galveston hosts the 3rd largest Mardi Gras celebration in the U.S., and approximately 250,000 people show up for our party. That’s a big crowd on our little island y’all. This year is the 103rd year for our annual celebration. And during Mardi Gras, you have to be prepared for anything. This year, thanks to Oriental Trading, we’re all set with this DIY Dress Up and Party Station.

I mean seriously, how fun is this? I got almost everything pictured from Oriental Trading and the best part about this? Almost all of this decor is “usable” in the fact that anyone stopping by can just grab any of it to use to enhance the party experience. There are beads, masks, coins, and just all kinds of awesome! And that backdrop just adds to the ambiance of the room.

The whole set up is fun, functional, and really took no time at all to set up. I used items I had around the house like my glass masks and fun cocktail glasses. I ordered masks, the backdrop, beads, a shiny door curtain, and the banner from Oriental Trading. Then I headed to my local dollar store for a few other things I’d forgotten like coins, a foam ball, party horns, and a glass vase I needed for my dress up station centerpiece. Because all good parties should have a dress up station with a centerpiece. Of course.

Everything turned out way better than I had imagined. I’m not very crafty but I do have crafty friends. So of course I asked and they gave me some ideas. I had to improvise a bit because of the limited stores on the island but I found what I needed for this fun party spread. I love the way it looks in the living room and I’m sure it will be a huge hit!

The centerpiece was easy (not as easy for me as it would be for most) and it’s very inexpensive to make.  And I can’t stress this enough, everything is usable, well except the foam ball. Not sure what I’d do with that later. But anyway, here’s what you need:

• Vase
• 6 wooden sticks
• Purple, green, and yellow markers or Painter’s Paint Pens
• Glue
• 6 Mardi Gras Masks
• Mardi Gras Beads
• Party Horns
• Foam Ball
• Mardi Gras Coins (optional)

Place the foam ball into the vase then layer the beads around it (I layered in colors because of my OCD tendencies but feel free to mix them up). Paint or use markers to color the wooden sticks. Let dry and glue to the corners of the masks. Randomly poke the masked sticks into the foam ball. Sprinkle in some more beads or Mardi Gras coins to finish it off. Then add in some party horns for a little shine and added texture.  Voila! You’re done!

As your guests come in unadorned for the festivities, encourage them to grab the items on the table to enhance their party experience. And since everyone will look so festive in their new party gear (that they snagged from your party dress up station of course), set up a place for photo taking. This is what memories are made of people!

B hung some of the backdrop behind our love seat so we can do just that. People can sit back, enjoy a drink, mingle with their neighbors, and pose for a picture all at the same time. Who needs to visit the Strand when we’ve brought it all to our home? Mardi Gras 2014 is going to be the most.fun.ever.

Happy Mardi Gras y’all. Au revoir, mon amis. I’ve got things to do. It’s party time!