Today was Mardi Gras! I didn’t even realize that until halfway through the day. I bet if I lived in New Orleans, I would have been a lot more aware. I was curious about the dates for Mardi Gras—for some reason I was thinking it was normally in March. I did a bit of research and learned that the Carnival season always begins on Jan. 6, which is King’s Day (Feast of the Epiphany) and Mardi Gras day, also known as Fat Tuesday can fall on a different day each year. The day of Fat Tuesday changes every year because Easter Sunday is not always on the same Sunday, but Fat Tuesday is always the day before Ash Wednesday. Interesting!
Norma set a beautiful Mardi Gras table this year and it’s stunningly beautiful in the traditional Mardi Gras colors of green, gold, and royal purple. In my reading, I learned that the colors have meaning with purple stanging for justice, green for faith, and gold for power.
Norma already had everything she needed to set this fun, festive table! Norma said, “I bought the beautiful mask on eBay. That is all that I bought except for a few beads, I already had a lot of gold ones.”
Love all the bright colors, what a fun, fun table!
Such a beautiful setting with fleur de lys napkin rings! Norma said, “I sprayed an old wine cooler gold and I made the card masks as well as the little crowns on the plates and the fleur de lys. By the way, did you know that the letter “s” is pronounced in fleur de lys? This is because it is ” Francais ancienne.” Wow, I did not know that. I’ve been pronouncing it incorrectly all this time.
The centerpiece is amazing!
The Mardi GrasMask in the center of the table is just stunning! I’ve never seen one this fancy before!
Norma shared, “I have one original string of beads from the Krewe of Orpheus. I have had it for years and it came in a job lot of green Christmas decorations.”
I had never heard of the Krewe of Orpheus before so first I looked up the definition of Krewe (pronounced crew) and this is what I found. A krewe is, simply, a club or organization that exists to celebrate Carnival. But while a krewe has royalty, the positions of King and Queen are merely ceremonial. The Krewe of Orpheus is, per Wikipedia, a New Orleans Mardi Gras super Krewe and social organization. A “super” Krewe is said to be a Krewe that has over 1000 active, due-paying members and has at least 500 riders in the annual carnival parade.
Wikipedia went on to say this about Krewes, especially the New Orleans Krewes.
A krewe (pronounced “crew”) is a social organization that stages parades and/or balls for the Carnival season. The term is best known for its association with Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, but is also used in other Carnival celebrations throughout Louisiana (e.g. in Lafayette, Shreveport, and Baton Rouge) and along the Gulf of Mexico, such as the Gasparilla Pirate Festival in Tampa, Florida, Springtime Tallahassee, and Krewe of Amalee in DeLand, Florida with the Mardi Gras on Mainstreet Parade as well as in La Crosse, Wisconsin and at the Saint Paul Winter Carnival.
A view of the back of the centerpiece…
Norma said that she found the tophat down inside the old ice bucket/wine cooler when she purchased it. I love how she blinged it out for this fun Mardi Gras table!
Thanks so much to Norma for sharing this very festive, colorful Mardi Gras-themed table! I feel like I learned a lot more about Mardi Gras this year! Have you ever been to Mardi Gras before? Many, many years ago, probably 30+ years ago now, we visited during that Mardi Gras time frame and it was pretty crazy. It wasn’t my cup of tea, but it was interesting to see after hearing about it for so many years. New Orleans is such an interesting city to visit and there are so many beautiful historical homes there!
Thanks so much to Norma for sharing this fun, colorful, festive table setting! I love, love, love all the colors and I’m so impressed with how she used her awesome crafting abilities to make it extra special! If you would like to see more Mardi Gras-themed tables, check out this page where you find 4 more tables to enjoy: Mardi Gras Table Settings.
Beautiful Marti Gras Table Setting Norma!! Norma is very creative! I have a few of these masks like this and children’s mask I’ve purchased in consignment stores. These mask are made in Italy. All my mask are marked with tags and looks as never used. They are beautifully hand made. I didn’t know about the Krewe. I’ve never been to Marti Gras but have seen pictures that friends have showed me.
In college, one of my boyfriends was from Mobile, AL, and he informed me theirs was the first Mardi gras in the US. Apparently. that’s true. I’ve not been, but my daughter has been.
Enjoyed the table scape for Mardi Gras! Just want to say the original Mardi Gras celebration was in Mobile, Alabama! The celebration was suspended during the Civil War and that’s when the New Orleans Mardi Gras became well known. I love the Fleur de lys, crowns and masks. So creative! I wish I knew where to buy the glassware! I wanted to go down to Mobile to see the Conde Cavaliers march but January 27th came way too soon – first parade in Mobile. Maybe next year. Meanwhile, I’m hoping to have my own Mardi Gras table scape.
Hi Martha
The purple glasses were from my local supermarket here i France.
I also have the same ones in red.
They seem to have these in limited quantities, then you never see them again !
You have to grab them when you see them !
“Hearts” to ALL!!
“it’s” not my cup of tea either…but “that tablescape”…I LUV, LUV, LUV IT!! Oh, my, the detail, the colors…”outta the park,” as they say…a “10!!!” franki
I just popped in to also say that the first Mardi Gras celebration was in Mobile, Alabama. According to archivist at the University of Alabama, Donnelly Lancaster Walton, the first Mardi Gras parade was held in Mobile in 1703. New Orleans was not founded until 1718. Obviously, though, Mardi Gras was made famous by New Orleans. Lots of interesting history surrounding the day. It is an official holiday here in Mobile, AL. Norma’s decorations are simply beautiful!!
Such festive decor: the colors are so deep and bold. Beautiful! Also noticed the lovely hardware on the door in the background and the classic blue and white lamp on the counter. Norma’s good taste goes beyond tablescapes.
Thank you Mia
You are very kind.
Norma
Being Canadian…I don’t even know what Mardi Gras is or what is being celebrated….is it typically a New Orleans event?
This page explains all about it: https://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/history/
What a beautiful table setting!!! Love it all! thanks for sharing Norma and Susan.
I confess, I’ve never been a fan of Mardi Gras, but I AM a fan of Norma’s tablesetting. It’s beautiful! I love all the rich jewel colors, particularly the purple and green together. And then the purple and gold in the mask and centerpiece. For me, the round baubles add so much and really make the table, along with the green and gold ribbon rolls. It’s such a rich, opulent looking table and the color combinations are beautiful. Thank you once again, Norma.
Norma, you outdid yourself ! So creative. Tell us more about the plates or show us a photo of the plates. They look beautiful with the crown.
Wow, Norma’s table is so gorgeous and festive! I love that mask. I knew that Mardi Gras started in January, but I don’t know much about it. I also knew that the colors had meaning, but didn’t remember the meaning of the colors. Yep, Fat Tuesday is always the day before Ash Wednesday. That is where they make stuff that uses up all the sugar and fats. For us here in PA, it is Fastnacht’s, which are a type of donuts made from potatoes, although we also just buy donuts if we can’t get our hands on any Fastnacht’s. Some church’s start making them very early in the morning and people drive in to buy them. It’s all interesting. I’ve always been fascinated with Mardi Gras and have always wanted to try a King Cake. LOL Thanks for the education on it Susan! Hugs, Brenda
Hi! I live in Alpharetta and am a faithful follower.
of yours. Would you share the name of the plate that you love as do I
that has a garden and a house on it? I keep thrifting and hoping I will
find those. Today I found a Pamela Gladding 11 inch plate that has a house
in the center. I bought 5 of them………I LOVE that pattern that you have. They are discontinued. Many thanks!
Hi Dot, Great to hear from you!
I think you’re talking about Ma Maison that was designed by Dario Farrucci for Tabletops Unlimited. I found it in HomeGoods many, many years ago. The only place I ever see it now is on eBay. I just looked and they have a few pieces on there now here: https://bit.ly/49gJYcC
You can set up an “alert” at eBay to be notified whenever they have pieces of that pattern in stock.
I just found a few more pieces by searching for Ma Maison Dario…you can see those here: https://bit.ly/49zAMzN
What a fantastic, fabulous setting! Just beyond gorgeous! Thank you for sharing it!
Norma’s table is amazing!
And it is called “Fat Tuesday” because on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, one is supposed to fast. So feasting before fasting!!! That’s the day we celebrated St. Valentine’s Day this year – because Ash Wednesday was busy with church, and we absolutely had a “fatter” tuesday, haha.