Decorating for a Mardi Gras Christmas

Deck the halls with boughs of... beads?

That's exactly what we did!  Our Mardi Gras Christmas is full of wildly colorful beads and ornaments. Last year, we took advantage of the end of season Christmas sales by purchasing $75 worth of multi-colored ornaments, bead garlands and various wreath decorations.  Just a add a few masquerade masks (post-Halloween sales!), strands of beads from Oriental Trading and our decorations from years passed... and TA-DA!  You have a colorful array of decorations.

Please join me for a tour of our decorated home...

I finally have a stairway to decorate.  Inspired by the draped balconies of New Orleans Square in Disneyland, we attached the lighted garland to the railing using clear zip-ties and loosely laid bead garlands and necklaces over the edge.  We finished it off with a collection of ornaments.

 Downstairs, instead of using valuable hand railing real estate, we wrapped the base.  It's a beautiful small touch of garland without overwhelming the space or being inconvenient.

I had a few empty wreaths sitting around a ton of wreath pieces.  Using floral wire and the built-in wire on the accents, we were able to decorate the wreaths for the theme without making a permanent commitment.  Not a single element in the wreath below is actually "adhered" to the wreath - just bent into place for easy removal at the end of the season.

 The fire place is my favorite part of all the decorations.  I had chargers left over from our wedding that were just begging for a new life.  Stayed tuned for a tutorial on how to make these theme-y pieces!
Pst...my tip for putting a garland on the mantle?  3M Hooks - easy to place, easy to remove - no damage!

 Even our moose got into the spirit!  I bought this a few years ago on sale at Michaels.  He's being a good sport covered in additional beads and ornaments.

Beads ended up everywhere!  Even over our seasonal sign.
Printable is available over at the blog Eighteen 25.

The kitchen got it's own jazzy treatment with this beautiful wreath on the pantry door and a jar of lighted goodies.  The wreath, like the one above, was made by temporarily placing items in the foliage.  The jar was inspired by having a ton of pieces leftover.  Don't store them away - add them to the decor! 

The advent was hung above the bar with care... in the hopes that we'd actually stick to the schedule this year!
Ha!  In all seriousness, I love our advent / 25 Days of Christmas calendar.  I'm glad we've found such a great location for it in the new house.  You can find the tutorial to make your own here.

  What's Mardi Gras without a little beverage fun?!

 I've always missed the chandelier decorating boat.  I'm always fearful it'll get too heavy and come crashing on my dining table.  This year, I finally got brave enough to give it a shot and it turned out so cool!

Our evergreen accents got a little additional love this year with beads, streamers and ornaments.
Don't buy these accents-  make them yourself!  It's so easy and inexpensive - find the tutorial here.

I have this season tree branch pieces in our house now... trust me, there will be a blog about it soon.  I love it and it became the perfect place for additional lights and party fun!  It looks like it got caught up in a parade!

O' Christmas Tree... O' Christmas Tree...
How party-tastic are your branches!
We layered in lights, colorful ornaments, our traditional ornaments (a must for us), bead garlands and necklaces, masks and streamers.  Our tree went to a carnival and brought back the fun!

 And finally, the outdoors.  We added a subtle accent of wood fleur de lis pieces (Hobby Lobby) on our front pillars with ribbon and dressed up our wreath.  There may or may not be beads strung over our coach lights...

Thank you for coming to visit.  I hope you were inspired to add a touch of Mardi Gras to your life!  Keep checking back for tutorials and more fun and colorful crafts!

Joyeux Noel!