Mardi Gras Throws....the Hand-made Way

It's officially crunch time!

My parade is two weeks away (well, technically less than two weeks) and it's time to stop procrastinating and drafting ideas and start some DOING. I'm making a few handmade throws this year, instead of the 200 magnets I handed out in 2009. My focus is on recycling old Mardi Gras beads and giving them a new life. I've wanted to do this for a few ideas I have that result in profit, but I figured that this time of year is a great opportunity to test the waters and get opinions.

My first throw, the Krewe do Craft medallion necklace, is basically just foamboard cut into circles. I glued one side of them with our logo and the other side with this year's theme. After finishing that off with a little sealant, I glued red glitter all along the sides and edges. These things will be attached to Mardi Gras beads I've collected over the years (and boy do I have millions of them!) with a simple jump ring. Personally, I think these came out very well!

My second throw is a bit more time consuming. I disassembled regular strings of beads, meaning I pulled the beads off of the string. Yes, people! Mardi Gras beads DO come off without breaking them! I've had this discussion with a couple of people in the past. I took the beads and drilled slightly larger holes in them (this is the time consuming part). After putting an announcement out for donated "wine-related" objects, I drilled holes in wine corks. Granted, I am not near done with the prep work involved in order to start threading these two objects into necklaces, but I finished two for prototypes and to monitor how long it takes to make each one.

I should probably be selling these.

The last throw I'm making is actually print-related. It's also going to revolve more around Valentine's Day than anything (our parade is on February 14th). I cut and made a small heart stamp. I'm just cutting out small pieces of paper and stamping the heart on it in a few places...and voila....a traditional valentine! I do not have any photos of this yet, but I'm putting them into sets of three and handing them out to lucky parade-goers. Not only will they get a valentine, but they can hand out a couple of them to their friends, lovers, whatever....

If time permits, I'm also cutting out a crap load of confetti to throw.....just as a little lagniappe.

Yeah, I know I'm not getting paid to do any of this. The time and effort that goes into throw-making is tedious and really takes a commitment to follow-through. BUT....it's Mardi Gras in New Orleans and after 15 years of calling this place home, I really know better. It's all about having fun and allowing others to appreciate what you do.....for free!

Profit will come!