Randel McGee - Paper Crafts for Mardi Gras

MASKS! BEADS! MUSIC!

Dress up as a jester or a king or queen and lead a Mardi Gras parade! Follow storyteller Randel McGee as he explores the history and symbols of Mardi Gras in Paper Crafts for Mardi Gras. Create a Columbina mask, paper bead throw necklace, a gold doubloon necklace, a rhythm maker, and more!

Here is an opportunity for adults to teach children about the celebration of Mardi Gras. At the same time, they can help children create crafts and hold their own Mardi Gras parties. The crafts are engaging and easy to make using readily available materials or, even better, recycled items.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Randel McGee is a storyteller, puppeteer, ventriloquist, and paper-cutting artist. He performs all over the world, sharing his paper-cutting stories with children and adults.

Lets plan a party! Everyone likes to wear masks and dress up, so we will make it a costume party. Lets have a special cake. Lets pass out party favors and prizes! Lets make it BIG, with marching bands and parades in the street! One day is not enough for all the fun, so lets plan on a whole week! How many should we invite? How about one million friends? Lets call it Mardi Gras!

Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday. This is the day before Ash Wednesday, the traditional beginning of Lent. Lent is a forty-day period of fasting and penitence observed by many Christian churches. Lent ends on Easter Sunday. Before beginning Lent, people will join together for parties and feasts. Mardi Gras has become a famous tradition in several cities, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, having two of the most well-known celebrations in North America.

In 1699, the French explorer Sieur dIberville (born Pierre Le Moyne) and his crew made camp not far from present-day New Orleans. They named the place Point du Mardi Gras in honor of the holiday and had their own celebration. As the population of the area grew, so did the Mardi Gras celebrations. In the mid-1800s, many krewes (pronounced crooz), or clubs, were formed to plan parties, parades, and other special events to celebrate Mardi Gras. In 1872, the Krewe of Rex, the king of all the krewes, declared the official colors of Mardi Gras to be purple, green, and gold (representing justice, faith, and power).

In New Orleans today, there are many krewes that plan their own parades, colorful floats, fancy costumes, and grand balls to celebrate Mardi Gras. During the parades, thousands of people line the streets to see the floats, enjoy the music, and try to catch the special gifts and prizes that are thrown from the floats into the crowds. These gifts, called throws, are usually beautiful beaded necklaces or shiny aluminum doubloons (coins) that people collect.

King cakes are a traditional treat during Mardi Gras. It is in memory of the three kings who searched for the baby Jesus. The cake has one nut or plastic baby baked inside to represent the baby Jesus. The person who finds the baby in his piece of cake will have good luck AND be responsible for bringing the cake the next year.

Other countries have similar celebrations on the same date. Many towns in France celebrate Mardi Gras. Many countries in Central and South America and the Caribbean have Carnival. In Brazil it is called Carnaval, and in Venice, Italy, they have Carnivale. All these are celebrated with masks and costumes, music and parades. Lets make our own Mardi Gras party with the crafts that follow!

AUTHORS NOTE: Many of the materials used in making these crafts may be found by using recycled paper products. The author uses such recycled items as cereal boxes and similar packaging for light cardboard, manila folders for card stock paper, leftover pieces of wrapping paper, and so forth. This not only reduces the cost of the projects but is also a great way to reuse and recycle paper. Be sure to ask an adult for permission before using any recycled paper products.

The projects in this book were created for this particular holiday. However, I invite readers to be imaginative and find new ways to use the ideas in this book to create different projects of their own. Please feel free to share pictures of your work with me through www.mcgeeproductions.com . Happy Crafting!

The Columbina mask comes from the Carnivale celebrations of Venice, Italy. This half mask is decorated with swirling designs that look like flowers, butterflies, or fantasy creatures. It is colored gold and silver and decorated with ribbons. The mask is held in place with a handheld rod to make it easy to put on and take off.

1. Use tracing paper and a pencil to transfer the black pattern lines from to the light cardboard or poster board and cut out the pattern.

2. Use a moist paintbrush to spread white glue over the front of the cardboard mask.

3. Place silver or gold wrapping paper (or aluminum foil) on the glued surface of the mask and smooth it out. Let dry.

4. Use scissors to trim the wrapping paper around the edge of the mask and the eye holes.

5. Use tracing paper to transfer the gray design lines of the pattern to the mask.

6. Decorate the mask with glitter glue on pattern lines or as you wish. Let dry.

7. Paint the dowel with acrylic paint and let dry.

8. Glue or tape the dowel to the back and side of the mask and decorate the dowel with ribbons or crepe paper as you wish.

What a parade! The streets are lined with people of all ages! Huge, colorful floats are coming down the street. Costumed and masked people are perched all over the floats. As the crowds cheer, the costumed helpers throw glittering treasures to reward the parade watchers. Many of these throws, as the treasures are called, are brightly colored necklaces worn by both girls and boys to show their Mardi Gras spirit. Show your Mardi Gras spirit with this paper bead necklace that you can make.