What Do You Do With Leftover Mardi Gras Beads?
So, Mardi Gras is over. You have a ton of beads. What do you do with them? Most are made of plastic, though I read about an initiative grad students had to make beads 3-D printed with okra seeds. There are also coveted glass beads around.
But otherwise, plastic. So, just tossing them doesn’t sound like the best idea. What can you do with them? Here’s a few ideas:
Recycling
There are local drop-off spots for recycling. Basically, they will be sorted, regrouped, and reused next year to be tossed off of floats again.
Give them directly to someone you know in a crew. The same process will happen with them
Decorating
Save them for some Mardi Gras bling on your house next year!
Wrap them around a glass or a vase to make an easy, festive centerpiece.
Use them at a special event. At our wedding, we decorated several trees with beads (even though we were in Maine, in August!).
Crafting
Turn some into a costume. (I have step-by-step instructions for an Easy Toddler Costume— A Flower Child
Add them to a painting and turn it into a collage
Separate and use individual beads as the art medium (heads-up, it will take you a while to separate the beads from the string. You have to cut each one individually).
Wind beads around a pool noodle and you’ve got a wreath.
Gifting
Put a Mardi Gras box together for friends/family that don’t live in New Orleans. You can put in lots of throws in addition to the beads. Alternatively, send some King Cake and beads!
Use them to dress up a plain package. Tie them around a brown bag or hot glue some to a gift box.
I hope this gives you some inspiration if you’ve got a pile full of beads! What’s your favorite way to reuse them? And don’t worry, this is the last Mardi Gras-related post of the year; on Monday, February 23rd, read all about my three cats!
Thanks for reading!
💜
Laura
