A flash here, a flash there. Mardi Gras brings out a side in us girls that we wouldn’t show anywhere else (at least most of us). If you dare to bare it during Mardi Gras we guarantee you’ll be going home with your share of beads. Being environmentally conscience I’d hate to see all these plastic beads wind up in a landfill so I have made a list of things that you can do with your Mardi Gras Beads.
Chances are you received beads in a rainbow of colors with the predominant theme being purple green and gold. You can sort them by color or create combinations to suit your holiday, theme, décor or whatever.
Make a decorative beaded doorway curtain. Cut them open to form long strands. Tie those strands together and time them to a strand that you string across the top or the doorway. This is a retro look that is great for dorm rooms and kid’s rooms.
Use them as curtain tie backs – metallic, faceted beads
Lace them through the holes of your shower while wrapping them around the curtain rod. They add color to a blah bathroom and they won’t get rust stains on your shower curtains like cheap metal hooks.
Give them to your kids, nieces, etc to use as dress-up jewelry. Little girls can’t get enough of this stuff.
Decorate a lampshade – cut the necklace to make one long strand. Hot glue several strands to an inexpensive white lampshade. This is a great idea for play rooms, kid’s rooms and dorm rooms.
Sew them in a circular pattern onto an old bathing suit top for a risqué and sexy Mardi Gras costume for next year.
Put a large pillar candle in a hurricane lamp. Fill the lamp with beads half way up the candle. Make sure you use an evaporating candle so wax won’t melt all over the beads. This is perfect for Christmas, Halloween, Valentines, St. Pats and 4th of July depending on the colors you use. Stick to a white candle and all you need to do is change the beads.
Hang a few them from your rear view mirror as a keepsake of your good time at Mardi Gras.
Decorate your Christmas tree. The beads sparkle so nicely in the Christmas Tree lights.
If you still have beads left over, offer them to a school or post an ad for free beads on Craigslist.