Mardi Gras Tablescape – Masquerading Bears, Beads and Masks; but where are the Moon Pies ???

Ever since we moved to Texas, I have been learning more about the Mardi Gras traditions. Having grown up in Ohio, I had never known any one who had been to a Mardi Gras celebration – although I had heard of the parades and parties. Due to Galveston Texas, having their own Mardi Gras celebration and due to Texas’s proximity to Louisiana, Mardi Gras is a big thing here in Texas.

The Plates

Once I expanded my tablescapes beyond the more commonly celebrated holidays I started wanting to do my own Mardi Gras table, but alas, I had no dishes that I thought would look good. Even after searching eBay, Etsy and Amazon for Mardi Gras theme dishes I still had found nothing. However, once I found tablescape blogs through Pinterest and other sources, and saw the gorgeous Mardi Gras plates on the Between Naps on the Porch website, I knew these were the dishes I wanted and set out to find them – somehow…somewhere…

It turned out to be a much longer hunt than I anticipated. I found a few plates on eBay and Etsy, but not enough to celebrate with guests. Finally, at the huge and amazing Roundtop Antique Show, I found an astonishing 8 plates,- all in one booth.

Below are my dishes in my Mardi Gras/Birthday tablescape.

The above plates are called “Muirfield Magnificence Mask” or “Muirfield Magnificence Mardi Gras”. There are 4 different plates, each with a different mask. The pieces that I have seen to this set are the salad/dessert plates, dinner plates (exceedingly rare-I have only seen these in the dinner plate size once) and small mugs/cups. There is also a coordinating whole set of plates called simply Muirfield Magnificence that have a matching border but no other design. When I first purchased the mask plates, I realized I had no dinner plates that looked good with them so I went with the Muirfield Magnificence (plain with border) thinking that they would be very versatile with other salad plates for other tablescapes. The plain with border ones also go well with the other Muirfield Magnificence plates such as the Muirfield Magnificence egg plates and the Muirfield Magnificence angel plates. The plate stack includes a Gold Glitter Charger by Sparkles and available at their website. The next plate is the Muirfield Magnificence dinner plate (plain with border) with the Muirfield Magnificence Mask salad/dessert plate on top.

Last February, we were expecting good friends for the weekend, and I had planned to set a Birthday Table to celebrate the birthday of our dear friend, Michelle. As I glanced through my dishes, trying to decide on a winter or spring theme, I remembered that our friends had lived in Louisiana for a few years as one of their relocations for work, and therefore I thought a Mardi Gras Birthday would be the way to go. So I excitedly got out the dishes and began brainstorming a table. I took a short trip to Party City to gather some Mardi Gras supplies for the table table and checked out Amazon as well. I found my gold table cloth, and started setting the table. As I continued on, I realized my almost entirely “gold” table lacked the spark and pizazz desired in both Birthday and Mardi Gras celebrations. I added the Party City beads but it still needed something. All of a sudden I vaguely remembered that my Vanderbears, used earlier in my “Big Texas Freeze tablescape” post, also had a masquerade set of outfits that I had bought so I could make a Halloween Display. I ran upstairs to see if they were Mardi Gras appropriate, and in the gold, purple, green color scheme I was using. They seemed perfect for Mardi Gras so I dressed them and added them to the table.

Meet the Bears

All Vanderbears and Hoppy are dressed in the outfits called “Masquerade – Bal Masque”. If you like this tablescape you may want to visit my other tablescape featuring bears –Freezing Temperature Tablescape with Sled Dogs, Seals and Bears “Oh My!!”

Meet the Guest of Honor

All was ready when Michelle arrived, she loved the table, and it reminded her of many happy memories of Mardi Gras. We enjoyed hearing about the Mardi Gras parades and other traditions from their time in Louisiana.

Lacking any ornaments for my dining room tree, I used beads as decorations. My tree does not have purple as a choice so I tried pink lights, as well as green lights for the tree. Which light color do you like? Next year I hope to have some true Mardi Gras ornaments to use on the tree.

Something Surprising about Mardi Gras

I recently learned, through a new friend, that Mobile, Alabama is the home of the first Mardi Gras (Carnival) Celebration in the United States (1703). That was a surprise to me as I had always assumed it was New Orleans. He also told me my Mardi Gras table and dinner needed “Moon Pies”. Although I knew about “King Cake” I had never heard of “Moon Pies”. He explained that Moon Pies – cookies with a graham cracker and marshmallow “sandwich” that has been dipped in chocolate” – are thrown from the Mardi Gras parade floats for the spectators. I later read that in 1972 the Moon Pie replaced the Cracker Jack box as a snack to be thrown from the floats because it was less likely to cause injury if it hit someone crowd. My friend suggested I include Moon Pies in my future Mardi Gras celebrations and I think I will do so, just wishing I could add the parades to my celebration as well!

Link Parties

I often participate in Tablescape Thursday and other link parties. Please click on the link to see the website of one of my favorite bloggers, which is followed by photos and links for many other wonderful tablescapes. 

Table Details and Origins

Gold Glitter Chargers – Sparkles Home

Dinner Plates and bowls – pattern “Muirfield Magnificence” – often available on eBay and Etsy

Salad/Dessert Plates – pattern “Muirfield Magnificence Mask” sometimes available on eBay or Etsy and antique shows or stores (interesting to note – their is a set of plates almost identical to these mask plates, with the exception of the gold border, thesse plates are called “Muirfield Celebrity mask” and in my opionion they are equally beautiful. However, the border size and designs are different, which may limit how you want to mix and match these two different sets of plates.) You can see the other two patterns and compare at replacements by clicking the following – Muirfield Celebrity Mask and Muirfield Magnificence Mask

Jester hat – Amazon

Mardi Gras Coins – Amazon

Mardi Gras Beads – Amazon

Garland on Chandelier – Amazon – no longer available 

Gold Goblets – Homegoods (about a year ago)

Cornelius, Alice, Fuzzy, Fluffy, Muffy Vanderbears, friend Hoppy, and outfits “Masquerade Bal Masque” – eBay and Etsy 

Crown Napkin rings – Amazon

Crown Favors – Amazon

Tablecloth and Napkins – possibly Macy’s or Dillard’s (a few years ago) 

Moon Pies– Amazon

Flatware – “Community by Onieda – Marquette” pattern is currently available at Amazon.