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Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Mardi Gras World

Hey guys! I just got back from my stay-cation and have a treat for you today! I visited Mardi Gras World! This is where they make many of the beautiful floats you see in Mardi Gras parades. I saw so many artists sculpt, paint and put together these spectacular floats. The process is tedious, but the results take your breath away. There are a number of Mardi Gras krewes (organizations/group of people) that order floats to be made each year. Themes are decided upon (funny, historical, etc), designs are drafted and then The Kern Family (they own Mardi Gras World) execute those ideas! One parade can have 25+ floats! So the designing process is year-round! The people on the floats, dress up in costumes and throw beads & other trinkets to the crowd along the parade route. What's really cool about Mardi Gras World is they have kept some figures from past Mardi Gras parades (just as you would in a museum). So while you see NEW things being built there, you also see some older treasures.

Many of you were interested in knowing more about Mardi Gras traditions, from my previous post. To answer your questions about King Cake, there are different styles of King Cake depending on where you live. In New Orleans, ours is a cinnamon-filled dough with a glazed topping and colored sprinkled sugar on top (Traditional King Cake). There are now flavored King Cakes! You can get them filled with apple, cream cheese, chocolate, lemon, strawberry, praline etc. In my opinion, the best comes from Manny Randazzo King Cakes. King Cake is associated with the festival of the Epiphany (at the end of Christmas season) & Pre-Lenten Festivities! The plastic baby inside the King Cake represents Baby Jesus (that's why it's so lucky to get). But usually the one that get's the baby, has to buy the next king cake for the group (office, party etc). Mardi Gras (also known as Fat Tuesday) is a series of CARNIVAL CELEBRATIONS leading up Ash Wednesday (start of the Lenten season). During this time, you drink & eat what you want...party...etc! When Ash Wednesday arrives all of that ceases, because you're preparing for Easter. Usually Catholics give up something they love and pray during this time. I hope this helps explain things :) I could get real technical, but I feel this is long enough. LOL Enjoy!


Which Way Mr. Jester? ;)


We're Off To See The Wizard! 


Familiar Faces




Kings, Crowns And Court

 

 

Just Jestering And Joking Around


 

Masquerade


Ahoy Mates! Ho Ho Ho ... And A Bottle Of Rum!

 

He's A Genie In A Bottle ... Three Wishes!


Mystical Creatures


Going Ape, Butterflies and Bananas...And Other Critters ;)


Around The World



Blues ... And All That Jazz


We've Got Sunshine


Birds Of A Feather, Crocodile, Alligators And Lions! Oh My!


Characters For The Halloween Parade


 My Snapchat video of a section of Mardi Gras World. It's a LONG warehouse located on The Mississippi River (Downtown New Orleans). Sound is intermittent (off/on) because there were a lot of school children attending that day. Join me on Snapchat at averysweetblog
I'll be visiting your blogs later today ;)

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37 comments

  1. looks like a fun place
    wendeeisaacs.com

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  2. How fun! Wish I visited it too, looks so impressive! I like also the video Kim, always see u from real! xo

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  3. They put alot of work and amazing floater items this is why MARDI GRAS rock.

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  4. OMG, great fun, I wish I could visit it, looking everything so dreamy and beautiful <3 Kisses <3
    http://www.rakhshanda-chamberofbeauty.com/

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  5. Wow that looks like an awesome place to visit Kim, so many great designs and sculptures. If sculptures is the right word! Whatever you call float designs, haha! :) Love how colourful it all is :)

    Away From The Blue Blog

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  6. Wow! Thanks for sharing these pics, and the vid, Kim:) Those float decorations are just fantastic. I think my faves were Neptune and the mermaid one. And thanks for sharing that info about the King Cakes. You're right...as Catholics, Ash Wednesday is the beginning of solemnity for us. We're supposed to pray and fast, and give up one thing until Easter.

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  7. Hi Kim, thanks for sharing your wonderful photos and what an interesting and fun place to visit. Wishing you a wonderful day and rest of the week.
    Julie xo

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  8. Thanks Kim brings back fond memories. We were visiting New Orleans a few days before Katrina hit. We haven't had an opportunity to return but it's on our agenda.

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  9. Hey there Kim! How are you?
    Wow, these photographs are amazing! The art of it is so beautiful and breath taking! I wonder how much time it must have taken for each one to be completed! And so much work and labour must have gotten into it..
    This is so fascinating!

    La Belle Dame

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  10. Nice post Kim! You took a lot of great pictures! I hope you had an amazing time!

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  11. Wow! When I think of parade floats, I tend to think of the cardboard things that people tend to cobble together for local Christmas parades here in Canada, but these floats are nothing like that - they're really works of art! Thanks so much for sharing this with us, Kim, what an amazing experience :)
    xox,
    Cee

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  12. the float looks so magnificent, love how the painting is so detailed and sculpture of the model is nearly accurate from the original copy. Great pictures, love to go there and see those floats up front :)

    Capturing Life Memoirs | bloglovin' | Instagram

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  13. We celebrate that in Haiti too, Kim! We were French colonies back then. I guess we still hold the same traditions as New Orleans. I love how you describe everything. I had no idea they put so much work into it. I love the pictures.

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  14. I love Mardi Gras world! Have never toured, just walked through to get to events. Had a king cake party last night and you are right, Manny's is the best!

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  15. Welcome back from your staycation Kim! It's so cool that you got to see all these flotas and figures at Mardi Gras World! Thanks for taking us along :)

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  16. All those pictures are so cool Kim! That's for sharing everything! And oh my I wish I had down king cake lol!!!

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  17. Welcome back, Kim and how was your staycation? I had no idea so much went into Mardi Gras but wow, looking at all the sculptures, they are beautiful.

    Shireen | Reflection of Sanity

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  18. Oh wow, these floats look amazing and so real, too! This must have been such a wonderful experience for you, having watched the parade for so long, and now being able to see what goes into making those fabulous floats! The King Cake sounds so delicious! Well, you guys are known for your delicious desserts, so no surprise there! I need to pay a visit, if not for the parade, for the yummy food! Thanks so much for sharing, beauty, and I hope you're having a great day so far!

    XO,

    Jalisa
    www.thestylecontour.com

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  19. I've seen this place on tv. It must be amazing to see these massive pieces being worked on! The Wizard of Oz ones are so fun! King Cake is my kind of treat. :)

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  20. Loved your snaps! I grew up in Mississippi, so my family went to New Orleans a lot. I even went to a college close enough to the Gulf Coast that we would get Mardis Gras off! This brings back lots of great memories.

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  21. How amazing it must be to see these colourful floats up close. Thanks for sharing more abour Marti Gras World Kim. I've heard much about the Lenten season, even though I am not Catholic. Great photos and video too! :) /Madison

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  22. Wow, these floats are so amazing and creative. They must take a long time to create. But I bet the Mardi Gras parade is so festive to attend.

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  23. What a cool experience!! The picture you took are so beautiful and colorful!

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  24. How cool and creative! I love that the cast of characters varies from Wonder Woman to the Wizard of Oz! I'd definitely visit if I was in New Orleans!

    xoxo,
    little luxury list formerly Chic 'n Cheap Living

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  25. Oh wow! I had no idea this place even existed for some reason - it looks like amazing; so colourful and fun! :)

    Gabrielle | A Glass Of Ice
    x

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  26. oh my gosh. how amazing. and so much color and expression!

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  27. Hi Love

    OMG so cool Hope to be able to see this in real once :d
    Just wanted to stop by and let you know that’s I’m back in the blogsphere :p

    Missed checking out your blogs and now have time to browse through them all again :)

    Hope you will stop by to check out my new posts!

    Happy Monday!

    Xxx

    Getting Green Fingers!
    FIT&FAB REVIEW
    JOIN MY BLOGGER NETWORK

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  28. So impressive and like a rainbow! :) Though I must admit, as soon as I read "cinnamon cake" I couldn't think of anything but the flavour :D :D :D Never heard that MG had its own cake. :)
    x

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  29. I watched you snap on this and it was so intriguing! I loved it!
    Angie | Chocolate & Lipstick | Beauty, Fashion & Lifestyle Blog

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  30. These floats are so colorful and every of their details is perfect, I'm sure that you spent great time and what about your review, this Traditional King Cake has to be delicious :)

    http://crafty-zone.blogspot.com/

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  31. So unique and beautiful! I love the sun and the big pink flowers. The King Cakes sound out of this world!

    Http://Leftbankgirl.blogspot.com

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  32. I saw your snapchat of these and was in so much awe! They're all so awesome and unique, seems like it was an incredible experience :) Those are some crazy talented people who can do an art like this.

    eightbitbeauty.blogspot.com

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  33. These look so cool! The craftsman ship that must have gone into this!

    7% Solution

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  34. Amazing! Totally blown away by how awesome these are. I can imagine that they take forever to craft. I've never been to the Mardi Gras but I plan to, very soon.
    http://fashionablyidu.blogspot.com/

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  35. such a great post Kim! I saw your posts on snapchat and how cool! I'd love to visit sometime! looks like a lot of fun! hope you are having a great weekend! xo
    Andrea
    www.phdfashionista.com

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  36. this looks cool. would love to see the process of putting one of those floats together.

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