How to Paint and Decorate Mardi Gras Cups

Decorating for Mardi Gras is an entertaining activity.

Mardi Gras is the Tuesday prior to Ash Wednesday; it celebrates the last day before religious Christians give up something for Lent, which is the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter. Each year, the City of New Orleans celebrates Mardi Gras with parades and street parties. Most Mardi Gras partygoers are known to drink excessively and to attempt to obtain beads from those participating in the parades. If you can’t make it to Mardi Gras you can still celebrate with a party of your own. You can decorate your house and even the items you use at your party, such as your cups. Since your guests are likely drinking during your party you should make the effort to decorate your cups especially for the holiday.

Things You'll Need

• Paintbrush
• Acrylic paint
• Plain paper cups

Instructions

1. Use a thin bristled paintbrush to paint Mardi Gras masks on your cups. Use acrylic paint to do this; watercolor paint is another good choice but it dries, it is very thin and often requires additional coats depending on the color of the cup you are trying to paint.

2. Paint the words “Mardi Gras” and the year on your cups using colors such as gold, green and purple, which are often the colors you see most during Mardi Gras.

3. Paint beads around your cups to represent the beads thrown out to parade watchers during the Mardi Gras parade.

Tips & Warnings

• Paint your Mardi Gras cups several days before the event to ensure your paint has time to adequately dry before being used.