A Mardi Gras Table Setting

In New Orleans, they’ve been celebrating Mardi Gras with parades and festivals for weeks, but while I’m not quite that zealous – wasn’t it just Valentine’s Day a couple of weeks ago? – I DO have my table set. My table features layers of gorgeous, traditional Mardi Gras colors – emerald green, royal purple, and shiny gold – achieved through the use of fabrics, accessories, glassware, and beads.

A white, cutwork linen tablecloth sets a somewhat sedate foundation, but that’s where the classic style ends. I swirled yards of satiny, deep-purple fabric in the center of the table to provide texture, height, and an instant focal point, and topped it with tall candlesticks and hefty, violet pillar candles. Next, I interwove a brilliantly-hued length of shiny Mardi Gras garland, available in most party stores, over the swirls of purple fabric and among the candlesticks to add sparkle and set the theme for my tablescape. I draped multiple strands of purple, green and gold beads over the fabric, allowing some to tumble onto the white tablecloth for added contrast, and as encouragement for our guests to place them around their necks.

A set of amethyst champagne flutes, given to me by a dear friend, repeat the color theme while guiding the eye upward, adding an additional vertical dimension to this festive tablescape. An easy, inexpensive accent - purple cotton napkins - repeat the celebratory theme, while plates and glassware edged in gold add a bit of glam to my Mardi Gras celebration.

For a step-by-step overview of how I created this Mardi Gras table setting, please check out my newly-launched YouTube video series, Christy Rost Cooks: Celebrating Life & Home. http://www.youtube.com/user/ChristyRostCooks.

-Christy

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