• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • DIY Ideas
  • Green Products
  • Ecofriendly Travel
  • Environmental News
  • Simple Ways To Go Green
  • More
    • Electronics & Gadgets
    • Health & Beauty
    • Hobbies & Crafts
    • Home & Garden
    • Jobs & Money
    • Outdoor Fun
    • Travel

Green Living Guide

Real People. Real Experiences. Real Helpful.

a Fun Times Guide site

search

Home » Home & Garden » DIY Ideas » 6 Fun Ways To Recycle Mardi Gras Beads (Or Any Type Of Parade Beads)

6 Fun Ways To Recycle Mardi Gras Beads (Or Any Type Of Parade Beads)

12 Shares
Pin3
Share9
Tweet

We write about products and services that we use. This page may contain affiliate links for which we receive a commission.


Everyone wants Mardi Gras beads. Even those who don’t live in New Orleans.

Mardi Gras Beads

I don’t reside in “The Big Easy,” but I do live in “The Big Guava,” a.k.a. Tampa, Florida.

We don’t have the Mardi Gras parade, but we do host an annual pirate festival called Gasparilla — which celebrates the arrival of a mythical pirate named Jose Gaspar who comes into town every year with his band of buccaneers to invade the city.

Basically, it’s Mardi Gras with a pirate theme — and lots of beads!

The parade grows larger and larger every year, drawing people from all over the United States. They come for the booze, the beaches, and yes, the beads.

The pirates throw hundreds of thousands of pieces of booty that look like Mardi Gras beads from the dozens of pirate ships that rumble along Tampa’s picturesque Bayshore Boulevard.

But what happens to all those beads after the pirates have ceremoniously invaded my fair town?

fun-things-to-do-with-party-beads

Many of them meet a sad fate in the dumpster.

Others hang around for years at a time as plastic memories of Gasparilla parades of yore in drawers and sometimes (fittingly) in keepsake treasure chests.

But are there ways to reuse parade beads for other purposes?

Ahoy, matey! There be! I mean there arghhhhhh…

 

#1 — Accessorize Your Gift Wrapping

Want an especially festive way to wrap some gifts?

Why not dress them up with Mardi Gras beads? Really, any party beads will work, so long as they’re flashy!

The easiest way to incorporate parade beads with gift wrapping is to cut the loops from the beads, wrap the long string around the gift, and then tie the 2 ends together at the top.

You may also choose to tape the string of beads around the top edges of the entire gift in swag fashion.

party-beads

 

#2 — Make Beaded Coasters

With some round pieces of felt and hot glue, you can turn your parade beads into fancy-schmancy drink coasters.

Cut the loop of the parade beads, and then start by gluing one end of the Mardi Gras beads directly in the center of the felt.

Concentrically wrap the string of beads outward toward the edge of the felt, gluing all of the beads onto the surface of the felt.

Let dry and, tada! You’ll have some festive coasters!

 

#3 — Use Beads In Centerpieces

Hosting a party? Buy some clear glass vases and fill them with the parade beads to make some nifty centerpieces!

Mardi Gras Beads

You could mix the colors of the beads up in each vase, or use only a single color in each vase for themed decorating.

The choice is up to you, but either way you’ll have instant centerpieces worthy of display for virtually any party!

 

#4 — Make A Beaded Chandelier

This one’s a little difficult to explain without photos, but Padgett Hoke walks you through the steps of making a crafty chandelier out of a bunch of parade beads, a wire garden basket hanger, a hot glue gun, and a lamp.

She also bought some spray paint to give the chandelier just the right color for where she was going to hang it.

Her chandelier cost less than $30 to make, but she had to buy beads.

If you’ve got a bounty of Mardi Gras beads or other strands of plastic beads, then you’ll be able to save money on your own beaded chandelier.

 

#5 — Regift Beads As Party Favors

Mardi Gras BeadsNot feeling very crafty? No worries.

If you’ve got an event coming up, why not give away your oodles of parade beads as party favors?

Talk about partying green… (and purple and yellow).

Who doesn’t love beads? Young and old, guys and gals — just about everybody loves festive beads!

Do be careful about who gets those beads though… they could present a choking hazard to young kids, and they could also be dangerous for pets.

 

#6 — Recycle Parade Beads

Not feeling crafty at all? OK, OK, then forget all the upcycling ideas that I’ve mentioned.

Fortunately, plastic beads are recyclable.

So you can simply take all those parade beads and haul them down to the recycling center.

Or, if you recycle at your home, place them in the plastic recycling bin.

Mardi Gras Beads

While this may be the least exciting way to recycle your Mardi Gras beads, it’s no less an environmentally responsible way to give your party beads a new life.

Maybe, just maybe, you could give them one last, ceremonious toss (like people on parade floats do) into the recycling bin… you know, for old time’s sake.

 

More Ways To Reuse Party Beads

  • 9 Things To Do With Leftover Mardi Gras Beads
  • Mardi Gras Beads Revived
  • Where Can I Recycle Mardi Gras Beads?
  • Mardi Gras Bead Crafts On Pinterest
  • 17 Cool Things To Do With Your Mardi Gras Beads
Joshua

As an advocate for good health, I usually try to choose the 'greener' option over other more dangerous and/or wasteful options. Generally speaking, if it's bad for your health or the planet, I try to avoid it. In my effort to live green, I like to find new (healthier) budget-friendly ways to do things — from cleaning to recycling to home decorating. My goal is to help you take the chore out of living green by sharing fun new ecofriendly ideas that you can try today… or <em>any</em> day! My all-time favorite way to live green is to repurpose items and give them a new use — I've written a lot of useful DIY articles.

12 Shares
Pin3
Share9
Tweet

Filed Under: DIY Ideas, Home & Garden Tagged With: decorating, partying green, reusing / repurposing

Primary Sidebar

About Us

JeffreyI think every little step toward living green is an awesome one... but eco-snobbery sucks! My goal is to help newbies learn the most important steps toward living green -- individually and collectively. Personally, I strive to have as little impact as possible on Planet Earth while I'm here.

Jeffrey: View My Blog Posts

JoshuaAs an advocate for good health, I usually try to choose the 'greener' option over other more dangerous and/or wasteful options. Generally, if it's bad for your health or the planet, I try to avoid it. In my effort to live green... on a budget, I like to find new (healthier) budget-friendly ways to do things -- from eating and cleaning to recycling and home decorating. My goal is to help you take the chore out of living green by sharing fun new ecofriendly ideas that you can try today... or any day! My all-time favorite way to live green is to repurpose items and give them a new use -- I've written a lot of useful DIY articles.

Joshua: View My Blog Posts

LynnetteMy experience with living green consists of taking baby steps (like making one big change each year as my New Year's resolution) -- because I've seen too many people burn out on trying to 'Save the Planet'. I share a lot of Simple Ways To Go Green, as I find new and successful strategies that have worked for me. While I'm baby-stepping my ecofriendly habits in life, you will find me at the corner of Good News & Fun Times as publisher of The Fun Times Guide (32 fun & helpful websites).

Lynnette: View My Blog Posts

Top Searches

alternative energy bamboo carbon footprint cars CFLs Christmas cleaning clothing and fashion coffee conservation cycling decorating Earth Day eco-celebrities energy savings food free stuff funny gadgets gardening gifts green building green events green kids health home improvement landscaping LED lighting money organic food organic products paper partying green plastics recycling reduce reusing / repurposing reviews shopping shopping bags solar power videos water work

Footer

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Fun Times Guide logo
Shop Our Favorite Items

Copyright © 2004-2021 The Fun Times Guide | Privacy Policy | About | Contact | Sitemap