# Mardi Gras Halloween



## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

I'm planning on doing a 'Voodoo on the Bayou' theme this year for our party. The patio and pool area will be the swamp. The house will be the voodoo priestess' home with altar, cabinet of curiosities, mambo kitchen, etc.... 

I want the front of the house and entrance way to be a Mardi Gras theme but I'm running out of ideas and can use some help. I'll have a grave digger in a Mardi Gras sweatshirt (in jester mask?), beads on tombstone, bloody masks staked in ground, maybe a cutout jester on door holding his torn off head, dripping blood and Mardi Gras music playing.

Any ideas or suggestions would be very much appreciated.


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## NOWHINING (Jul 25, 2009)

you know i can see a bunch of life-size skeletons arounds with beads and acting like they are flashing or drinking or catching the beads....................


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

Dancing, drunken, skeletons - that's a great idea!! I have one full size skeleton that I was going to put a Mardi Gras mask on, some beads around the neck, and lay him on an alligator float on the pool. (I really wanted to do a swamp monster lounging out there but can't think of a cheap way to make one.) Oh well, you can never have too many skeletons. Thanks for the idea.


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## HeatherEve1234 (Sep 5, 2008)

Search Romp in the Swamp (my theme this year) and Voodoo Bayou which Synical did last year - there are a bunch of threads on each.


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## HEATHER14535 (Aug 23, 2008)

Dont forget Marie Laveau she is a voodoo women from New Orleans... we had a room at church for our haunted house just for her


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## Si-cotik (Aug 12, 2009)

venetian masks decorating the walls,

stands of beads hanging around

tomb dedicated to marie laveau

jazz

harlequin prints

green, gold, purple

candles


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## Madame Leota (Sep 19, 2005)

Don't forget, in New Orleans burial is above ground so you won't really need a grave digger. Maybe some mausoleums and a few zombie or skeleton musicians lining up for a jazz funeral?
Oriental Trading is a great resource for mardi gras deco, such as beads and masks. Love this theme! Have fun with it!


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

Great ideas everyone, Thank You! I love the jazz musician idea Madame Leota, pretty cool idea!


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## ter_ran (Jan 14, 2006)

Try checking out this old local Home-haunt for ideas right here. It might be able to help with the pool swamp idea or plans.. Good luck to ya!


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## BadTableManor (Sep 8, 2007)

Do you have any ideas right now as far as music?


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

I'll be playing upbeat Mardi Gras Jazz outside as the guest arrive to put them in a festive mood - (the skeleton jazz band is a great idea.)

For the swamp area (I have a screened in patio), I was thinking of having voodoo/African drums playing, from the side of the house, so it sounds as if they're in the distance.

For inside, I'll make a playlist with songs about New Orleans/voodoo/swamp for background music, then later play tunes to dance to. 

My list so far:
Born on the Bayou - CCR
The Legend of Wooly Swamp-Charlie Daniels Band 
queen of new Orleans – bon jovi
save my soul – big daddy voodoo 
Black Water Hattie/The Swamp Witch- Jim Stafford
spiders and snakes – jim stafford
Mojo queen - ike and tina turner
Marie Laveau – Dr Hook
Papa Legba – Talking Heads
You Got Me Voodoo'd - Louis Armstrong 
Witch queen of new Orleans – redbone
Voodoo – Godsmack
Creature from the Black Lagoon – Dave Edmunds
Walk like a Zombie – Horrorpops
Voo Doo Woman – Smiley Smith
Psychic Voodoo Doll - Deadbolt
house of the rising sun – the animals
new Orleans - blue brothers 
Hoodoo – Al Reed
Voodoo Voodoo - Lavern Baker
Dance Back from the Grave – marc cohn
Zombified- Southern Culture on the Skids
Jambalaya on the bayou – john fogerty 
voodoo doll – heart
New Orleans Rag" by Bob Dylan
"Voodoo Charm" by Willy DeVille 
Voodoo Child – jimi hendrix

I still have to go through and check out these songs to see what ones I want.


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

ter_ran said:


> Try checking out this old local Home-haunt for ideas right here. It might be able to help with the pool swamp idea or plans.. Good luck to ya!


ter ran, that's a really cool haunt, thanks for posting the link. Even though I'm doing more of a voodoo/mardi gras theme, it makes me want to add a couple of crazy cajuns in there too.


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## BadTableManor (Sep 8, 2007)

Tannasgach said:


> My list so far:
> Born on the Bayou - CCR
> The Legend of Wooly Swamp-Charlie Daniels Band
> queen of new Orleans – bon jovi
> ...


Excellent! I can't figure out why, but Edith Piaf's "La Vie En Rose" sounded great at our N.O. party. Love the choices you posted, especially Dr. John and Jimi Hendrix.


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## bobzilla (Nov 15, 2008)

Have you thought about using some vines for your Mardi Gras Haunt ?
http://www.halloweenforum.com/tutorials-step-step/88425-creepy-hanging-vines.html
Maybe some smokestacks from a river boat ?
http://www.halloweenforum.com/off-topic-stuff/88363-mardi-gras-2010-a.html


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

Bob, I saw your vines before and thought they were fantastic!!  I was thinking of maybe putting up some chicken wire in places I want covered, then trim my bushes and trees and sticking the branches in there - adding cobwebs, spiders, insects, etc. 

I'll have a man-eating plant (complete with body parts, of course). 

I saw these plants I can make, maybe put some on side tables:

















_(Unfortunately I can't give credit to these pictures, because I just copied them from online and put them into a folder.)_

I'm not sure how to make the stems on the eyeball plants but it looks like the loose moss that you used.


The smokestacks, although a good idea, are beyond my capabilities.


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## printersdevil (Sep 7, 2009)

Make huge Mardi Gras masks out of the styro type insulation sheets. We used them one year for a Mardi Gras prom theme. They are HUGE and can be made to look like floats--give it a voodoo twist.


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

huge masks - now that's a great idea! Thanks! I could get creative and scary too. I don't have a lot of room to store props so I like to come up with 'disposable' props. lol


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## sarahtigr (Jun 16, 2010)

Don't forget "Black Magic Woman" by Carlos Santana and "I put a spell on you" by Screaming Jay Hawkins. Voodoo dolls are always good. If you do a mauselum dedicated to Marie Laveau make sure you put X's all over the outside of it. To get your wish granted your supposed to mark 3 X's so those are important. As for insects, if you really want to be authentic you gotta go with the cockroachs. They're disguisting but you can't come to NO without seeing quite a few and they are huge!


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

lol sarah, I already have those songs on a Halloween playlist; "great minds...." I did not know that about the x's on the tomb (I need to do my homework) thanks for the great tip. Are NO cockroaches the same as Florida palmetto bugs? They are huge and they fly too. Ewwww!


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

ter_ran said:


> Try checking out this old local Home-haunt for ideas right here. It might be able to help with the pool swamp idea or plans.. Good luck to ya!


Ter ran, after viewing this link I knew I had to have a crazy cajun somewhere in the swamp. There's an empty 'dead' corner on the patio, so I decided I'll put my cajun there. I have a head mask of an old guy, not scary, just a wrinkly face with long gray hair. I'll use that with a full body prop and have him cooking body parts on a camp stove. Maybe a bloody axe, a lantern, a fishing pole with a skelly fish, ......

Thanks for inspiring me!


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## sarahtigr (Jun 16, 2010)

Tannasgach said:


> lol sarah, I already have those songs on a Halloween playlist; "great minds...." I did not know that about the x's on the tomb (I need to do my homework) thanks for the great tip. Are NO cockroaches the same as Florida palmetto bugs? They are huge and they fly too. Ewwww!


I really think our roachs and your palmetto bugs are the same. They are about 2-3 inches long and fly and are soooooo gross. Ugh gives me the willies just thinking about them. I have my own horror story!!! When I was little I walked into my kitchen at night to get a glass of water and the light had been left on. Apparently a window had also been left open and the light was swarming with flying roachs.  I screamed and ran! I will never forget that.


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## macrylinda (Aug 13, 2010)

Si-cotik said:


> venetian masks decorating the walls,
> 
> stands of beads hanging around
> 
> ...


Don't forget, in New Orleans burial is above ground so you won't really need a grave digger. Maybe some mausoleums and a few zombie or skeleton musicians lining up for a jazz funeral?
Oriental Trading is a great resource for mardi gras deco, such as beads and masks. Love this theme! Have fun with it!

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