where can i get beads online? does anybody know?

Wow.

That's all I can say. Wow. The most amazing time I've had, it was an absolute blast.

I can barely see straight, I've got more alcohol running through me than anything else, but one clear thought remains:

I MUST GO BACK NEXT YEAR.

Collin

I got my King Cake yesterday!!! Since we moved up north, my best friend sends me a large King Cake every year with beads, coins and a mask!!! It helps me get in the spirit...

I also get a signed and numbered poster from Jazz Festival, but I have been collecting those since the early 90's!!

Billy, I wish you had a PO box. I have been cleaning out my closets and have soooo many beads. Some are the little trinket beads that people throw, but a lot are the higher quality ones that hang down to your waist. One of our krewes only throws
"pearls" so I have quite a few of them. I also have some doubloons from all the years of parties.

Well, it’s over! Carnival ended with a bang and I don’t know of anyone who didn’t have a great time. The weather was cold over most of the weekend nights but perfect during the day. Between last Friday and yesterday, we watched about 14 parades. Mostly, we watched the parades on St. Charles Avenue. The highlight for us was the Monday night Orpheus ball called the Orpheuscapade. We caught enough beads there to fill two large duffel bags.

My younger cousin had a friend visiting from New York City. It was his first trip to New Orleans and of course, Carnival. Todd was amazed by everything. After the ball, nearing 3:30 am, the rest of us headed to bed and Bob took Todd to the French Quarter. (I know that I just couldn’t go any more.) Todd had a lot to barter with because he caught some great beads. He only had one problem. He had so many beads and had put them on so hastily that they were tangled! He couldn’t get one set off with out pulling about six others. Since he didn’t want to part with so many at once, he didn’t get a chance to "see" as much.

Well after the sun came up, we went to Café Du Monde for café au lait and beignets. We strolled the Quarter and went to a friend’s apartment on Royal Street. It is the best location. The apartment is right behind St. Louis Cathedral and has one of most prized features of all – a BALCONY! It looks straight down Pirate’s Alley to Jackson Square. Royal runs parallel to Bourbon Street and is the next street over. There was lots of crowd over flow. I saw a whole lot more then I cared to see but nothing that was flat out disgusting. One of the most interesting characters that I saw was Abe Lincoln, complete with bullet wound, playing a ukulele. However, there was one thing that made me wonder. There was an artist painting women’s chests in all sorts designs. There was also a large group of men taking pictures both still and video. I wondered if these women show up in “Girl’s Gone Wild 25”, will they decide to sue too? Overall, I felt that the nudity was down a great deal.

If you have never come to Carnival before, you must put it on your “Things to do before I…” list.

Optimist Prime, www.mglinks.com is a good site to use. In addition to some Krewe information, it has links to vendors to get all your carnival supplies.

I stayed home on Mardi Gras - used the day to do the FAFSA - fun fun.

I've done it so much that its not that big a deal anymore. My mom and I kept seeing the parades on TV and kept saying "c'mon, if we hurry, we can catch the end of zulu/beginning of rex/krewe of america" bu we resisted and used the day for rest.

I did watch the Rex Ball in its entirety last night - that is a beautiful sight to see. The meeting of the courts is such a beautiful, wonderful, yet sad event, because it signifies the end of Carnival.

Btw, aopirose, h2oot, and anyone else who may have watched that - did you n otice that the ball ended at 11? I always thought it ended at the stroke of midnight. Maybe its something new?

I'd like to know from you natives what makes a "better" set of beads like y'all have been talking about? What's the difference between trinkets and the others?

We were on Napoleon too. My friend's place is across the street from Anne Rice's house. Prime place to be able to watch everything without having to haul our drunken selves too far.

Collin

. . . plus there were 20 of us, which was even better - quite a scene

Thanks for the tip aopirose!! yay beads!!

I have never done NO @ Mardi Gras...
 

Been there a ton and I cant handle it at New Years, Sprign Break or Months that have an "R" in their name. I would die at carnival. Too much for me. My closest firnd, Luci, was born and raised there in NO and moved back there from texas a few years ago (yea free place to crash!). her parents were really into Endymion, got all gussied up for it and did the ball and and stuff. maybe someday. I just remember that New Years on Burbon and in Jackson Sq. was crazy (Although fireworks from barges on the river was really cool.)

Carnation,

The distinction between regular beads and good/great beads is all about the design and cost.

Here is a link to some regular beads - www.accentannex.com/accent/Images/beads52492.jpg - They are single color strands of an average length although they are metallic. They cost about 50 cents a strand or $5.99 per dozen.

Here is a link to some great beads - http://www.accentannex.com/accent/Images/60273.jpg - These are chili pepper ones and cost $7.00 per strand.

Other great beads are Krewe related. Orpheus and Bacchus threw beads specific to each float. These throws were optional for member purchase and cost ~$5-7.00 each and were pretty rare. This is the Orpheus float Elves of Dreams with matching beads. -

http://kreweoforpheus.net/memberarea...ms-300x200.jpg http://kreweoforpheus.net/memberarea...ad-150x180.jpg

Orpheus has this really nice medallion bead that is a composite of 20 - 3 mm strands twisted together with tassels on the end and runs about $12 a piece.

Since you need about 18 gross of beads to complete the route, riders really stock up on the less expensive beads. Just on Orpheus, we spent about $700 in throws. The cost could have gone higher but I had leftovers from the first parade and our neighbors gave us some too. We greatly believe in recycling. JAM, remember me when you are cleaning your closets. ;)

Our theme this year was Night on the NIle and our "gift" beads were pearls with Cleopatra heads interspersed on the strand.
You can get the traditional baby-crowns-any image really. Some come braided...just like you have different designs n jewelry!

Next year, we can talk about outrageous costumes! Talk about BAWDY!