I want to have a "Mardi Gras Madness" party for my Sweet 16, but I have no idea where to start!!?!

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Use Mardi Gras colors as your inspiration. Green, gold and purple! You can think outside of the box then and not fence yourself into just beads and masks. Use green gold and purple fabric for tablecloths, accents on chairs and to dress up windows.

Masks, beads, crowns, coins and an eggy-brioche known as King Cake are all de rigueur

You can order King Cake online, or make your own

This came on a card from New Orleans with a set of green, yellow, and purple sugar crystals for decorating the cake.

Ingredients
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm
1 package yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 egg, slightly beaten
4 1/2 cups flour

One gilded bean or tiny toy baby

Method
Place butter, salt, and sugar in a bowl and add lukewarm milk. Stir to dissolve the sugar and melt the butter. Soften yeast in warm water and add along with eggs to milk mixture. Stir in 3 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup at a time. Turn out onto floured board. Knead lightly with the remaining flour for 2 minutes. Place in oiled bowl, cover, let rise for 2 hours. Punch down, then roll out into a cylinder about 18" long. Form into a round circle to resemble a crown, sealing edges. Place on a greased baking pan, brush with melted butter, and let rise 45 minutes.

Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes until brown. Cool. Glaze with a mixture of 1 cup powdered sugar, 1-2 tablespoons milk, and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Sprinkle each third of the cake with the yellow, green, and purple sugar. Let glaze dry. Press a gilded bean or tiny "baby" into the underside of the cake.

Colorful feather boas...glow necklaces, etc...gaudy sunglasses, Jester hats with bells, sequin tiaras, tambourines, saxophones, lots of jazz music (google a Louisiana music station that plays the music)

hang up signs The French Quarter....and Bourbon St.
drape green, gold, purple flowing fabric all over the place...make things sparkle and add lots of glitz...use spray glitter to jazz up balloons in those colors.....get bells and noisemakers that ppl have to bump into it.

play some games....even do a limbo

Prizes can be a jester doll, the masks, candy or posters
Crown a King and Queen....can just pick names out of a hat and they can lead the first dance...go through food line first, etc.

Serve things like Spinach balls, stuffed mushrooms, and this:
Cheesy Shrimp Canapes (easy make-ahead, then just add topping from fridge and broil as guests arrive):

10 slices of white bread
2 Tab. butter
1/2 ts. thyme leaves
6 oz. cooked shrimp, cleaned and chopped
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/4 tsp salt or to taste
dill weed

Preheat oven 400^F. Using a 2" round fluted pastry cutter, cut 2 circles from each bread slice (ok...don't have to be that fancy...any shape will do as long as you can get 2 cuts from a slice). Reserve scraps for crumbs.
In small saucepan melt butter add thyme. Brush bread circles with this mixture.
Place them on cookie sheet & bake 10 min, until golden. Meanwhile, combine shrimp, cheese, mayo, bread crumbs & salt. When circles are cool, put a rounded Tablespoon of shrimp mixture on each. Sprinkle with a pinch of dill and place under broiler for about 3 minutes.
(Bake circles ahead, keep shrimp mixture in fridge..assemble when guests arrive and broil).

Come in on a huge float... rent out a space get purple, green, and yellow lighting have a dance floor and a cake and BLAST THE MUSICCCCCCC

Check out Oriental trading company online or google Mardi Gras decorations. There are tons of them