Los Angeles Area Resource for Eco-Friendly Parents

Create Mardi

Gras Beads

What You Need:

- Several old greeting cards

- A piece of string or ribbon

- Non-Toxic Glue

- Scissors

- Small caps from bottles (several different sizes)

- Pencil or pen

- Safety pin or hole punch

How to Make:

Using the caps from the bottles, outline several circles on your greeting cards in the more colorful spots. Cut each of the circles out.

Finally, tie the ends of the ribbon and showcase your bling!

Mardi Gras

Cookies

For a sweet, festive treat, make some Honey "Sugar" cookies and decorate them like Mardi Gras Masks. Of course, feel free to substitute flour choices and experiment with using more honey and less sugar.

Ingredients:

Steps to Make:

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl and set aside. In a medium-sized bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Add egg, honey and vanilla and beat thoroughly. Gradually add sifted dry ingredients to butter mixture and beat until smooth. Cover and chill. Heat oven to 375 degrees. 

Grease cookie sheets lightly with butter or coconut oil. Divide dough into small portions and roll out one portion at a time on a floured board to a thickness of about ¼ inch. Cut with a 2-inch cookie cutter. Place cookies 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from sheets and cool on wire cake racks. Once cooled, decorate with colorful frosting (see below for tips on food coloring).

Honey Frosting

Ingredients:

Steps to Make:

Place a saucepan over high heat. Pour in the honey and wait for it to boil. Remove the honey from the heat and get out a small bowl. Place the egg whites, salt, and vanilla extract in the bowl. Mix together on high speed for three to five minutes. Add the honey and mix for another five minutes or until the ingredients look like frosting.

Food Coloring

What do those magic bottles have in them that turn cakes and frostings several shades of color? Try nasty chemicals that have been known to prompt Asthma attacks, hyperactivity in kids, affect liver and kidney function in rats, and are linked to brain tumors in mice. The chemicals in food coloring are derived from petroleum and coal - YUMMY!

So how about a natural way to color your food? India Tree offers food coloring that is concentrated liquid vegetable colorants and Nature's Flavors offers a line of vegan, plant-based food colors.

You can also make your own from the juices of fruit like blueberries and raspberries, turmeric powder or beets. If you are decorating cakes, consider using crushed fruit topping to add color instead of food coloring.