February is carnival time in a lot of places in the world. It probably did start as a pagan celebration of spring, waking up nature after the winter.
Today most of the carnival celebration is part of the Christian celebration before Lent.
Fat Tuesday- Mardi Gras, Fettisdagen in Sweden is this year on February the 23th. It is celebrated in different ways of the world. In my home country we celebrate the Sunday before Fat Tuesday with fastelavensbolle, a kind of sweet buns and decorate with fastelavens ris. (tree branches with colored feathers)
I think it makes perfect sense to mix the Mardi Gras tradition with fastelaven.
I also do think it is great reason to sprout some buds and celebrate that spring is just around the corner. It is the perfect way to get kids to start watching for the changing of the season and to learn about another celebration. You even could do a Mardi Gras carnival.
Mardi Gras branch (Branches with feathers)
You need
Branches
Feathers (purple, green, yellow)
Polyester balls
Pipe cleaners yellow, green, purple
Pipe cleaners or steel wire
Twine
Head out and look for buds and pick a branch. Put different kinds of feathers on the branch; use pipe cleaners for young kids. If your child is older you can use florist wire for binding the feathers to the branch.
Tie a twine around the polyester balls, and a lope so you can hang the polyester balls o the tree. Let them decorate and have fun.
Put the branches in water and watch it grow leaves.
Friday post in Cooking with Nature: Semlor and fastelavensbolle
