What it takes to be a Carnival crafter for hire
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Throws designed for Cleopatra riders by Tara Vicknair, who runs Glitter Over NOLA. Photo: Courtesy of Glitter Over NOLA
When the pandemic hit, Kat Schweitzer says she needed a way to avoid "sitting in a depression hole."
- Enter glitter.
Why it matters: That period took Schweitzer from a casual Mardi Gras crafter to a crafter-for-hire, joining the ranks of New Orleans-area artists who use their skills to elevate float riders' throws — for a price.
The big picture: It wasn't that long ago that Mardi Gras throws were almost exclusively imported plastic beads, stuffed animals and the occasional feather-tipped toy spear.
- Then, krewes like Muses and an environmentally conscious crowd helped change all that, emphasizing reusable items and handmade mementos like glittered shoes that recipients display for years.
- And these signature throws encouraged the growth of a whole new cottage industry for local crafters.
Yes, but: Some of us are not so artistically inclined, and crafters like Schweitzer (aka @CraftyCatNOLA) and Tara Vicknair (aka @GlitterOverNOLA) are there to help.
- "It definitely gives [float riders] something that the crowd wants," Vicknair says, "and I feel like, for the most part, it's not a bead that's gonna end up in the street. It's locally made."
Zoom in: Schweitzer came into the business naturally after she started riding in Cleopatra in 2019. The krewe is known for hand-glittered cups.
- Her pandemic-era crafting turned profitable when friends started asking her to make their cups, too, and soon that expanded into headdresses and Iris sunglasses.
- This year, after "cutting back," she says, Schweitzer is making 400 headdresses for float riders.
- "There's something in my brain that likes doing the same thing over and over again," she laughs. "It's methodical and soothing."
Vicknair, however, knew she had a business on her hands from the start.
- She also started in 2019, though her entrée came through a glitter balm she individually jars. After posting it for sale on Facebook Marketplace, "it just became overwhelming. ... I had to make a website and make a business, so when I made cups [for Cleopatra], not to toot my own horn, but I knew they were good."
- Now, those Cleo cups and Iris sunglasses are a big part of her rotation, too.
Follow the money: Pricing seems to be one of the most difficult parts of the glitter business.
- The end cost, Schweitzer says, is a marriage of the time and supplies it takes to execute a product and what a float-rider can reasonably pay. Even the dry time between layers of glitter has to be factored in.
- But "people realistically are not going to pay $50 for a cup, no matter how good it is," she says, even if "it's still an art form."
- Both she and Vicknair price their decorated Cleopatra cups at $25 each.
Between the lines: Carnival crafting is not a business for the casual glitter fan, Schweitzer warns.
- "You don't want to hate your own crafts," she laughs. "It's really fun at first [but] you could spend thousands of dollars on supplies and still be out money at the end of the season if you're not careful. … It doesn't have a low buy-in for a side hustle."