It was a birthday weekend (a little belated so dad could be there) for my boys, and we had a monster birthday bash! After a joint party, the boys and I went to the U of Iowa game and ate our way through four awesome quarters of college football. I was more-than-exhausted by the end of the night, but what a fun way to celebrate my big boys!

The boys wanted a monster theme, which I was excited about after seeing this cake on Pinterest. I made a cake platter for the occasion that I thought would be perfect for Halloween decor after the party. . .

Painted Chevron Platter Tutorial
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Supplies:
*Plain plate (mine was $4 at Walmart--check thrift stores, too)
*Vinyl cut into chevron or other pattern (I used my Silhouette to cut my chevron pattern)
*Candlestick or other base for your platter (I found mine at the thrift store for $.88)
*Alcohol and cotton pad
*Acrylic paint suitable for ceramics (like Martha Stewart Craft Paints or Folk Art's Enamel paints)
*Sponge brush or roller
*Ceramic glue (I used E6000)
(Sorry for the weird photos--sometimes I have to craft at night and I didn't bring my photography lights with me to Iowa!)

1. Clean plate with alcohol and cotton pad. Allow to dry.

 2. Using transfer tape, apply your vinyl stencil to your plate.



 3. Apply a layer of enamel or ceramic paint to white spaces.

 Allow to dry.

4. Carefully remove vinyl. I don't often do this, but I have to say this project did not turn out as perfectly as I thought. Some of the paint did peel up with the vinyl, leaving some uneven edges. I think next time I would peel the vinyl off while the paint was still wet. I think this would solve the problem--let me know if you try it! Luckily, I didn't feel like it took too much away from the design--a lot of chevron patterns are a little distressed, so uh yeah, that's the look I was going for. . .

5. When dry, turn your plate over and glue your candlestick or other base to the bottom with E6000 (or other strong glue). Allow to dry thoroughly.


And here it is with the monster cake on top. . .
And here are some ideas from our party for creating your own monster birthday party (also great for Halloween parties!). . .
Eyeball puff balls (use this tutorial for the puff balls then add an eye made out of card stock). 

Create your own monster favor bag. I ordered pumpkin decorating kits from Oriental Trading Company and had each party guest decorate a colored lunch sack as they arrived (to keep things in order until it was time for pizza). They used these later to collect their prizes and treats from the games.
Feed the monster bean bag toss. I covered a real bean bag toss game with a garbage sack and decorated it to look like a monster, but you could create your own out of cardboard. 

Pin the eye on the monster. I love that monsters are so easy to create--any shape or size will do! I cut this out of two pieces of card stock and punched eyes out of card stock with black buttons for the pupils. This guy turned out to be quite a monster!

In order to sneak some fruit into the pizza lunch menu, I added mandarin oranges and candy eyeballs to green Jello cups. 

All in all it was a monsterous good time! Happy birthday to my little sweeties!

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