My son and I have been working on decorations and favors for his fourth birthday party.  We decided that we wanted to have some sort of photo booth type thing.  As we were brainstorming I told him I thought we could make a cool monster that he and his friends could stand with for pictures.  But I didn’t stop there, I decided to up the ante and made it so that not only could they stand NEXT to the monster, but they could also look like they were being EATEN by the monster! Keep reading to see the Monster Party Photo Prop we ended up with.

Without further ado, meet Mo (short for Monster, in case you were wondering)! He is a purple polka-dotted, human-eating fiend!

If you bring him chocolate cake he will be your friend and let you give him a hug, but beware!  If he deems you unfit he won’t hesitate to gobble you up.

Now I know your little one will want their very own Mo, so let’s get right into a tutorial, shall we?

Photo Op Prop

Here is what you need:

Spray Adhesive

2 yards of fabric (or more depending on the size of your monster)

Sheets of foam for eyes and spots

THICK Cardboard (or a sheet of wood would work as well)

Scissors

Knife or razor blade

Duct tape or Hot glue (optional)

Draw out the outline of a monster onto cardboard.  I used a piece of cardboard that came in the bottom of a chair box, so it was double-thickness and super sturdy.  If you are only creating a stand-up Mo, not a hungry Mo, regular cardboard would be fine.  For a hungry Mo, you want something sturdy that will hold up to little hands pushing and pulling.
I used my carving knife (brand new out of the box… I got it for my wedding… 8 years ago. SHHHHhhh!) to cut out Mo’s shape and mouth.
Spray adhesive all over the front of the cardboard shape and let sit for a short period, following the instructions on the spray adhesive.
Lay the fabric across the cardboard and stretch it across, smoothing it in place.  The great thing about the spray adhesive is that the fabric can be repositioned as necessary.
Flip the cardboard over and spray the back edge and sides.  Stretch the fabric around the edges and stick to the back.
Remove any excess fabric.
Flip the cardboard back over and put a slit about an inch or two from the top of the mouth.
Spray the inside and back edges of the mouth and fold it up and stick to the back.  Next cut out the middle of the mouth, leaving about 2 inches along the rest of the mouth.  You will need to make some notches so that you can smooth the mouth out and stick to the back of the mouth.  If you make a mistake you can always use some of your fabric scraps to cover any exposed cardboard.
Next, add a black piece of fabric draping down the back so that you can’t see through the Monsters mouth.  I didn’t have a big enough piece of black fabric, so I stuck two pieces together using duct tape and then taped that to the back, about 5 inches above the mouth.
Lastly, cut out monster eyes and dots and use the spray adhesive to stick them to the front of Mo.
That’s it!  Now you have your very own monster friend!
I can’t wait to get this set-up for pictures during the birthday party.  I think he’ll be a hit! I haven’t figured out how I am going to make him stand up yet.  Probably just create some sort of supports, but I’m not worried.  Once I decide what I’m going to do I will let you know!
UPDATE: We cut two pieces of wood at an angle, and nailed into them from the front of Mo (on either side), and covered the nails with spots.  The bottoms were placed snug into the ground.
Check out pictures of the Monster Party Photo Prop in action!