Monster Party Decorations

You can go all out with your monster party decorations, or decide to keep your monster items to a minimum. Remember, younger children may be somewhat frightened by the monsters, so keep the age of the guests in mind when choosing decorations. Here are a few ideas for how to decorate your party space with a monster party theme:

To Greet Your Monster Party Guests

• Try drawing monster footprints leading up to your door using sidewalk chalk or cutting monster feet from green poster board and attaching them to the floor leading from the door to the main party room. 
• Hang a sign on your front door that says “Warning, monsters inside! Enter at your own risk!” 
• Make a banner that says “Welcome to [birthday child’s name]’s Monster Stomp!” and hang it near the party entrance. Or get a ready-made monster banner from Birthday in a Box.
• Make a kid-sized monster body to greet your guests as they arrive. Trace around your child’s body on poster paper and then paint the shape to look like Frankenstein or Godzilla. Cut out the monster body and attach it to sturdy cardboard using spray adhesive. Next, cut a hole the size of a child’s face where the monster’s face should be. Lean your monster against the back side of a chair, and take photos on party day of each guest looking through the monster face.
• Hand out neon glow necklaces to each guest at the front door.

The Monster Party Room

• Think green and black as the  main colors. Fill the room with balloons and streamers in these colors. 
• To create a dramatic look in the main party room by replacing the light bulbs with green or blue bulbs. 
• For older kids, rent or borrow a fog machine to create a spooky monster atmosphere.
• Play monster music such as: Monster in the Mirror (from Sesame Street), Monster Mash, The Purple People Eater, Addams Family Theme, Werewolves of London, Witch Doctor, Doin’ the Zombie, and Ghostbusters.

Table Decorations for Birthday Monsters

• Make monster hands! Stuff clear plastic gloves with tissue paper and tie them closed with black ribbon. Decorate by drawing a scar across the back of each hand with green craft paint, add fake fingernails, a ring, or attach a plastic insect. Place the monster hands on various tables, and save a few to perch on the edge of food platters!
• Make monster heads, too! Empty plastic milk jugs, turn the jugs upside down, and use acrylic craft paint to design a variety of monster heads. You can paint one jug green with brown scars on the face and head; paint another one purple with a goofy smile and lots of teeth; leave one jug white and use black paint to draw a face and lots of stitches across the head; and paint one jug blue with one big eye in the center. If you wish, add a Frankenstein look by attaching metal nuts to the neck or head using hot glue. To display the monster heads, fill a drink tub with a crumpled plastic tablecloth and arrange your monster heads in the tub as desired. To make the heads stand up on their own, set them inside a round plastic food storage container and attach with duct tape before painting.

Monster Party Food Ideas

There's nothing like icky eats for your monster party! Here are a few ideas to turn normal food items into a yummy monster meal!

• Serve food the children like, but give it a yucky monster name to make it more fun! Make little signs to put on the table in front of each food item so the kids can laugh as they eat. For example, mini pigs in a blanket can be called monster toes; grapes and melon balls can be called monster eyes, and apple slices cut with a pointed end can be called monster teeth.
• Monster Fingers - Make a plate of monster fingers by using a tiny dab of cream cheese (or peanut butter) to attach an almond slice “fingernail” to one end of a baby carrot.
• Slime Balls - Caramel apples can be called slime balls. You won’t need an entire apple for each guest, so make just a few and cut them into wedges after the children have seen them.
• Monster Head Dip - Serve your child’s favorite dip in a “monster head”. To make the head, cut one slice from the top of a round loaf of bread. Pull out the soft bread inside to create a hollow shell. (Discard the soft bread or save it for another use.) Decorate the front of the bread bowl to create a monster face, using slices of vegetables to create eyes, a nose, a mouth, and ears. Hold them in place with toothpicks. If you want the face to look more creepy, add a tongue cut from a piece of fruit leather or baloney.
• Monster Munch - Stir together a bowl of Monster Munch snack mix from dry cereal, cheese crackers, and pretzels.
• Monster Hands - Serve popcorn in monster hands! Use clear plastic gloves with one gumdrop in each finger tip and then fill with popcorn. Tie the gloves closed with a piece of green ribbon. Make enough for each guest and stack them in a bowl to look as if the hands are trying to crawl over the edge.
• Monster Snack Treats - Use individual slices of crispy rice cereal treats or brownies cut into rectangles about 2”x4”. Add green food coloring to a can of white frosting and then microwave briefly to soften. The frosting should be thin enough to pour, but not syrupy. Gently pour the green frosting over each treat. Next, melt 1/2 cup of chocolate chips in the microwave in a sturdy plastic bag. Snip off one corner of the bag and pipe a monster face onto each treat. For example, you can give some of the treats hair and a squiggly mouth; give others a triangle nose and a scar for a mouth, and for others create two fangs and shaggy looking hair. Be creative and design your own monster faces!
• Monster Toe Cookies - Use your favorite sugar cookie recipe or a roll of ready-made cookie dough from the grocery store. Add a small amount of green food coloring to the dough, and then shape into 1 ½ inch ovals. Roll the ovals in plain sugar and place on a cookie sheet. Press an oval shaped candy such as a black jelly bean or a peanut M&M onto one end of each cookie as the toenail. Bake as directed.
• Monster Juice with a Floating Monster Hand – The monster juice can be any colored drink such as orange soda, blue sport drink, or green kool-aid. Choose a different colored drink for the Floating Hand to achieve the best effect. Fill a plastic glove with a colored drink and freeze overnight. Carefully cut off the glove just before the party and let the hand float in a punchbowl of Monster Juice.

Monster Cakes 
Would your child like a yucky-looking but yummy-tasting monster cake? Make it yourself with one of these easy decorating ideas:

1. 1. Monster Layer Cake – Bake a chocolate layer cake in two round pans. When cool, spread a really thick layer of green frosting on one cake and place a few gummy worms on the edges so that they stick out from the sides. Then put the second cake on top and push down gently so that the green frosting oozes down the side. Do not frost the sides of the cake. Add another thick layer of green frosting to the top of the cake, and push some over the top edges to ooze down the sides. Scatter colored sprinkles over the top and decorate with gummy worms and candy eyeballs.
   2. Monster Head Cake – Fill one round layer cake pan with your favorite cake mix and pour the remaining batter into an oven-safe bowl. (For an 8” round cake pan, choose a bowl that is 8” wide.) Bake both cakes, allow them to cool, and remove from the pan and bowl. Place the layer cake on a cake plate and then lay the bowl cake upside down on top of the layer cake. This creates the shape of a monster head. Cover the entire cake with green frosting, and use a variety of items to decorate a face. For example, if your child likes coconut, sprinkle some on top as hair. Or use gummy worms on top to create curly hair. Then try large red gumdrops as eyes, and small black gum drops to create teeth. Or cut a piece of string licorice to create a friendly smile. Add chocolate sandwich cookies on both sides as ears. You can also cut a tongue from a piece of fruit leather and let it hang out of the mouth and onto the cake plate! To make it really gross, place a plastic bug on the end of the tongue.
   3. Monster Foot Cake – Bake your favorite cake mix in a 9”x13” cake pan. After the cake has cooled, use a serrated knife to cut out the shape of a wide monster foot with jagged toes (think Godzilla). Cover the cake with green frosting, and add Necco wafer candies to create scales. For the finishing touch, use almond slices or red gumdrops as toenails.
   4. Monster Eye Cupcakes – Bake any flavor cupcakes and cover with green frosting. Place one eyeball candy in the center of each cupcake.