Monster Kid Birthday Party

For Mr. Husband's birthday theme this year I went with Monster Kid!
Monster Kid is a term used primarily for kids (boys) that grew up between the 1960's-1980's and were into monster flicks, magazines, comics, and all of the Halloweenish stuff that goes along with it.
He is a huge fan of all things creepy, spooky, icky, and ooky.



Comic ads, gags, and cheap dime store trinkets were a big part of this era.
I printed out several vintage comic ads poster sized to use as the focal wall decor.
The gumball machine is actually his birthday cake.



The top thin section and the bottom are made of cake.  The middle is a plastic mini critter tank turned on it's side.  I put a print of a vintage monster head gumball insert inside with some of those goodie globes, then covered the open front area with clear cellophane hot glued to the edges, red electric tape as edging. It's hard to make out but I made a turn knob and dispenser flap for the lower section out of thin cardboard covered in aluminum foil.   The 51¢ sign is a reference to Mr. Husband's age.

For decor I scoured our Halloween stuff for appropriate pieces.

Skulls, snakes, spiders, dismembered parts, rubber monsters....





On top of the china cabinet, I created a mini Joke shop featuring reprodution rubber creepy masks, groucho glasses, Igglee Wigglees, and ads.



On the front of of the cabinet I put prints of other items appearing to be still in packaging along with more ads and monster stickers.

The table centerpiece features reproduction Monster Name Stickers and other plastic creepy bits.

I used the book Mail Order Mysteries  written by Kirk Demarais as inspiration for this party.  We LOVE this book.  It features vintage comic book ads for stuff that sounded amazing but then Kirk has gotten his hands on what you were really sent and gives a review about the products.  It's super fun and funny. 

Kirk Demarais also made an awesome 2004 short film called Flip which features a Monster Kid in the 60's mulling over what comic book ad item he should buy with his birthday dollar.  The film did a wonderful job of portraying the period look properly and the story is sweet.  We watched the film as part of the birthday activities.  Mr. Husband has an original poster from the short film as seen in the above photo because Nightmare Theatre, his horror host show, played it during a film festival when it was first released.

  Got MC Bones on the turntable scratchin' out birthday beats!


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Scary, Life Size Monster Ghost!
Obeys Your Commands!



I decided to try my hand at making what I thought the "life sized" monster would look like as part of the party decor!  It's a black plastic table cloth, a plastic clothes hanger and a green balloon that I drew a face on similar to the one in the ad.  I hung it up with fishing line so it could then "obey my commands"!



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One of the gifts I got for Mr. Husband was a set of Monster Magic Action Trading Cards from the 60's or 70's.  As shown above with the vending machine insert, the cards were sold individually and you used a lenticular plastic "magic" lens to make the scene move!



They are beautifully illustrated and I am easily entertained by this kind of stuff.



Here is the Monster Kid about to hack into his cake with an oversized Pee Wee Herman knife and fork!  I also made ice cubes with plastic spiders in them for the beverages.


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This vintage ad is a work of art.  I could not figure out what the shape of the order form was suppose to be though.  All I could see, because of the current state of things, was a half medical mask but I knew that wasn't what it could be.  I asked Mr. Husband and he figured it out.  Can you?  I'll put the answer in the comments.

All of the images I used for this party are sourced on my Monster Kid Pinterest Board .

Nirvana Party

This year for PB's birthday I decided to go with the theme of the band Nirvana.
He has been really getting into music lately and I am pleased he prefers mine and Mr. Husband's kind of jams, 80's - 90's alternative stuff.

I went with the idea of what walls at punk houses and clubs, along with what my walls looked like as a teenager, but with the emphasis on just one band.
Here is the top of the sideboard in the dining room along with the focal wall.  I found scans of vintage Nirvana band posters (before they hit mainstream too hard.  Oh my gosh! 4 dollar shows!!!) on the nets.  I then printed them out on the large format printer at our library.

To have true punk/grunge decor there must be at least one "stolen" milk crate used as either a shelf, a drawer, a seat, or a table.  I bought this one at a thrift store so that's still ok with the punk rockers.  We used ours to hold vintage alterna records.

For christmas last year PB got a guitar similar to one Kurt Cobain played so I used it as part of the decor.

On top of the china cabinet is a small vignette featuring a t-shirt PB made when he was in first grade.  He has been a fan for a long time.  I also thought it was an appropriate thing to have as decor since Kurt Cobain was known for drawing and making his own white tees into fashion statements. Such as his infamous "Corporate Magazines Still Suck" tee he made to wear on the cover of Rolling Stone circa 1992:

I went with that idea for the birthday cake!



I tried very hard to make the cake it's self look bakery perfect but the lettering be grudge style. I just can't do "perfect".

Other bits of decor I included were christmas lights, ratted out flannel (I mean duh!  flannel= grudge!) fabric scraps, candles, and Mr. Husband's old combat boots.  I thought it really turned out looking right.  Part of this style is the idea of anti-style.  Another theme within it is anti-mainstream and being different but not wanting to be noticed as different.  It's complex, but since this bipolar mind set has been a part of my own life for so long I feel I did this theme justice but also anti-justice...If that makes sense?


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Anywho, here is PB wearing his full on Nirvana look:

In a grudge alterna- mom way I say:
happy birthday to my sweetest pea...or what ever dude.

Get Well Soon! Fishing card

This is the last and my most favorite from the set of  vintage Get Well cards I picked up at an estate sale last year.
Look what it comes with!

A mini fishing pole and two paper fish are in the little package tucked in the front saying "Fishing Toy".  It works by having a metal bar on the end of the string and the fish have the thinnest of metal bits on their mouths.  In the scan above, the bar is not seen because it came off the string right as I was placing it on the scanning bed, but it can be fixed.

I hope this series of Get Well cards finds you all well.
I send them out virtually to the world right now.

Get Well soon! Watch card

This card comes with a nonfunctional watch.  It only works twice a day at 4:38.  These are the times mother delivers the alcohol based spoonfuls of nighty-night and hallucinations.  Those kids riding the watch have already been dosed.

Get Well Soon! Bubble gum cats card

These cuddly kittens are delivering a piece of gum (long gone and corroded) from the little glass jar of "get well wishes"!  Huh.  I've never heard tale of this magical container.
The wording on this card puts me off a bit.  The saying on the left, rhymes well, but what if the kid isn't better today?  The kittens have been misinformed.  The wording on the right?  The sentiment is great but it doesn't follow the rhyming and it's almost cultish with "Everyone is glad!"
This card must be for a child member of a Kitten Cult that dapples in sugar based magic.

Get Well Soon! Clown card

And now for something creepy!  Get well or I'll send in the clowns!
Clippy here is telling you it's just loads of fun to blow up a balloon.  What if the kid has a lung condition, Clippy?!

This card featured a balloon for the nose, but had long past been lost and probably deteriorated when I discovered this set of cards last year at an estate sale.  

Get Well Soon! Paper doll card

This Get Well card has a fun paper doll.  It's accessories include a "sou' wester" which I am figuring is a rain cap along with a school bag.  Being sick is already horrible enough, but this little reminder of "oh, yeah, and you are going back to school, just as soon as we get this diarrhea under control.  Either that or you are wearing a diaper!"

I did a quick search on Sou'wester (yeah, it's a rain hat like the Gorton's Fisherman) and I came across this super cute Vintage Travel Trailer Camp in Washington called the Sou'Wester!  The interiors are done up vintage.  Check it out, eye candy.

Get Well Soon! Bird game card

This is the second card in the 7 kiddie Get Well cards I picked up at an estate sale last year.  It includes a game of button toss.  The artwork on this one is adorable.  I particularly like the black bird and the puppy with the web footed red crested lake loon on his noggin.

Get Well Soon! Circus game card

This next set of 7 cards is super fun.  Each has an activity for the bed ridden child!
This one includes a game board of a visit to the circus.  Peanuts, ice cream, and a visit to the "fat lady"!

Get Well Soon!

I came across a stash of super cute Get Well cards last year at an estate sale.

This one features two bears on the inside that when the card is opened their arms with the paint brushes move!  I think it's interesting that this artist views cartoon bears as only needing a top button on their shirts, let the belly flop on out!

I have another set of 7 that are for kids that I will be posting up next.

Frigidaire Double Quickube Tray

I bought this double batch "Quickube" metal ice tray at an estate sale last year.  I thought I had already posted about it but I can't seem to find anything to support my claim.

Anyhoo, the metal cube dividers can be removed leaving a large metal tray.
I come across vintage recipes (ie:  Magic Lemon Ice Box Cake ) on a fairly regular basis that require the use of just the metal tray which I think is brilliant, making it multi-useful.
When I bought this ice tray I saw only large sized refrigerator desserts in it's future rather than 24 icy cubes!

I was just thinking that the dividers could still be used for frozen desserts to make little rectangle servings.  I, however, have always had a difficult time getting the cubes out of these kind of trays. I can't get the lever to crank and if I try running water over it my hands stick to the metal.  By the time it's all over it's become crushed ice.  So maybe 24 cubes of mangled dessert wouldn't be such a good idea.

Seamless Cookie Pan Liner

I happened to discover this paper insert folded and stuck inside a cookbook I picked up awhile back from a thrift store.  It would have originally been attached to a metal "Seamless Cookie Pan".

"Large surehold handles prevent burning hands"...so do oven mits!

I think this would be suitable for framing if it wasn't for it's hideous shades of blue. The cookies do look spectacular so maybe if I can just focus on them.

Oddly enough, among that plate there are no Oatmeal Drop Cookies as suggested from the recipe!

Funny Cake

It's a cake and a pie!?

It's Funny Cake from Pennsylvania Dutchland 1949.

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I am always up for making a vintage recipe that has got some kind of weirdness to it.  This dessert is a cake baked in a pie crust that also forms it's own magic bottom sauce layer!

I decided to go with the butterscotch sauce.  And take note that you pour the sauce over the top of the batter, not the crust before baking.  It somehow magically sinks to the bottom! I used chopped peanuts, but the original recipe image appears to have walnuts.

I did have a bit of a mishap with baking this dessert.  The batter vastly over expanded and spilled over, charring it's self to the bottom of the oven. Once I realized this was happening I quickly threw a baking sheet under the pie pan to catch the rest of it's copious spillage.  What ever hit the oven floor will eventually burn off as far as I am concerned.  I would approximate it spewed enough batter to make an entire second Funny Cake.  It could be my fault.  I don't always follow recipes to the letter, I see them as just a serving suggestion.  For one, I didn't use cake flour, just regular all purpose.  I think I have seen someplace that there is some mathematical equation/ magical incant to turn regular flour into cake flour, but I just don't care. I have been doing this for years and have never had a problem.  Another possible issue could have been my pie pan/crust was smaller than the original 1949 one.  I did use a 9 inch (pre-fab) crust as suggested, but theirs seems to have a deeper look to it.  I can only assume that the modern crusts are made more skimpy, and the savings certainly aren't passed on to me!  But, the batter that bailed was enough for an entire other pie, not just a extra centimeter.

Who knows what happened, and frankly I am not too concerned over.  I just thought I would give a fore warning.  The dessert that did manage to keep it's self in check was super yummy and I ate far too much of it!  I was even picking off bits from the cookie sheet that captured some of the cake geyser and munching on that too!