While in Colorado for work, my nephew had his 3rd birthday. He decided this year he wanted a Cars party and he especially loves Mater. Well his mama isn't a huge fan of go to the store and buy all the pre-made party supplies and I m on the same page with her on that. There is nothing wrong with it but I like to make my own and give it a more personalized touch. So she decided to do a vintage Radiator Springs look. Which is exactly what Radiator Springs is hah.
While watching the movie she had seen Mater's sign and decided that would be a perfect main decoration to put over the table. I was asked to make it and of course jumped to it because I was so excited and loved the idea. She also decided she wanted some sort of activity for the kids to play to keep them entertained. We were coming up with lots of different ideas such as Fillmore's Tye-dye station or Sally's cone maze. All of a sudden she was like what about a corn hole game where it is Mater and we cut his teeth out and throw white bean bags so they look like his teeth! It was PERFECT!! That was my other project! Both are very easy to make and looked awesome at the party if I do say so myself. Let's get started on how I did it.
TO MAKE THE MATER SIGN:
- brown/tan poster board (mine was like a 4'x4' photo mat that I got at hobby lobby for $9)
- white craft paint
- black spray paint
- twine
- Styrofoam rings
- hot glue
- carabiner
After you cut it out take the white craft paint and do and outline of the main body as well as the crane part of the tow truck.While I was painting I didn't do a perfectly coated, crisp job because I wanted it to look like Mater made it and that it was old and worn.
You can then paint the words with the same craft paint and let dry. While that is drying cut out a small rectangle punch holes in it and paint "welcome" on it. Then line it up where you want it on the body of the truck punch holes in that and attach. I used key rings and it worked perfectly.
Next cut a circle out of the same board and with hot glue attach a piece of twine and the circle to the crane portion of the tow truck. This just gives the look of the pulley and cable. At the end of the twine I added a small carabiner to look like a hook. Then take the two styrofoam rings and spray paint them black. When they are dry glue them to the body of the truck and it is all done. The way I did this made it light weight so we didn't have to use anything super heavy duty to hang it on the wall. In fact we used thumbtacks and it wasn't going anywhere.
NOW FOR THE CORN HOLE GAME!
- 4' x 2' plywood board
- two 16" pieces of 2x4
- two 48" pieces of 2x4
- screws
- wood glue
- form of legs i did metal L brackets
- your choice of paint colors
- clear spray paint or polyurethane
- sawzall
- bean bags bought or make your own
I then shaded in the teeth i was going to cut out to see it slightly better. I drilled some holes in the corners of the teeth that way I could get my sawzall blade in and cut them out. I then sanded the edges of the hole down as well as all the edges around the plywood.
After the teeth were cut out I started painting. I made it pretty simple and used brown, white, black, and blue. I did mix the colors some to add variety to him and i can't tell you the ratios because I just did it to my own liking which is how you should do yours as well.
I let it dry and then took the sharpie back over and redid the outlines to make it crisper. Next I took the cut pieces of 2x4s and glued them to the back edges of the plywood and clamped them into place to dry. I wasn't in a hurry so I left them to dry 24hours and then screwed them into place using countersunk heads so they wouldn't be sticking out. I then painted the background and over the screws and let that dry.
Now for the legs, I used two 6" L brackets and screwed those into the frame only at the top.After all of this I grabbed a clear spray paint and did a top coat. This just gave it a nice glossy finish and also made it so if anything spilled on it or it started to rain it would wipe right off.
I made 6 beanbags out of white cotton fabric and rice because it was cheaper then buying some. And I know most corn hole games the hole is at the top but we weren't trying to make a regulation table we just thought it was a cute idea and kids and adults alike loved it.
Here are both the finished products being used as decorations when everyone came in.
And here is Mater out in the yard ready for use.
