DIY $1 Manhole Cover

Create a DIY $1 manhole cover for your favorite little Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fan!

I know what you’re thinking… why would you want to make a manhole cover??

Well, if you’ve seen my last couple of blog posts you know we recently had a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle party for my oldest’s 5th birthday.

And with TMNT’s comes the need for some manhole covers!

They make for great party decor, and we even used one as a serving tray on the party table.

Today I’m going to show you how to make one of these manhole covers for a mere $1!

You can create the manhole cover in 4 simple steps.

I will show you how!

I whipped out 2 of them in a couple of hours!

Let’s look at the supplies needed to make the manhole cover:
1 pizza pan (Dollar Tree!)
scrap cardboard cut into 1.5″ x .5″ strips
3-D alpha letters
large-size aluminum foil
two shades of gray paint
paintbrushes
Q-tip
roller (Amazon affiliate link)

I had all of these supplies on hand except for the pizza pan!

Find the center of the pizza pan and place the 3-D letters there to spell out “sewer.”

My letters are self-adhesive and stick in place. Glue yours as needed

Arrange the cardboard strips into a manhole cover-like pattern around the letters.

For the strips shown above outlined in red you will want to trim the strips down to 1″ x .5″.

Once you have all of the cardboard arranged where you want it, go back and glue the strips to the pizza pan.

Place a piece of the foil over the pizza pan and loosely fold over the edges.

Keep the foil loose so that it is not stretched to breaking when you begin the embossing process.

To emboss the foil, use the Q-tip to gently outline the letters.

Use the roller then the Q-tip to bring out the shape of the cardboard strips.

If the foil breaks at any time don’t freak out!

Simply place a small piece of the foil under the broken space and keep on working.

You will never see it in the end!

On the back of the pizza pan, trim any excess foil for a nice finish.

The embossing alone isn’t enough to truly bring out the look of the manhole cover.

That is where the paint comes in!

Gently brush a coat of the lighter gray paint all over the foil.

The upper left corned of the manhole cover has paint. The rest of the foil is unpainted.

We’re already beginning to see the look of the manhole cover coming through, not to mention a more grungy look a manhole cover would have (have you ever seen a super shiny and clean manhole cover?).

After allowing the paint to dry, use the darker gray paint to fill in the deeper areas of the manhole cover.

The paint will not be smooth, but the rough look adds to the grunge effect.

And there you go!

We have a custom manhole cover for your Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle birthday party or, you know, for whatever!

Not bad for $1.

 

Would your TMNT fan love this DIY $1 manhole cover?

 

>> See where I party! <<