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When I’m planning a party, I always look for little details that I can incorporate the bring the theme into every little part that I can. While trying to brainstorm for wall decor for a Harry Potter party, I thought of Professor Umbridge’s magical animated cat plates in her office. She’s a terrible person, of course, but those cat plates were pretty adorable.
Of course, ours aren’t animated, but I literally spent more time looking for the right plates to repurpose than I spent on the entire rest of the project! Our local thrift store always has a selection of mismatched china for about a dollar apiece, so I went through and found some that were pleasantly floral and not too big, because I knew I wanted a three-piece set.
When I was digging through the piles of mismatched china, I kept a couple things in mind.
- I didn’t want to spend too much money. There were gorgeous plates in these stacks, but I just couldn’t bring myself to spend $5 or $6 on it. I was aiming for under $2, and succeeded.
- Variety of sizes. The three I ended up with are 6.25″, 7.5″ and 8″
- I wanted a line around the edge of the inner flat of the plate. When looking at china designs, they often have a line that runs between the decorative border and the central circle of the plate (basically defining where your food would go.)
The gold border on the edge of the paper here is actually a part of the design. I wanted this line so that it could help hide the border of the paper and the plate.
I did get one plate without this border, as you can see below. Instead, I created my own border in a coordinating color.
When it came to the actual execution, it couldn’t get much easier! I measured the flat area of the plate for each one, and sized my photos accordingly. I used stock photos, but you could absolutely use photos of your own cats, just be prepared to spend some time editing in Photoshop (or the app of your choice) to remove the background.
I cut the circles out on the Glowforge, but you could use a Silhouette or scissors too.
Then it’s just a quick spritz of spray adhesive (This one’s my favorite) and a careful placement on the plate. You can hang them with plate hangers or some cute little display easels and you’re all set!
Professor Umbridge Cat Plates
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