Halloween!

I've always loved Halloween, but unfortunately most of my youth was spent in sub-par costumes that were so pathetic my parents didn't even bother to document them. If you'll observe the picture below, you'll see me dressed as She-Ra (from the He-Man cartoon series) and David as the karate kid. This is probably the most my parents ever spent on a costume for us. In later years I would be a cat not once, but twice, meaning that we merely paired ears and a tail with a sweatsuit. I would also use my mom's nightgown as a wedding dress another year, borrow my neighbor's cheerleading uniform still another year, and stuff a homemade pumpkin outfit my mom got for free at an estate sale with newspaper another year. Clearly my parents have never been as enthusiastic about Halloween as I am.


This year, however, I set out on an adventure to make my very own super awesome costume, that would be sure to put all others to shame. I've wanted to make this costume ALL year, ever since I read on My Life Is Average that someone else had done it. With the help of a couple dear friends, as well as my mom and step-dad, I was able to accomplish my dream of being the house from "Up" this Halloween.
Here are my good friend, Denton, and my mom working away. We made the frame from cardboard, then used popsicle sticks for siding and shingling, until we discovered the glorious power of FOAM. If you ever want to make this costume, please take my advice - ditch the popsicle sticks and just cut foam into strips! You'll save so much time!

And here's the finished project! The colors aren't actually right, but we had to improvise. I'm pretty sure it's still awesome anyways. I added the special touch of putting the characters in the windows.
We used my dad's rainbow suspenders to hold the house up. Denton had to try them on himself. I caption this picture as "Hey there kids...why don't you come on down to my basement for some candy." (*sidenote: This guy spent his ENTIRE weekend helping me build this. I seriously couldn't have done it without him. He's so amazing he should pretty much be a saint. Just sayin')
And here he is enjoying my Mom's shakeweight. If you haven't seen those commercials...well, don't. They're so wrong.
Voila! The finished product! And I might add that I actually won a costume contest!
Denton unenthusiastically poses for a picture to display our glorious work of art.
Some other friends who participated in the contest. Hobbits!
Wayne & Garth!
Wayne and Garth using Ariel's dinglehopper to devour Flounder. Mmm...
All in all, it was a delightful halloween...well, except for the fact that I was sick all weekend and didn't actually get any rest because I stayed up late working on the house. But that house is my pride and joy, and I seriously felt like I was reliving my childhood when I won that contest. I'm such a nerd...I know...and now I can't wait to make something for next year!