Handmade Halloween

Join Susan at Entertain  Exchange for this awesome Handmade Halloween Contest and enter to win one of 5,  $50 Gift Cards to some pretty amazing online stores. There are 5 categories to enter which means 5 chances to win! Categories include Halloween Parties-all ages, Handmade Halloween Decor, Handmade Halloween Costumes-ages 0-10, Handmade Halloween Costumes-ages 11-18, and Handmade Halloween Costumes-ages 19+. 
This is my entry for the Handmade Halloween Costumes-ages 19+. 
My husband, Carl, has always loved Halloween. He is a Special Effects Make-Up Artist, so naturally we dress up each year. We had our first and second dates right around Halloween time too so we made a tradition of dressing up each year and going to various haunted houses and attractions. Carl always wanted to be the character Pinhead from the movie Hellraiser because it was such an awesome costume and makeup. If you're not familiar with this horror flick, here was the inspiration. 

 While Carl focused on creating the facial make-up (his specialty) for this costume, I searched for materials to make the actual outfit. I found cheap black vinyl and basic black fabric to create this look. After a few measurement errors and a lot of hand sewing, I finally got it right. I had never sewn before...so this was quite the  task to take on as my first attempt. Here is the result...

Not to shabby right? We went to the Renaissance Fair Halloween Party that evening. Carl almost took first prize in their Costume Contest, but was beat out by a man dressed  as Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. No one can resist anyone resembling Johnny Depp. 

It took about 4 hours for Carl to apply  the make-up on himself. Thankfully, all the pins stayed where they belonged throughout  the evening. I was very proud of our creation. The best part of the evening for me was coming home and watching Carl try to remove the make-up. Did I mention that the make-up is not just painted on his face...it is made of 2 prosthetic foam latex pieces that he sculpted and molded to fit his face. Did I also mention that in order for the pieces to be able to move with his facial expressions that the foam latex is actually GLUED TO HIS FACE?   Over the years, Carl has glued many things to my  face for practice and he never really understood how painful it is to remove. It's like going to a spa and getting a facial...because taking this stuff off literally takes off the top layer of skin if your not careful. 

I hope you enjoyed our Homemade Halloween Costume! Make sure to check  out the other entries at Entertain Exchange!

And just for fun...I thought I would share a few more Halloween and Make-Up FX photo's. This is Carl's "early"  work. 

Bear attack victim on the left, burn victim on the right. 

Burn victim #2. Guess what it's made out of? Gelatin...and it smelled horrible. 

The female Joker!

Zombie

This wasn't actually Halloween, it was an 80's themed New Years Eve Party....but the concept still works. Carl was actually standing behind a booth in the restaurant and a man came up and "smacked" him in the face and which point Carl moved and scared the CRAP out of the guy because he thought Carl was a statue!

You'll never guess what this is made out of...but if you leave me a comment with your best guess I'll e-mail you the secret!

Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to hearing from you!