Meep! Meep! Meep!

(Title translation: A recap of our Halloween adventures!)

From Halloween 2009

Since we were invited to a Halloween party this year, Matt and I decided to make costumes. I've gotten good use out of the jack-o-lantern costume my mom sewed for me during my final year to go trick-or-treating when I was a teenager. But, this year, we wanted something special.

We considered going as Homer & Marge Simpson. It would fit us pretty well. However, the Homer masks we found were expensive, ugly & uncomfortable - and there's no real good way otherwise to paint yourself yellow. So, that was out.

Our next idea was something inspired by the Mythbusters. Yet, me going as Kari (as cool as she is) and Matt as Jamie or Adam (fitting since they're guys!)would just need a lot of explaining, even to our mostly geeky friends.

But, an image search brought up this: Dr. Bunsen Honeydew & Beaker, from Muppet Labs, as "The Original Mythbusters."

(As an aside, I only vaguely remember the Muppet Show - mostly recalling Pigs in Space - but that's another story.)

A few more google searches and we found several people who had made their own Honeydew & Beaker costumes and had some basic directions (in addition to a bunch of fun videos, especially the Ode to Joy). Yep, we had finally found the perfect costumes!

I worked on both heads over about 3 weeks. Honeydew is built around a large punching-bag sized balloon (from the party aisle at Target). Bunsen's head is built around a large paper bag. Both are covered in 3 or 4 layers of paper mache. Noses & other features were made from styrofoam balls or light-weight modeling clay. Beaker originally had a bit of wall-board sanding paper in his "mouth" so my face didn't show (removed when it got annoying). Everything got a few layers of paint, then Beaker got hair (a faux-feather boa from Hobby Lobby) and Bunsen got glasses (cut out from fun-foam). Lab coats ordered from amazon.com and ties from Matt's closet round out their attire.

Our outfits were a hit at the party on Friday. Several of my coworkers didn't recognize us, even as we talked. Matt had Bunsen's voice down, and I did my best "Meep! Meep! Meep!" impersonation.

We pulled the heads out again on Saturday to show our friend Lisa, and her friend & family (she blogged about our adventures here). Unfortunately, Lisa's coworker from Taiwan didn't recognize these Muppets, but we still had fun attempting to carve pumpkins.

We put the masks on one last time, around our house on Halloween night. One set of 2 little girls remarked to Matt "He's funny" (in absolutely adorable voices!) while their moms took our picture. Alas, only 7 kids came to our end of the street and up our driveway. This, of course, made Beaker a little bit sad.

From Halloween 2009

But, all in all, these were some of the most fun costumes either of us has ever made. Definitely a fun Halloween!

If you run into this blog because you're thinking about making a Muppet Labs costume for yourself, here are some things to keep in mind:

• You have absolutely no peripheral vision out masks like this. Not only should you not give the mask to a child and expect them to walk from house to house, it's hard for an adult to walk around a room.
• The masks caused both of us a lot of disorientation - like we needed larger air-holes. When we took off the masks, we both felt light-headed.
  
• The masks took time - 24 hours for each coat of paper mache and several hours for each coat of paint. This is not a last-minute costume you can whip together.
• They really are a lot of fun to make & wear, if you have time! Check out youtube to watch old clips of the Muppet show or rent old movies for inspiration.