The...The...The......THE GRINCH

Hello readers and Pinterest pinners!

First off, I must apologize for my long absence. I was busy getting engaged/married/honeymooning/moving twice/changing careers. But, I am back as I always intended.

Last time I posted I promised some Halloween enthusiasts posts, and I am here to FINALLY deliver. Last October, Matt (my husband) and I won "Most Elaborate" of the biggest costume contest in Seattle.

PULSE at EMP

Most Elaborate is not an understatement, I made almost every piece of both of our costumes, including Matt's facial prosthetic.

It all began with a Christmas party in 2011... It was a Christmas character costume party.

Matt and I chose The Grinch and Cindy Lou Who. It was sort of last minute, but I of course stay fully stocked in special effects make up (Why? Because Im obsessed.) So decided to just paint Matt's face to look like the grinch instead of trying to find a mask. It turned out pretty awesome... see for yourself.

I didn't spend nearly as much time on myself as I did on him, but I managed to pull off Cindy Lou Who alright.

After that night, Matt said he would be the Grinch again, and that set me on a crazy path to make this an outrageous Halloween costume. If you know me at all, you know I live and breath for halloween and anything scary. So my twisted mind turned good ole Grinch and Cindy Lou Who into a horror story.

A dirty, decaying Grinch with a deadly virus bites Cindy Lou Who. The once cute and innocent little girl begins to turn into a horrifying zombie Who.

Painting Matt's face again wasn't enough for me anymore, I decided to make him a facial prosthetic. Step 1, Face cast. If you are interested in doing one for yourself, you can find life casting supplies at most pottery supply stores. I had to drive to downtown seattle to find ours. It was worth it.

Isn't he a good sport?! Silicone goes first. Then I created a hard cast to support the silicone mold. Make sure you use a model who is clean shaven and LOTS of barrier cream.

The silicone mold goes into the hard cast, now you have a mold to pour your stone. The mixture goes in, let it dry completely, and now you can start sculpting.

I didn't want it to be a full mask, just enough to give him exaggerated Who-like features. Since I wasn't creating a typical grinch, I let the clay stay imperfect and took away his button nose and replaced it with skeleton like features. Molding over the stone cast allows you to get a perfect fit on your subject. If you want to be super perfect, make 2 stone casts so the fit snuggly with the silicone of the molded cast. Next I covered my finished sculpture in the same silicone and placed it in the hard plaster cast so I could pour in the liquid latex.

This part takes A LOT of PATIENCE. I mixed the liquid latex with a little green and brown paint until it reached the hue I liked. **If you do this at home, please note that the color dries MUCH darker than when liquid, you really don't need a lot of paint.** Pour in little bits at a time, rotating the cast to make sure you cover all sides and allow to dry before you add layer after layer until you reach a sturdy thickness all around. I used a blowdryer to speed up the process. Once dry it will peel off the silicone as long as you used a Vaseline of some sort.

I cut out the eyes, chin and bottom lip, and fit it to Matt's face.

Unfortunately we were so pressed for time while we got ready for the party that I didn't stop to take photos of how to apply the prosthetic. My tip for this, though, is to use thin layers of tissue with Elmer's glue to blend the lines of the prosthetic into the face. I painted over his entire face and glued cotton "hair" to his eyebrows and neck.

We used a mixture of fabric paint and colored hairspray to cover his hair and hands.

We previously made his "Beast" pants and sprayed them down with the same spray to match.

Add some lizard contacts, a santa jacket, slippers and BOOM. Scary Grinch!

Once again, I took so much care with The Grinch that I ran out of time for myself! I did manage to make my clothes and order some Black Sclera contacts.

My Eyes water just LOOKING at this photo. These contacts are extremely uncomfortable!

As I was saying, I ran out of time while getting Matt ready so I had to do my makeup in the car on the way to the party! I could have done a much better job had I not been in the dark, in a moving vehicle, and rushed. I somehow managed, though :)

There were over 1,000 people in this competition, the judges decide who goes into top 3 for each category and the rest is up to the audience. There was this great Buzz Lightyear up against us and seeing his costume made me a little nervous, but when a heard the crowd ROAR when the host announced us, all the hard work I did was validated, and we took an awesome bag full of prizes home.