"River Monster" Spotted in Indianapolis!

My 9-yr old son Zander is obsessed with becoming a world famous, extreme angler, like Animal Planet's Jeremy Wade, the star of "River Monsters". He's spent the last several months watching every tv episode, reading all kinds of fish stories and planning for future fishing excursions.

Each year about September, we start talking about what each one of our four children wants to be for Halloween. This year, Zander's answer was easy. "I want to be an extreme angler" he says.  I'm thrilled because I think how easy this is going to be. Oh, and how cute...

When I was little, we would challenge our imaginations to make our costumes from things we found around the house. Mom would break out the acrylic paints and her home ec skills. Dad would do any constructing we would need. It was awesome.

Since I became a mom, I've always felt like I've taken the easy way out. Either we head to Costco, or to the couch to order online the costumes of choice. This year, the only children's size fisherman costumes I could find were for toddlers or grown ups. The little tykes were adorable, but too cutesy and baby-like.

So I start thinking... about how unique a look Jeremy Wade has. A unique, distinct and easily replicated one. I realized that Zander could actually be Jeremy Wade for Halloween, not just any ol' fisherman, but the extreme angler himself. All we would need, is to buy a pair of cargo pants, a long sleeve button up, collared shirt, and white hair spray. The key to pulling it off though, would be the fish. Yep, he'd need a really big monster fish.

I instantly have visions of twisting wire, paper mache and paint flying through my head. I could do it... I could make a monster fish. Better yet, I could make the inside big enough to hold the candy too. People would put their hands into the big mouth, past the pointy teeth to give him the candy. How cool would that be? At this point, I could feel the gooey, paper mache running between my fingers. I could smell the strips of newspaper and just imagine Zander as the 'cutest little mini-angler' ever created.

The Supply List

Paper Mache (mix equal parts water and flower, with a little bit of salt)

Strips of newspaper

Plastic gloves

Thin gauge wire (you want to be able to bend it with your hands easily. I used .5mm wire you would usually use to hang plants, or possible anchor a christmas tree to a wall.)

Needle nose pliers & wire cutters

Duct Tape

Foam Craft Balls

An exacto knife

Acrylic paints & brushes

Glue

2 Straight pins

Paint primar

Large empty plastic jar (I used an old pretzel container to put in the belly of the fish to hold the candy)

Length of time: Multiple days. It took me about a month to get it done.

Step 1: First, I built a wire frame to the shape of what I thought would resemble a monster fish. Looking back, I would have started with an actual photo to go off of. As it is, I made it up as I went. I cut the wire up into smaller sections, about two to three feet in length and twisted the pieces together securely. I added the tail (yes, I know it's horizontal, and not vertical as it's supposed to be, but what can I say... I was thinking about dolphins), the fins and the teeth. Zander insisted that we include dorsal fins, so I added those too.

Step 2: I decided to use duct tape to create a base layer to hold the paper mache strips to. This also provided structural support since the thin wire is really flimsy.

Note: Jocelyn doesn't usually wear such drastic make up.
She was a vampire girl earlier in the day.

Step 3: Here comes the fun part. Tear the newspaper into strips about 1" by 6". Mix the paper mache. Dip the individual strips in the goo and remove the excess by pulling the strips between two fingers. I prefer to use plastic gloves for this since the salt in the mixture burns dry skin. Overlap and criss cross the strips.

Put the large empty plastic container in the belly of the fish while everything is still wet and pliable.

Step 4: I balled up newspaper to shove inside the fish around the container. This helped support the weight of the wet paper mache, so the fish would retain its shape and not start to collapse in on itself.

Step 5: Let it dry completely for a few days, and then add a second layer or paper mache.

Step 6: Once it's completely dry and firm, you're ready to paint. Start with a white, water based paint primer. One coat should do it.

Step 7: I cut down two small foam craft balls to form the bug eyes. I glued them down, painted them, and added the straight pins to add a gleam to the eye and secure them to the fish.

Step 8: Use acrylic paints to finish off the desired look.

Some of you may be saying to yourselves, "She's crazy! She did all that work for a Halloween costume prop?". I agree, I may be crazy... and it may be one of the best thingamajigs I've ever created.

Hopefully, Zander will have some great memories of the Halloween he had a one of a kind costume... and of course, was the star of River Monsters for a few short hours.

What was your favorite homemade costume? Were you a child, or a full grown, Halloween-loving adult? Post in the comments below.