For three years I've been saying that I want to be a smurf for Halloween. This year I finally made the effort to make that wish come true. I introduce to you Papa Smurf! The total cost of the costume was about $40, half of which was the red shirt with which I made the had. Because I waited until the last minute to prepare, the hat wasn't constructed very well. The paint took about 30 minutes to apply, and began flaking off about an hour later. I apologize to Christian and Brandon, whose car and bathroom were flecked blue by my crumbling costume. You'll notice in the photo that my beard has worn away a bit of the color from my shoulders.

Marshall and Karsten, enjoying our friend Jon's annual Halloween party. It was extremely crowded, and I feared rubbing my color off onto my fellow party-goers. I somehow managed to forget my camera, so this shot with my phone was the only one I took. Several people whom I don't know wanted to get their photo taken with Papa Smurf, so there are several of floating around somewhere.

Mid-application of the body paint. I'd hoped to get liquid latex, but could not find in stock at any local store. Once I decided to do the smurf costume, I didn't have time to order over the net. The only option, then, was the cream face paint, which wasn't really made to cover your whole body. It took five tubes of the stuff to cover my upper body. Red hair is a nice contrast to royal blue skin.