Last night I was one of the Judges for the Costume Contest at Navy Pier.
The annual event draws quite a crowd of people vying for the big prizes. During the day they had the kid’s Costume Contest… but I was busy making my own little Minion’s costume. So I could only be there to judge the adult costumes. The Family Pavilion at Navy Pier was packed with people, costumes & excitement.

The fun started right off the bat with Heinrich the emcee for the night! Apparently, he’s also part of the Navy Pier Crew. But he got the party started with his outlandish get-up!

There were so many fun costumes, and some not so great. And it was my job, along with two other Judges, to decide which one would be the top three costumes! Of course I was looking for creativity & sense of humor. And a commitment to a complete look from top to bottom. Plus, my personal preference is for someone who actually makes their own costume instead of just buying one from a store! So here’s a few contenders…

BABY ON BOARD…

THE ADULT VENDING MACHINE…

THE GRIM REAPER…

FOURSOME??? – Unfortunately for them, I didn’t quite get the connection… or theme?…

Third Place – THE INVISIBLE MAN

Second Place – GRETA GREMLIN from the movie “Gremlins 2”

He put in a huge amount of work on this! From the huge false eyelashes to the glittering red lips. The bedazzled stiletto heels. Not to mention the incredible handpainted body makeup from head to toe! Amazing.

And for those of you who never saw “Gremlins 2″… here’s movie Greta’s headshot…

Everyone wanted to get into the act… including one of Navy Pier’s head honchos Jen!

First Place – and the winner of round-trip airplane tickets… THE GARGOYLE.

All three of us Judges appreciated that the entire piece was handmade. That she had used so many different pieces & parts, so many textures, so many details. Not only the Gargoyle with extending wings, the claws, the teeth, the parapet of “stone.” Everything was created just for this. No store purchase mask here. We loved it. And so did the crowd watching.

And here’s my favorite part… that she had worked so hard on all of the details…
but left one small part “undecorated.” Too funny… and obviously homemade!!!

So here they are all together, the three top winners! Celebrating their Halloween victories!!!

And at the end of the night, I decided to celebrate my own little “victory” with a stop at one of my very favorite spots at Navy Pier. A little congratulatory snack for a busy day of Halloween fun!