Meet Sweetie the Dragon

Sweetie is a friendly, candy-breathing dragon who has greeted trick-or-treaters every year since Halloween 2000. She consists of a papier mache head, a cloth body and corrugated PVC--which produces a satisfying sound when the candy rolls down the pipe.

This year, I added a castle costume for our house. Didn't manage to cover the whole front of the house--wait until next year!


The trick-or-treat crowd especially appreciated that masked man in the attic, sending down candy with a maniacal smile:

These photos were taken October 31, when we had 60 second- and third-graders visit Sweetie.

On October 26, during neighborhood trick-or-treating, we were hit with winds gusting up to 40 mph. The top part of the castle blew down, and after the first hour, the two pipes inside Sweetie came apart, so the candy didn't make it all the way to her mouth. We had to hand out candy the usual way. As I was sitting on the stoop, waiting for more visitors, a huge gust of wind shook Sweetie--and all the chocolate eyeballs that had gotten stuck inside her rained down on my head!

I came up with a stronger frame for the top part of the castle and replaced Sweetie's guts with one 22-foot piece of pipe. Now the attic guy can speak into the pipe, and the sound carries nicely right down to the ground. Suddenly Sweetie has a maniacal smile, too.

Watch for additional posts on making papier mache gargoyles and painting castle walls.