ANNOUNCING: The Inhabitat 2011 Green Halloween Costume Contest Winners!

The time has finally come! After we narrowed down the <strong>70</strong> incredible entries in our <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/" target="_blank">Green Halloween Costume Contest</a> to <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/">29 amazing finalists</a>, you cast hundreds of votes to decide which handmade green Halloween costume would reign supreme, and we are thrilled to announce the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/" target="_blank">winners</a>! So which costume took the top prize? Was it the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/character-9-from-tim-burtons-movie-9/" target="_blank">handsewn Character 9</a> made from burlap sacks and paper mache, who held steady in first place? Or did the intricately woven <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/tesco-plastic-bag-warrior-princess/" target="_blank">Tesco Plastic Bag Warrior Princess</a> charge to the front of the pack? Jump ahead to see which creative DIY creation took the crown and which costumes the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/judges/" target="_blank">Inhabitat editors</a> liked best!

<h3>GRAND PRIZE WINNER: <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/tesco-plastic-bag-warrior-princess/" target="_blank">Tesco Plastic Bag Warrior Princess</a></h3> Ria Burns took first place with her amazing <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/tesco-plastic-bag-warrior-princess/" target="_blank">Tesco Plastic Bag Warrior Princess</a> costume, which is made entirely from old supermarket bags. Putting her massive collection of plastic <a href="http://www.tesco.com/" target="_blank">Tesco</a> bags to good use, Burns created the bodice of the outfit by cutting 15 bags into strips and weaving them together by hand. She then sewed strips of more bags to the bottom of the bodice to create the skirt, and she completed the outfit with a sword cut out from recycled cardboard. <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/tesco-plastic-bag-warrior-princess/" target="_blank">Ria's costume</a> receive 150 votes, putting it solidly in first place!

<h3>SECOND PLACE: <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/character-9-from-tim-burtons-movie-9/" target="_blank">Character 9 from Tim Burton's movie "9"</a></h3> The silver medal went to Benjoseph Manibog's awesome costume, which is based off of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/character-9-from-tim-burtons-movie-9/" target="_blank">Character 9 from Tim Burton's movie "9."</a> Manibog showed off his superb sewing and paper mache skills, crafting this professional-looking costume by sewing together burlap rice bags. The head, hands, and staff are made with newspaper paper mache and cardboard, making the whole outfit light and easy to carry. <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/character-9-from-tim-burtons-movie-9/" target="_blank">Character 9</a> was in the lead for most of the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/" target="_blank">Green Halloween competition</a>, but ultimately landed in second place with an impressive 135 votes.

<h3>THIRD PLACE: <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/luminous-box-jellyfish/" target="_blank">Luminous Box Jellyfish</a></h3> Using just a bike helmet, battery-powered lights, a big plastic salad bowl, and some cellophane, Carrie Ortiz created a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/luminous-box-jellyfish/" target="_blank">luminous jellyfish costume</a> that won third place. Ortiz combined everyday items to create an easy-to-replicate costume that would light up any party. First, she glued color-changing lights to the inside of a clear salad bowl, then she attached strands of cellophane to the bowl, and finally secured the whole thing to a bike helmet - <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/luminous-box-jellyfish/" target="_blank">voila</a>!

<h3>FIRST PLACE: <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/pinata-pauly/" target="_blank">Pinata Pauly</a></h3> Perhaps it's our sweet tooth talking, but we loved <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/pinata-pauly/" target="_blank">Paul's playful pinata costume</a>. Paul used cardboard boxes collected from Costco to fashion an oversized <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/pinata-pauly/" target="_blank">pinata</a>, which he decorated with strips of colored party streamers. Paul even made pockets out of tissue paper that he filled with candy and then let his friends beat the sweets out of him!

<h3>SECOND PLACE: <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/han-solo-frozen-in-carbonite/">Han Solo Frozen In Carbonite</a></h3> The Inhabitat editors couldn't help but go gaga over this costume of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/han-solo-frozen-in-carbonite/">Han Solo frozen in carbonite</a>. We love Rob Miller's creative use of cardboard boxes and silver paint to make this utterly unique costume. We'll definitely remember it when we're concocting our own costumes next year!

<h3>THIRD PLACE: <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/edgar-allan-poes-raven/" target="_blank">Edgar Allen Poe Raven Costume</a></h3> We loved this <a href="http://inhabitat.com/greenhalloweencontest/edgar-allan-poes-raven/" target="_blank">raven costume </a>by Sarah Rashid for its simple use of materials and its varied sources of inspiration. Modeled after Edgar Allen Poe's Raven (by way of of Alexander McQueen), this sophisticated and stylish design wowed us with its creative ingenuity!

Simon Seguss made his little dog Leo a Bat Pup costume for Halloween. His wings are made out of stiff eco sparkle felt, and his bat-shirt is a recycled tee.

Raija Clar's mail order bride costume “wedding dress” is made from strips of shipping materials with stickers from UPS, FedEx, and Express Mail.

Andrea Demoskoff costume this year was the ring from Lord of the Rings - it's simple but stunning! All it takes to pull this one off is some sparkly gold clothing and a lot of gold body paint.

Cally Creates' colorful Halloween costume was inspired by the sugar skulls and iconography of Mexico's Dia de los Muertos celebration.

Troy Barber had one night to prepare for an impromptu Halloween party, so for his costume he bought a Tyvek paint suit and a can of Spray77, recycled an old stryofoam bicycle helmet, and dug up an old in-line shredder out of his attic to create this creepy, yeti-like Paper Cut Monster.

Ben Hutchens made this crazy snail Halloween costume from scratch. It took him over 2.5 hours to walk/slither down Lincoln Road in Miami, but he became an instant celebrity!

Cole wanted to create something that was unique, but well-known, and make people laugh. He came up with the idea of Kanye West and Taylor Swift because his girlfriend looks a lot like Taylor Swift and Kanye is a popular icon.

Nicholas Warner and his wife decided to make these amazing Batman and Robin life-sized LEGO costumes for Halloween. Each costume is made from simple materials like scrap cardboard boxes and foam tubes.

Anna Daugherty's pinata Halloween costume was a hit - pun intended. She admits that getting to throw candy and confetti all night at people was tons of fun.

Beth Gallagher created this elusive and mystical green Halloween costume out of a clear umbrella, bubble wrap, ribbon, and battery powered lights. Dubbed the Umbrell-ie-fish, it is interactive too: kids can pop its bubbles!

For Halloween, Julie Guptill wanted to be something that she knew one could not buy in a store, so she made herself a Claw Machine costume. To make this clever green halloween costume she used recycled boxes for the body, old spatula handles for the claw and dug up old toys from her attic to fill the machine with lots of fun looking prizes.

The Adkins family decided to be cereal monsters for Halloween. All 3 costumes cost them less than $10.00 and $5.00 of that was for the pink sweatsuit and fleece blanket. Everything else was made of recycled or reused materials.

John Wharton made this Bowser Halloween costume out of chicken wire and paper mache. Then, he met up with the Princess and Mario and Luigi to complete the full Mario Brothers effect!

Anyel Torres and her entire family dressed up as members of The Nightmare Before Christmas and made their dog's Zero costume from recycled materials like socks and a pillowcase!