James and the Giant Peach Costume

The last time I dressed up for Halloween was when I was around 10 years old (I remember it was my fourth year dressed as a rabbit.) I'm back home in Colorado this fall semester taking college classes remotely, so with space to work with (NYU dorms are tiny) and a lot of acrylic paint, I decided to destress in the middle of midterm week by making a costume based on one of my favorite childhood books: James and the Giant Peach.

I bought a 4-feet tall inflatable bumper ball from Amazon, filled it with air, and covered it in a layer of plastic wrap, a layer of paper towels, and then a layer of painter's tape (I didn't want to get any paint on the ball!) Then, I started painting. It seemed a lot easier when I was daydreaming about the process in my head. The "peach" looked like a golden delicious apple with a bad rash and a brown streak down the middle. Fortunately, it has evolved. Then, I cut out and painted two leaves and taped it onto the peach. Lastly, I took one of my dad's ties, tied it around a bird wall decoration, taped it onto the blinds, jumped into the peach, and my sister snapped a photo.