Mom makes prom dress out of Starburst wrappers, daughter's date looks bummed

Oh, moms. They can be persistent in their agendas, can't they? Thanks to the Internet and some always-interesting local TV station news reporting, we learned about a Wisconsin mother who spent six years making her daughter's prom dress -- out of Starburst wrappers. Yes, thanks to mom's hundreds of hours...

By Bree Davies

August 24, 2011

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Oh, moms. They can be persistent in their agendas, can't they? Thanks to the Internet and some always-interesting local TV station news reporting, we learned about a Wisconsin mother who spent six years making her daughter's prom dress -- out of Starburst wrappers. Yes, thanks to mom's hundreds of hours of devoted origami-ish candy-wrapper folding, Tara got to spend her prom in waxed paper, as did her date, Zane, in his matching wrapper-woven vest.

Why would a mom do such a thing? Well, according to the spin put on the story by KARE News, just as the teenager is dedicated to soccer, so is her mom's pledge to...weaving a weird dress out of, essentially, forcibly produced trash.

The best part of the equation though, is the boyfriend, who, when asked if he likes the idea of wearing matching candy-wrapper outfits to such a pivotal high-school event, simply says, "I don't really have a choice." Our reaction exactly.

We just imagine that once Mother started the project, she became maniacally obsessed, pushing gluttonous candy-eating on anyone who would take her bags of Starburst in exchange for the paper. Have you ever eaten more than a sleeve of Starburst? After about seven, the waxy, tarty sugar starts to taste like Chapstick. And no one intentionally eats chapstick, unless you were that bizarre kid who sat in the back of class and smelled like glue.

While purchasing pieces of Starburst twenty pounds at a time sounds disgusting, we're willing to bet Tara's mom also made her the number-one distributor of Girl Scout Cookies in their county. Go, Mom!

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Bree Davies is a multimedia journalist, artist advocate and community organizer born and raised in Denver. Rooted in the world of Do-It-Yourself arts and music, Davies co-founded Titwrench experimental music festival, is host of the local music and comedy show Sounds on 29th on CPT12 Colorado Public Television and is creator and host of the civic and social issue-focused podcast, Hello? Denver? Are You Still There? Her work is centered on a passionate advocacy for all ages, accessible, inclusive, non-commercial and autonomous DIY art spaces and music venues in Denver.

Contact: Bree Davies

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Twitter: @cocodavies