LUTZ, Fla. — It’s that time of year again—do you have your Halloween costume picked out?
There's a woman in Lutz who is inspiring everyone to think about making their own instead of going to the store this year.
Neighbors never know what to expect when Devyn Hensel leaves the house, but if it’s October, they’re pretty sure it’s going to turn heads.
“It's okay to dress up as an adult,” said Devyn. "It’s fun, you should try it."
Devyn said growing up, there wasn’t a Disney princess request her mom would turn down.
“My mom has an art degree. She is an art teacher locally,” said Devyn. "Instead of going to the store to buy a costume, my mom would take me to like Joann’s or Michaels, and we would go pick out fabric, and we would sew it together. Then I just kept that tradition going every year."
Devyn is now making three to four costumes from scratch every October for her and her husband Sal. If she has time, she’ll also take requests.
“I’ll get hit up by my sisters. My sisters have a lot of boys in the family,” said Devyn.
This creative queen’s love for Disney remains a huge inspiration—all you have to do is take a look at her headband collection.
“What’s great is, any of my headbands here can inspire a whole outfit for me,” said Devyn.
Halloween is her favorite holiday, but Devyn finds reasons to dress up all year round.
“Cosplay is something where you are inspired by something, whether it be pop culture, TV, movie characters, and then you create that outfit for yourself,” said Devyn.
That brings us to her favorite costume to date: Furby. She used it for a costume contest at 90s Con when it came to Tampa.
"I grew up with Furby, and so hearing 90s Con was coming, I was like, ‘This will be a perfect bridge to be able to make this costume and have a reason to wear it,'" said Devyn. “I’m very excited about Furby, I was very proud to put this together.”
Devyn’s design and materials went way beyond the sewing machine.
“These are party curtains that I cut up, and this is actually a type of foil wrapping paper that I put there. This is all made out of cardboard,” said Devyn, explaining the various aspects of Furby’s face.
She also said she couldn’t have done it without her husband’s support.
“I had to push people away because they kept trying to mess with the eyebrows and the eyelashes and the ears,” said Sal.
“It was kind of wild walking into the event. It was like, ‘Can I get a picture? Can I get a photo?'" said Devyn.
Then came the moment that she may one day call career-changing. Furby was announced as the winner.
“It was great. I was very excited. I was jumping up and down in my costume,” said Devyn.
The grand prize was $500, which immediately went right back into making more costumes.
Beyond the money, Devyn has really enjoyed the newfound fame, gaining quite the following on TikTok with her Furby dance parties.
“It has 18,000 likes. Furby has kind of gone viral on TikTok in my world,” she said. “I love going out in public and having people recognize you, bringing joy."
Eventually, Devyn’s goal is to go full circle, back to Disney, where it all began, and turn this hobby into a career.
“Right now, my educational background is in environmental science, so that doesn’t typically translate into an art direction job,” she said. "But I’m going to put together my portfolio, and I am actively pursuing something where I could get into that field."
