CHATHAM -- Glue: $6. Toilet paper: $8. Tape: $25. A wedding dress made from all of that: priceless, at least to Ripley's Believe It or Not museum in Australia.
"Truthfully, with only having seven days to work on it, I didn't expect to get a call or an e-mail," said Katherine Moon, 52, creator of the toilet paper bridal gown.
Moon found the Cheap Chic Weddings 2009 Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest a week before the June 5 deadline. Armed with six rolls of toilet paper, some drywall tape, clear tape and glue, Moon worked feverishly on her dress form.
"I couldn't sleep at night because my mind kept thinking of what else I could do," said Moon with a laugh. "Trigonometry really came in handy for this."
Once finished, Moon had her daughter model the dress and sent the photos in. In fact she was so concerned with missing the deadline, she sent photos in before June 4 at midnight, and the following night as well, with a few more of those late night ideas added on.
"We've had dresses come from Canada, Japan, Hawaii, (and) all over the United States," Laura Gawne, co-creator of cheapchicweddings.com, said about the international competition in a promotional video.
The contest, only in its fifth year, garnered 786 entries.
Moon said she heard on her birthday that she had made the Top 10.
"I wasn't expecting anything, I was just expecting a week off of doing housework."
Moon sent the dress to Boca Raton, Fla., for judging.
Moon finished fourth and her dress is prominently featured in a YouTube video of the winning dresses.
"We've actually acquired six of these great dresses and we'll put them on permanent display in Ripley's museums around the world," Edward Meyer, of Ripley's Believe It or Not, said in the video. Ripley's is a sponsor of the competition.
Moon was delighted when Meyer called her to say her dress was one of the six selected -- she thought only the winners would be sent to Ripley's museums.
"When my dress goes into the museum it will have my name and where I come from," said Moon, who lives in Chatham.
Meyer told her he believes the dress will be on its way to Australia soon.
Moon plans on entering again, in fact she's already planning the dress.
Participants can only enter twice in a lifetime. Last year's second and third place winners each moved up a spot this year.
