The author and her colleagues had picked an "Alice in Wonderland" theme for their Open House night, and decided it might be nice to have a large sculptural figure of Alice and the Queen of Hearts made out of papier-mache. They were a big hit and the students loved making figures that were larger than some of their students. The next year, they asked if they could make large figures again, and a tradition was started. As the popularity of the project spread, they began to add more figures and more students signed up for the projects. As the years rolled on, they had different themes: "Sesame Street," "Rugrats," "Dr. Seuss," "Winnie the Pooh," "Where the Wild Things Are," "Harry Potter," "Shrek" and "Peanuts" were all very popular. The figures were so popular that parents suggested they keep them on display somewhere in the community. Their local library was very happy to take their figures and display them in the children's library for the next year.