What can you do with eighteen thousand Starburst candies? Other than a major sugar rush, a Michigan teen had an ingenious idea to turn the candy wrappers into a prom dress.

Diane McNease, a high school student from Michigan had the crafty idea during her swim meet. “I was waiting for my event at a swim meet,” she explained. “And an exchange student from Ecuador was making them into bracelets.”

Diane then decided that she will make a DUI prom dress. After 1 1/2 years of collecting 18,000 wrappers and another 5 months to create the dress, Diane had her dream dress.

The dress featured a bodice made entirely out of wrappers and a black satin skirt made with tulle. “It was kind of a dare,” she recounted. “Someone said I couldn’t do it. That’s the last thing you should say to me.”

Luckily, she did have a few supporters along the way. “My friend Bria Johnson made the fabric part of the dress for me. I couldn’t have done it without her.” Her date, Luck DeWitt is one of her best friends and also encouraged her throughout the process. On top of that, the teen gives major credit to her dad, “Every night he would help hand sew the folded strips of wrappers to the dress for a few hours.”

So what did she do with all that candy? For the first month, the teen finished it all by herself. But after getting tired of all that candy, she decided to share it with all her friends at school…who were more than happy to oblige.

While an amazing feat, this is not the first candy wrapper prom dress. Last year, teen Tara Frye wore a similar dress that her mom had fashioned for her.