Ashley Playford dressed up as a pirate carrying a mermaid this Halloween. Well, actually, she dressed up as the mermaid. Well...Her creativity has earned her the title of Patch's Best Halloween Costume in America and a $5,000 grand prize.  

It was Playford's use of an optical illusion that won us over. Take a look at the photo she entered on Peekskill-Cortlandt Patch!

Almost 4,000 Patch users entered the contest from Oct. 15 to Nov. 5, with costumes ranging from the Eiffel Tower and Honey Boo Boo to a flower pot and a clever interpretation of "binders full of women." 

National judges chose 1 finalist from each Patch state based on who had the most creative and innovative costume (we combined North Carolina & South Carolina for this contest, as well as Washington D.C. and Virginia). Each state finalist will receive $250. From those finalists, Playford's costume was chosen as the grand prize winner.

Check out Ohio's winner here.

Congratulations to Playford and to all the other statewide winners (check out our gallery above for photos of all the finalists).

Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with next Halloween! (The mayor already selected the date and time for trick-or-treat in October 2013!)