Of course, when the world thinks costumes, it also thinks Halloween. For a holiday filled with make believe, paper mache will prove to be your best friend. Make a little pumpkin by forming the shape out of stiff wire and covering it with paper mache. You can paint it and cut the head and arm holes once the product has dried.
Paper mache is an extremely inexpensive way to stretch the costume budget for school plays. Students can easily fill the meat market windows of Dicken's London streets with paper mache geese and turkeys or create the scary plant from Little Shop of Horrors for nothing more than the cost of glue, paint, some wire and old newspapers.
If you need a Christmas elf or a talking, walking Dreidel, just make the costume out of paper mache. Paper mache will hold up better than cardboard, and can be easily stored for use again in years to come. Just make the form out of cardboard or wire, whether it's pointed ears or the dreidel shap, cover the form with the glue soaked paper, and let the creation dry. Once it's dry, you can paint and decorate the costume piece or costume as desired.
Get the team mascot out of that hot, plush animal head and make him a bit more comfortable by making the mascot head out of paper mache. Use large balloons or a light weight wire frame to form the structure of the mascot head and layer paper mache over it. When the paper mache is dry, decorate the head to better resemble the mascot and go fire up the fans in support of the team.