Cardboard Box Halloween Costumes

• television, radio, iPod, cell phone, computer, iPad, Nintendo DS, etc. (for a dark and/or shiny look on these items, use either black outdoor garbage bags, window film (dark or light, depending) or reflective tape and use aluminum foil for anything silver)
• playing card (or deck of cards), checker/chess/backgammon board, Rubik's Cube, jack-in-the-box, favorite book, chalkboard/message board, box of crayons, etc. (for the games, use duct tape to make the colored squares and for a chalkboard, use the stick on chalk boards squares or contact paper and encourage people to write messages on it ~ just don't forget the chalk, for crayons, use Styrofoam cones or make cones from tag board and wrap with duct tape)
• milk carton, box of cereal, stick of gum, piece of pie/cake, piece of candy (think Jolly Rancher, Starburst, candybar), etc. (cellophane wrap works well for candy wrappers, aluminum foil for gum wrappers, for cake icing try expandable sealing foam and to add ice cream with pie, use 1/2 a large Styrofoam ball)
• car, truck, bus, taxi cab, space ship, boat, train, etc. (most of these can be finished with paint and if you need decals or emblems just print them off the computer, for simple words like taxi or bus you can use electrical or duct tape or stencils or even the stick on letters, and for anything shiny use aluminum foil or silver tape)
• shower, chicken coup, Dracula in his coffin, road signs (no u-turn, stop, yield, wrong way) barrel of monkeys, CFL light bulb in a box, any unusual item you can think of!

Some Ideas to Embellish With

not all-encompassing, even I'm not that good

• paint, markers, sharpies, glitter pens, chalk, etc.
• paper plates, paper towel or toilet paper rolls, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, Styrofoam pieces, wire, fabric, felt, pipe cleaners, feathers, tissue paper, plastic bottles, rope, etc.
• stencils, print outs, stickers, magazine clippings, etc.