Supplies

Cardboard
Cardboard is an amazing building material, but not all cardboard is created equal.
• Chipboard or Tagboard is a single layer.  Good for shadow puppets.
• Standard corrugated cardboard has a wiggly layer between two flat layers.  This is great for sculpting. It has enough structure to hold your form but not so much that it is difficult to bend and fold.   
• Heavy duty or double ply cardboard has 2 layers of wiggly paper with flat layer between and a flat layer on each side. This is better for large flat props. 
Larger boxes in general are better for sculpting as folds can interrupt the shape you are going for.  Bike shops and furniture shops often have large boxes and if they don't have a dumpster, many will give you a few boxes for the asking. Recycling centers may also allow you to go through their cardboard. 

Cloth
Cloth can be one of the more expensive supplies, especially if you want something colorful.  Most thrift stores have some salvage.  Second hand bedsheets and bedspreads work great for puppet costumes and can also be found at thrift stores.  Many towns have creative reuse shops where discounted fabric can be sourced. Another possibility is to make a connection with a hotel linen/laundry service, they often have discarded linens with small stains or defects that otherwise go to landfill.  These discards are usually white, offering a blank slate for painting and dying. White sheets can be painted with watered down housepaint or acrylics.  These will end up a little stiff.

Paint
We use water based acrylic house paint for painting giant puppets. It is overall the most affordable way to go and will protect your paper mache from the elements. We don't recommend using tempera or gouache as these will require multiple coast of sealant to be waterfast. We prefer matte paint over glossy as it gives the most natural and lively look. You can often get discounted paint at a paint shop--these are returns or colors that were improperly mixed for the customer.  These are usually boring colors, though you can enhance them by mixing in universal tints.  Otherwise we suggest investing in a small amount of housepaint in saturated colors for mixing.  With Magenta, Yellow and Cyan or turquoise blue, plus white and black, you can mix almost any color you need.  Always mix a small amount on a piece of cardboard, paying attention to approximate percentages of each color before mixing in a cup, otherwise you may end up with a large amount of an ugly color you will never use.

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