One of the first cosplays I ever did was a gender-swapped Ash from the Evil Dead franchise. Since I needed to carry a purse, and a regular purse would have taken away from the costume, I made a purse that looks like the Necronomicon from Evil Dead 2. 

To make this purse, I attached the strap from an old purse, along with a snap fastener, to a cardboard hollow book from a craft store. Using a glue gun, I covered the front of the book with layer after of hot glue, letting the glue cool/dry between layers, to get the correct face shape and texture. I then painted over it with some flat brown craft paint. While I don’t use it too often because I don’t know how well it will hold up to year-round use, this is my FAVORITE purse to use around Halloween! 🙂