DIY Candy Bags for Halloween
Updated on October 19, 2017
In our house, we’ve been known to go all out when it comes to Halloween. We make our own costumes, we made our own party treats when the kids have Halloween sleepovers, and we made our own decorations so make sure that the house is extra spooky when the Trick or Treaters come. When we send our own Trick or Treaters out, we add a little bit of extra DIY in there too! Every year since our kids’ first Halloweens, we’ve made or helped them make their own candy bags so that it’s extra satisfying when they come home with their bags all filled up and heavy with delicious teats at the end of the night. We’ve been looking for new candy bag ideas lately, though, because there are just so many kinds of bags out there that you can make and our kids are at an age now where they’re excited to make their own projects, or at least excited to help if the project is a little bit too much for them!
Just in case your kids love crafting with you enough to work on making your own candy bags together this Halloween too, here’s a list of the 15 coolest homemade ideas we’ve found so far.
1. Burlap and felt Trick or Treat bags
Perhaps your kids are still small and you’re the one who will be doing most of the bag carrying on Halloween night, so you’d like to make a bag that you’ll use a lot and that’s big and strong? In that case, we think these DIY burlap totes are a great idea! Besides Trick or Treating, they’re just plain cute to carry your extra things around in all October long. The Scrap Shoppe shows you how to make them from scratch, as well as how to attach fun features like ghost shaped appliques and twisted felt blossoms in Halloween colours to the front.
2. Upside down bat candy bags
Maybe your kids are having a small Halloween classroom party at school and they need a simple little candy bag to collect treats from their friends in that day? In that case, here’s an awesome, kid-friendly DIY candy bag idea that we just can’t get over the cuteness of! Lily Shop suggests gluing features onto the bag to make it look like a bat but placing them so that the top of the bat is at the bottom of the bag so when you set it on the desk, it looks like it’s hanging upside down! We love the idea of adding sparkly wings and little feet to really mad the bag look like a Halloween bat.
3. Scrap paper candy bags with handles
Do you and your kids have a lot of scrap paper lying around from past DIY projects that you’re always looking for new, fun ways to use? Then here’s an awesome alternative way to make little candy bags that are perfect for a classroom or Halloween party and can be made to look like any Halloween character at all! Sippy Cup Mom shows you how to cut and attach pieces to make bags that look like ghosts, Jack O Lanters, bats, and even Frankentein’s monster!
4. Drawstring silhouette candy bags
Maybe you’d rather have your kids help you alter a bag that already exists rather than making one completely from scratch because you’re a little bit pressed for time? In that case, you might have a better time making paint stencilled drawstring candy bag just like these ones from Alice and Lois! You might choose to use premade stencils in spooky shapes from the local craft store or, if you’re feeling pretty crafty despite your time rush, you can make your own in any scary silhouette shape you please!
5. Mini handmade paper candy bags
Perhaps you’re making candy grab bags to hand out at your kids’ Halloween party and you want to make lots of them so guests and their families can just grab one on the way out or as they please? In that case, perhaps little paper bags with simple Halloween wishes on the front is the best way for you to go! Unify Handmade shows you how to stamp cute Trick or Treat designs on each one, drawing details, adding colours with pencils and markers, or sticking cute cut out pumpkins on as well for detail.
6. Frankenstein and mummy paper candy bags
Are you very into the paper bag idea but, rather than creating cute, detailed designs, you’d rather have your kids help you make some that look just as silly as the funny Halloween characters they love so much all October long? Then check out how Pink Texas Chick made these larger lunch-sized paper bags into monsters of all kinds! We love the idea of sticking extra strips of paper on a bag to make a mummy and, you can’t see them in this picture, but the tutorial also shows you how to add angry eyebrows to a Frankenstein bag to make him look more scary.
7. Candy corn Halloween party favour bag
Did you like the idea of altering little canvas drawstring bags to make them look how you want but you’re not sure the simple stencilled silhouette idea has quite enough colour and flair for you? In that case, maybe you’ll like this bright candy corn idea instead! We like that Morena’s Corner suggests upcycling a wine bottle bag because the tapered shape at the top makes the whole project actually look like a candy corn beyond just the stripes of colour.
8. Stencilled skeleton Trick or Treat bags
Were you a pretty big fan of the stencilled canvas bag idea, but you’d rather make a larger version that your kids can use for Trick or Treating rather than little ones that would make great party favours? Then check out these skeleton totes instead! Sure, you could feasibly stencil any shape or pattern onto a bag if you wanted to use the silhouette idea and make something a little less creepy for kids that are younger, but if yours are of the age that they’re really into spookier stuff this year, an anatomically correct ribcage is probably exactly the kind of thing they’d like to present to the neighbours while they Trick or Treat! See how these were made in more detail on Eat, Sleep, Make.
9. Halloween fabric tote sewing pattern
Are you the kind of sewing enthusiast who just waits for the funny seasonal fabrics to be released as the holidays come and the months roll by? We adore those as well! We rarely have a reason to use most of them since they’re usually so novelty but we’ll take any opportunity we can the moment we find one! That’s why we loved this Trick or Treating tote so much; it’s the perfect chance to use one of the really kitschy fabrics that you wouldn’t wear yourself and probably can’t even convince your kids to wear either. Eighteen 25 walked you through the whole simple pattern, complete with contrasting trim!
10. Jack-o-Lantern Halloween party favour bags
Are you still looking for a party bag idea that’s fast and easy and you’d love for your kids to be able to handle making them mostly on their own while you decorate? In that case, grabbing orange bags and some green pipe cleaners is probably your best bet! Hand the kids a couple of black markers and let them go to town on the process of drawing fun Jack O Lantern faces on the bags, filling them with candy, and closing them with the pipe cleaners! We love the way Cute Food for Kids curled the pipe cleaner ends like twirling pumpkin vines by wrapping them around the end of a pencil and then carefully pulling the pencil out.
11. Creepy rubber glove candy favour
Are your kids really into the idea of making candy bags for their friends to give out at school on Halloween day or at their next themed sleepover, but they want something a little creepier looking than little pumpkin bags? Then try upcycling and transforming something that isn’t actually a bag at all! We love the way Ella Claire Inspired filled rubber gloves with candy so they fill up like there’s a hand inside, then tied them at the top to keep the candy inside. The finished product looks like a ghost’s hand!
12. Funny monster candy boxes
Perhaps your kids are going through a huge monster phase in general and Halloween is just another excuse for them to enjoy their new scary thing? Then lean into it and help them have a monster-filled Halloween by making these awesomely colourful candy boxes! We think it’s very cool the way Kidsomania used the opening of the box as the mouth and put the eyes on top so that, when you filled the box with candy, it’s like the monster is eating it. Grab coloured paper and glue (or paint and markers, if you’d rather) and let the kids get creative! Textured scrapbooking paper makes for great reptilian monster scales.
13. Simple plastic bag and sharpie candy bags
We’ve talked about a few quick fix style bags so far, but most of them have still been pretty crafty and you’re really looking for something fast and easy because you’re preparing for this Halloween party last minute and you know the kids won’t mind how the bags look as long as there’s candy inside? Then check out how The Stitchin’ Mommy actually used the candy as part of the craft itself! Orange M&Ms make the perfect filling for a funny Jack O Lantern and miniature white marshmallows turn a clear little plastic bag into a spooky ghost! Draw the faces on, fill the bags, tie the top up with a piece of ribbon, and voila!
14. Big Frankenstein with button eyes
Are your kids still on the search for a great big Trick or Treating style Halloween bag that they can carry around on Halloween night, but they don’t want it to be just any old bag because that would interrupt their costume? Then help them make this big spooky Frankenstein bag instead! 365 Days of Crafts shows you how to sew the tote, draw or paint on the features, and even sew buttons on for eyes! The size of this bag will make for a great candy haul.
15. Halloween t-shirt turned candy tote
Are you the kind of DIY enthusiast who will take any project as an excuse to upcycle old things if you can? Then look to your kids’ novelty Halloween t-shirts from last year and choose one that they’ve already outgrown to get creative with! Bake, Craft, and DIY shows you step by step how to cute and tie the bottoms, sides, and top of the old t-short while it’s inside out in a way that will look and work just like a store bought tote bag when you flip it back so the Halloween design shows on the front once more!
Have you made other awesome DIY candy and Trick or Treat bags before that your kids loved using but that you don’t see here? Tell us all about your designs or link us to pictures of your work in the comments section!
hey my names syd and i love your ideas