When you’re thinking of Halloween costumes this year, don’t forget the most important part — DIY Halloween trick-or-treat bags to hold all your kids’ loot. Instead of leaving this critical detail for the last minute, get creative in advance with a crafty family afternoon. It’s not only fun but great for de-stressing and mood-lifting as well.
With a bit of help and encouragement, your trick-or-treaters will come up with some DIY Halloween trick-or-treat bags that are both distinctive and fun. You’ll want to capture some priceless Halloween moments with photos, too, so be sure to have a few custom picture frames on hand.
Table of Contents
1. Creative Take on a Classic
The pillowcase is a classic for trick-or-treaters. It’s strong enough to carry some weight and roomy enough for plenty of treats. You can upscale a pillowcase by adding a drawstring closure and some spooky stencil designs.
Choose a solid-colored pillowcase that still has some life left in it. Using scary and funny stencils and paint from the craft store, have each child decorate a pillowcase.
Next, sew a casing for a drawstring by turning down the hem of the pillowcase 1 inch all around, leaving an opening for threading. Clip a safety pin to the end of a long shoelace, and attach it to the outside. Then, thread the other end through the opening and casing. Pull the end back through the opening, and remove the safety pin.
Tie the ends together loosely, and when your trick-or-treaters want to keep their candy safely inside, they can pull the drawstring ends tightly.
2. Tarted-Up Tote Bags
Canvas tote bags are also ideal for trick-or-treat bags because they are rugged and come complete with handles. Help your children add their spin for a truly unique trick-or-treat creation.
Using pinking shears, cut out Halloween shapes from burlap, gingham and/or calico prints. Apply them to the tote with white glue or a glue stick. Add other embellishments like jiggly eyes, buttons or raffia bows. Personalize the trick-or-treat totes by letting your children add their names in Sharpie.
3. Candy Corn Goody Bag
What better way to store your candy stash than in a candy-corn-adorned goodie bag? Start with a plain tote, some orange grosgrain ribbon and six squares of felt in orange, yellow and white.
Cut two large candy-corn-shaped triangles from the orange felt. Each one should be nearly as tall and wide as one side of the tote. Then cut two yellow stripes that fit across the center of the orange triangle and a white triangle that covers the pointed end.
Assemble the orange, yellow and white sections of your two pieces of candy corn and glue or sew them together. Apply one piece of felt corn to each side of the tote. Glue or sew the orange ribbon along the center of each strap. Your goodie bag is ready to go, leaving no doubt about what kind of treat is your favorite.
4. Boo-tiful Bushels
Celebrate the season this Halloween with a harvest-style bushel trick-or-treat carrier. Pick up a seasonal half-bushel-style basket at your favorite craft store. You’ll also need some spooky stick-ons, such as:
- Paper spider web cutouts
- Paper bats
- Paper jack-o-lantern cutouts
- Googly eyes
- Stick-on letters or letter stencils with paint
Set up a crafts table with glue, glitter, construction paper, scissors and paints. If you are using stencil letters, be sure to have a stencil brush and paint for the best results.
Provide each child with a small, plain bushel basket. Let them choose their designs and decorate the basket by gluing on the embellishments. They can use the letters to add a Halloween slogan – Boo!, Happy Howl-oween or Eek!, for example. They can also personalize the basket with their names. Add a fabric, ribbon or rope handle to make the bushel easier to carry on the big night.
5. Ghostly Glowing Pumpkin
Grab a few hollow, plastic pumpkin jack-o-lanterns that are available in stores this time of year. If desired, dress them up to coordinate with each child’s costume. For example, add paper bat wings and fangs for a vampire, a train of cheesecloth to match a ghost or a glittering tiara for a princess.
Place a small string of battery-powered LED lights inside the tote. They will make it seem spookier while providing some light for trick-or-treating, too. Line the lit-up pumpkin with a plastic grocery bag, so candy and lights don’t get tangled up together.
6. Black Cat Paint Can
For this crafty trick-or-treat tote, start with a plain, empty paint can from your local hardware outlet. Using black or orange spray paint, coat the can in color. Be sure you do this outdoors to avoid fumes in the house. When dry, bring the painted cans inside for decorating. Add eyes, a nose and whiskers to create a black or orange cat design. You can also add a pair of cat ears to finish it off.
Alternatively, have each child draw a jack-o-lantern face on construction paper. Be sure they use a contrasting color so it shows up well on the paint can. Then, have the children glue them on. Embellish with black or orange rickrack, which is available at a fabric store.
More Resources for DYI Halloween Crafts
Halloween has progressed from a centuries-old pagan tradition to one of our favorite holidays each year. Creative ideas for scary costumes and eerie decorations abound. If you need further inspiration for your Halloween collection, check out Halloween T-shirts and home decor ideas. Happy haunting!
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