The reason I have been M.I.A. for a while is because I just recently got married and have been crazy busy party planning. But have no fear, that whole time I was crafting as well. So now that most of the parties are over, I have some exclusive party crafts for you.

 

Instead of using plastic gift bags for small party favors, you can upcycle your own. And they are completely recyclable when your guests are done with them. Talk about a win-win.

 

Supplies:

  • Toilet paper tubes
  • Decorative paper (magazine clippings, calendar pages, wrapping paper)
  • Glue stick
  • Tape (optional)
  • Ribbon
  • Scissors
  • Candy/fillings

1. Cut out a piece of decorative paper. For this, I used junk mail clothing catalogs that the previous owner of my house had a million subscriptions for.
The clipping should be a little shorter than the toilet paper roll and be long enough that the ends overlap a bit when your wrap the tube.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Put some glue on the back of the paper…
and wrap the toilet paper tube.

 

If you would like, you can put a piece of tape where the two ends meet to ensure it doesn’t come unwrapped.

 

3. Fold two of the sides inward so that they meet and close the end of the tube.

 

4. Fill with candy or other items.

 

5. Fold the other end in as well to create a little box.

 

6. Tie a piece of ribbon around it to make sure it says closed.

 

Ta dah! This is a great craft to do when you’re watching TV, because it is pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

 

You can leave the party favors like this or you can make them a little fancier by adding a card to each one.

Supplies:

  • Paper (I used blank parts of junk mail)
  • Scissors
  • Twist ties
  • Ribbon
  • Hot glue gun and glue
  • Markers/pens
  • Hole punch (or scissors/pencil if you don’t have one)
  • Optional: strip of candy bag used in part one and a rubber band

 

1. Take a blank piece of paper…
and fold it into thirds.

 

2. Cut the paper into strips. You can make them as big or as small as you would like.

 

3. Decorate the inside and outside of your card….

 

4. Punch two holes on the inside.

 

5. Glue a piece of ribbon to each side of the card. The ribbon should be long enough that you can tie it together to close the card. To do this, I measured out the ribbon, glued it on, tied it, then cut off any extra.
Cut off a strip of the empty candy bag you used before and wrap it gently around your finger. Secure with a rubber band (it doesn’t have to be super tight). Continue gluing without fear of glue burns. The glue will stick a little bit to the candy bag, but comes unstuck pretty easily.
NOTE: Hot gluing ribbon onto paper is a great way to burn your fingers. If you aren’t a fan of that, you can try this quick tip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Thread a twist tie (half of one is the perfect size- I just cut mine with scissors) through the holes.

 

7. Tie up the ribbon and trim any long ends if needed.

 

8. Secure onto the ribbon on the tube with the twist tie and there you go.

 

 

They way I did mine was that each party favor had a “prize” associated with it. Once opened, the party goer either got to “take a treat from the candy jar” or “explore the treasure chest” (miscellaneous items like candles, pens, and toys).

 

Happy party planning!