Here are 5 Halloween paper plate trick or treat bags to make.
I love using paper plates for children's arts and crafts activities. They are inexpensive, easy to find in shops, versatile and manageable for little hands to work with!
Paper plates are also strong enough to hold sweets and treats and are an ideal size and shape for a creating a child's bag. This is a wonderful activity to do in the run up to Halloween on a rainy day, weekend or during October half term. It's a lovely way of children creating a magical accessory for their Halloween dressing up costume.
I've given step-by-step instructions for making the basic bag base (which is the same for any design you create), together with ideas of how to turn each bag into an individual character. There are 5 Halloween paper plate trick or treat bags to make - cat, owl, witch, wizard and pumpkin, all of which complement my children's Halloween costumes.
You will need:
For all bags:
- 2 paper plates (per bag)
- pencil
- scissors
- hole punch
- stapler or glue
- pipe cleaners or ribbon (for handles)
Pumpkin:
- orange paint
- black paper or black marker
Black Cat:
- black paint
- pink, white, yellow and black paper
Brown Owl:
- brown paint
- brown, black and grey paper
- feathers
Enchanted Witch:
- black paint
- white and yellow paper
Starry Wizard:
- purple paint
- white paper
Step-by-Step: How to Make the Bag Base
- Draw a semi-circle at the top of the back of one of the paper plates as shown. I drew around a small saucer to create a smooth curve but drawing freehand works too!
- Cut along the curved pencil line. This edge will be the top of the bag.
- Place the paper plate you have just cut out on top of the back of the second plate to act as a template. Draw along the curved edge. Cut out the second plate. This ensures both plates are the same shape.
- Now comes the fun decorating part! Paint and decorate the back of both paper plates with your chosen design. I've included decorating instructions below for the individual bag designs - pumpkin, cat, owl, witch and wizard.
- Once you have decorated your plates, place them unpainted sides together. Staple all around the outer edges every 2-3cm. The staples need to be quite close together to make sure that the contents can't fall out. Leave the top unstapled.
- Hole punch a hole at the top of each side of the bag.
- Thread the ends of a pipe cleaner end through each hole. Secure carefully to make the bag handle.
Orange Pumpkin Halloween Trick-or-Treat Bag
- Paint the plates with orange paint and leave to dry.
- Using black paper or a black marker, cut out and glue on or draw 3 triangles for the eyes and nose and a smiley mouth. Glue in place as shown if you have used paper.
- Complete your bag as above.
Black Cat Halloween Trick or Treat Bag
- Paint the plates with black paint. Leave to dry.
- For the cat's face, cut out: 2 circles from yellow paper and 2 curved diamond shapes from black paper (or draw them on with a black marker), 2 triangles from pink paper for the ears, a smaller triangle with curved corners for the nose and 6 whiskers from white paper. Glue in place as shown. You could use pipe cleaners for the whiskers if you prefer, Cut them in half first before gluing them.
- Complete your bag as above.
Brown Owl Halloween Trick or Treat Bag
- Paint the plates with brown paint. Leave to dry.
- For the owl's face, cut out 2 large ovals from orange paper, 2 smaller circles from black paper and a triangle from grey paper. You could add small white paper circles to make the owl's eyes twinkle.
- Add some feathers to each side of the paper plate. Glue everything in place as shown.
- Complete your bag as above.
Enchanted Witch Halloween Trick or Treat Bag
- Paint the plates with black paint. Leave to dry.
- Cut out some small and large stars and a couple of moons from white paper and some small diamonds from yellow paper. Arrange on the paper plate and glue in place.
- Complete your bag as above.
Purple Starry Wizard Halloween Trick or Treat Bag
- Paint the plates with purple paint. Leave to dry.
- Cut out some small and large stars from white paper and some small diamonds from yellow paper. Arrange and glue in place.
- Complete your bag as above
Hope you enjoy making this lovely pre-Halloween craft.
Another fun idea would be to make up some paper plate trick or treat bags, together with pens and stickers and children could get together with friends and have a trick or treat bag decorating party!
SHOP MAGICAL HALLOWEEN DRESSING UP COSTUMES FOR KIDS
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