Go ahead, let your child have lots of candy this Halloween. What? Am I crazy? No, but instead of fighting the candy horde, embrace it and use it for good. Let your child eat a designated amount, stash your favorites and then unwrap the rest and store for baking, all the while carefully saving the wrappers.
The wrappers are the real treat this season. Take advantage of after Halloween sales for colorful, and tasty, supplies. Your children can create a slew of fun crafts for holiday gifts this year, make fashionable accessories and gift wrap.
Link it!
Candy can add a touch of sweetness and color to your child’s wardrobe. Wrappers can be woven into belts, bags, shoes and jewelry. Start with making a large pile of links by carefully folding the colorful, lightweight papers. If you have ever made links from bubblegum wrappers as a child, this is the exact same concept. If you do not know how to fold, there are plenty of tutorials online, or you could ask your child, they may know. You will need approximately 30-36 wrappers for one bracelet.
Make Beads. Candy wrapper beads are another fun way to make jewelry. Starting with a base of wooden beads, coat with Mod Podge and then simply wrap the candy wrapper over the entire bead. Use a chopstick to push the wrapper around the edges of the hole. Brush on a few more coats of Mod Podge and let dry. String the beads into a necklace that declares your love of Dum Dums or Tootsie Rolls. If giving as a gift, include a pair of matching earrings created from one bead and jewelry findings from the craft store.
Decoupage anything. Use Mod Podge, or thinned white glue to apply candy wrappers to a base. You can purchase small papier mache boxes and frames from a craft store, or make your own from empty cereal boxes and masking tape. Cover a lamp base, flower pot or table for a customized gift. Use the recipients favorite treat and be sure to include at least one piece of candy to go along with the wrapper gift.
Turn into bows. Use clear tape to attach several pieces of wrapper together and then fold the sturdy piece into a bow. Secure with a tape and then attach to a top of a present, or glue it on to a bobby pin for an custom hair accessory.
Build garlands. Candy crafts are not just for the paper wrapped treats. Gather all the hard candy from your children’s bags and set aside. The pieces of hard candy and suckers can be tied together with thin ribbon or yarn to create a Christmas garland for your tree.
Go big. If you or your child wants a bigger challenge, try making a tote bag with a collection of links, or go all out and create a candy wrapper dress. This will call for more candy than you may be willing to purchase, but you can always ask friends, family and neighbors to donate to your craft obsession.
Donate. If you do not feel like crafting with candy wrappers yourself, you can still keep them out of the landfills by donating them to TerraCycle. This organization will even donate two cents per wrapper to a non-profit. Who knows, you may even be inspired once you see their product page.
