Stitched for Sweets: DIY Personalized Trick-or-Treat Bag

I think I’ve mentioned before that I love Halloween. The candy corn, the costumes (the Kopp household loves an excuse to wear a costume!), the decorations, the pumpkins, the crisp fall weather. Everything about Halloween is just plain fun.

Although last year was Owen’s first Halloween, this year is even more important…it’s his first year trick or treating! I’m so excited.

I’ve been thinking about Owen’s first trick-or-treat experience for a while. I decided to find something special to collect sweets for my sweetie on Halloween night. I scoured the Internet looking for the perfect personalized trick-or-treat tote or bucket. But I couldn’t find anything at the right price. Everything I liked was too expensive for something that would be used for one night a year.

My solution? A DIY bag, of course! So here’s how I made Owen’s trick-or-treat tote. I know that Halloween is a day away, but you still have time for this project if you need a trick-or-bag for your little one. It’s quick and easy. Plus, I designed it so that it could be used throughout the autumn season, not just on Halloween.

To start, you’ll need a chenille needle (size 18 seems to work best for this).

You’ll need yarn in a few different colors depending on your design; I used orange, green, and black. And, obviously, you’ll need a bag. I purchased a plain canvas bag from an arts and crafts store.

The first thing you’ll need to do is pick a design. I chose a pumpkin and Owen’s name, but you could pick anything – a bat, a witch’s hat, a ghost, etc. I lightly sketched the pumpkin and Owen’s name on the bag with a pencil.

Then I threaded the chenille needle with yarn (this can be a bit tricky depending on how fluffy your yarn is) and started hand stitching the bag, following the lines of my sketch.

And that’s it! Of course, you’ll have to re-thread the needle when you switch yarn colors, but otherwise you can stitch your design using one continuous piece of yarn.

I think the results are pretty cute and it cost less than $10 to put together.