Valentine’s Day Treat Bags

Looking for something to catch your Valentine’s eye? These adorable Valentine’s Day Treat Bags make a perfect teacher’s gift, treat for your coworkers, or that special someone! In my experience everyone loves making this project–even kids!

Most of the supplies for this project can be found at your local craft store–or if you’re anything like me you’ll have a lot of it! The bags used to hold the candy are for packaging chocolate dipped pretzels and can be found in the baking/candy-making section. The papers, embellishments, and adhesives will be found in the scrapbook section.

What you will need:

• Printable Template
• Hershey’s Nuggets (6 candies per treat bag)
• Wilton Pretzel Bags (1 bag per treat bag)
• Heavy Cardstock
• Lightweight Patterned Paper
• Embellishments
• Double Stick Tape or Mounting Squares
• Instant Stick Glue
• Scissors
• Hole Punch
• Stapler (if you have the Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher it’s great for this)

Print out the template and cut out the three shapes, cutting outside the solid, black line.

The “Backing Paper” is to give stability to the bag, the “Candy Wrapper” is to cover the original candy label, and the “Bag Topper” is to seal and decorate the top of the bag.

First you will want to cover your candies. For this you will want a lightweight paper. A heavier paper can work, but be prepared to glue them and hold the papers until dry. If you are making a lot of these candies it is faster to cut one inch strips and trim them to size as you go–this is honestly what I’d recommend. It will be a lot less fiddly.

Starting at the bottom of the candy fold the paper around then crease the two bends along the bottom of the candy.

Place a piece of double stick tape or a mounting square on one end.

Remove the adhesive backing then wrap the paper around the candy using the adhesive to attach the two ends of paper together. Now you have a perfectly covered candy.

You will need six candies for each bag, so if you are using multiple patterns of paper make sure to evenly space them so patterns are not touching.

Next use the “Backing Paper” template and cut out the required number (one backing per bag) out of heavy yardstick. If you cannot find a coordinating cardstock you can layer a piece of white cardstock with a lighter weight patterned paper. Slip the backing papers into the pretzel bags.

Slide the candies into the bag one by one and gently push them to the bottom of the bag. You can use the erase end of a pencil to make sure they go all the way to the bottom.

Fold the bag top over twice so that it does not cover the candy, but also does not extend more than one to one and a half inches above the top of the candy. Staple either at the top or bottom fold to hold the bag shut. Using the “Bag Topper” template cut out as many as you need from coordinating cardstock and fold along the dotted line.

Embellishments are one of the most fun parts of holiday crafts! You will need ribbon or string to hold your bag shut, but beyond that there are endless possibilities at your craft store. You can find punches, buttons, 3D flowers, stickers, and more! On these examples two types of ribbon, a heart punch, and Valentine’s buttons were used.

Place the bag topper over the folded edge of the bag and punch two evenly spaced holes, being sure to catch the plastic bag. Thread lengths of ribbon through the holes and tie a knot or bow at the front.

Glue your embellishments onto your bag topper in any way you desire.

Now you’re done! Each 12 oz. bag of Hershey’s Nuggets has enough for five to six treat bags (this partly depends on how many they put in the bag and more on how many you eat while making them). This project isn’t limited to Valentine’s Day either. There are patterned papers for any holiday or occasion and no one ever turns down chocolate!