Who doesn’t love a favor bag at the end of a party? Scarecrows are cute and charming decorations for fall that can easily transition through the entire season. These quick-to-make and inexpensive scarecrow treat bags will be the finishing touch to your fall parties.
The pouch base of these little treat bags are made with scraps of denim or canvas, reminiscent of the materials used for real scarecrows in a corn field or vegetable garden. No two bags will have the same personality as fabric, buttons and stitches used to detail the face will provide varying results and expressions. After you have crafted each of your fun favor bags, fill the pouches with cookies, candy or small gifts as the perfect ending to a fall banquet, Halloween party or Thanksgiving gathering. Place them in a basket to hand out at the end of your celebration, or set one at each place setting at a dinner. When they are empty, the bags will provide a sweet decoration when hung on a hook or door knob.
Scarecrow Treat Bag Instructions
Each finished scarecrow treat bag measures 8” tall by 8” wide, not including the handle. The finished inside measurements are 7 3/4” tall by 7 1/2” wide.
Things You Need:
- Denim or blue canvas
- Card stock
- Acrylic craft paint, cream
- Sea sponge
- Fabric scraps
- 1/2″ black buttons, two
- Raffia
- Rick rack, scrap
- Fall silk flower and leaf
- Black embroidery floss and needle
- Sewing machine and black thread
- Basic supplies-ruler, pencil, scissors, straight pins, school glue stick, craft glue, iron, hot glue gun
What To Do:
Step 1:
Trace an 8″ x 11″ rectangle on card stock and cut out. Round the corners on one short end. This is your scarecrow treat bag pattern and the rounded end is the bottom of the bag.
Step 2:
Lay scrap denim or blue canvas on your work surface. Place the treat bag pattern on the fabric and trace around it. Cut out the shape. You only need one at this time.
Step 3:
Lay the fabric shape on your work surface with the wrong side facing up. Measure 5″ down from the top edge (short, straight edge). Using a dampened sea sponge and cream acrylic craft paint, sponge paint the wrong side of the fabric shape below the 5″ measurement. Allow the paint to dry.
Step 4:
Cut a 1 1/2″ triangle and two 1 1/2″ squares from scrap fabric. These are the scarecrow’s nose and cheeks.
Step 5:
Fold down the top edge of the treat bag shape 3″ and press with an iron. The folded top is the scarecrow’s hat and the painted section below is the face.
Step 6:
Using a school glue stick, glue the nose to the center of the face and the cheeks on the diagonal 1/2″ from the nose.
Step 7:
Detail the face features. Using an embroidery needle and black floss, sew hash marks around the cheeks and nose. Stitch a curved running stitch from one cheek to the other for the mouth. Sew the button eyes 1/4″-1/2″ above the nose and 3/4″ apart. Add a stitch above each eye for the eyebrows. Knot and fasten off the floss on the back.
Step 8:
Turn the bag front over. Measure the area on the back where the stitches were made. Cut a large enough rectangle from the scrap denim to cover the thread. Apply craft glue to the back of the scrap. Place the rectangle over the thread. This will prevent the thread and stitches from coming loose or becoming snagged when the bag is used.
Step 9:
Turn the bag right side up. Unfold the hat portion. Using a glue gun, randomly attach raffia “hair” to the unpainted section and allow it to hang over the face. Note: The hot glue should be approximately 1″ below the fold of the hat and at least 1″ in from the sides so as not to interfere with sewing lines.
Step 10:
Fold the hat again to cover the glued ends of the raffia. Lay a strip of rick rack across the width of the hat, 1/2″ above the hat’s bottom edge. Pin the rick rack through all thicknesses. Using black thread and a sewing machine, sew a top stitch through the center of the rick rack to secure. This step also secures the hat and the raffia hair.
Step 11:
Lay another scrap of denim on your work surface with the wrong side facing up. Place the bag front on the fabric with the front facing up. Pin the front to the denim. Sew around the sides and bottom using a 1/4″ seam allowance. Do not sew across the top.
Step 12:
Cut away the excess fabric around the bag. Do not turn. The stitching is intended to be visible on the outside of the bag.
Step 13:
Rip a 1 1/2″ x 18″ fabric strip for the handle. Using the point of scissors, poke a small hole through all thicknesses, 1/2″ down and 1/2″ in from each corner. From the back of the bag to the front, insert a fabric handle end through each hole. Tie a knot on each end of the handle to secure.
Step 14:
Hot glue a fall silk flower to a fall silk leaf. A sunflower and maple leaf were used for this example, but any fall flower or leaf can be used. Finish by hot gluing the flower decoration to the scarecrow’s hat.
More Tips and Options
The instructions for this project are for one treat bag, but making them one at a time would not be an efficient way to produce them, as you will want one for each of your party guests. Use an assembly-line technique by preparing each step for all bags at once. By the time you have finished painting all of your treat bag fronts, the first one should be dry enough to start the next step. An assembly line also allows you to clean up supplies you are finished using, giving you a tidier work space for crafting. The following are a few more tips and options for crafting your scarecrow treat bags.
- Recycled blue jeans, canvas paint tarps and old canvas book bags are excellent fabric choices for the bag base.
- To speed up drying time for the fabric painted face, use a hair dryer.
- Give the eyes a quirky appearance by stitching one button higher than the other. You can also create a primitive look using buttons of different colors and sizes. If desired, substitute the buttons with snaps, bottle caps, bolts or stitched “X”s.
- While the points of scissors are adequate for creating the holes to thread your handle strip, a Crop-A-Dile tool is wonderful for punching a uniform hole through the thick fabric.
- For a little extra personalizing, use a white paint pen to print a name or a fun fall saying on the hat. Dot the ends of each letter with white paint for a cute finishing touch.
- This treat bag is too small for door-to-door trick or treating, but you can easily enlarge and modify the pattern so your costumed spooks can collect more sweet bounty.
Unexpected Gifts
Sometimes the best gifts are the ones we aren’t expecting. Surprise your kids or co-workers with a scarecrow treat bag filled with cookies or a favorite nut bread and hot cocoa mix for a sweet afternoon snack. If you are traveling over the river and through the woods to grandma’s house this Thanksgiving, make scarecrow treat bags filled with crayons, small writing tablets, toy cars and tiny dolls to keep your children entertained during the car ride. To free up grandma’s time and allow her to bake more yummy goodness, gift her with a basket filled with treat bags to hand out to her guests.