Vintage-Inspired Halloween Treat Bags
This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure PolicyToday I’m showing you how to make these adorable Halloween Treat Bags inspired by vintage Halloween graphics and cards, This All Hallows Eve you can fill the bags with treats for all the ghosts and goblins in your life.
Vintage-Inspired Halloween Treat Bags:
The holidays seem to bring out the crafter in me. To start things off, I made a couple of wreaths out of finds from my yard. Then I (re)created a fun chalkboard drawing for my family room. Next, I crafted a Jack-O’-Lantern garland. (Jack-O’-Lantern Garland coming soon!) My latest project: Vintage-Inspired Halloween Treat Bags.
The idea for these Halloween treat bags came about during a recent antiquing adventure. In one of the shops, I saw vintage paper treat bags with a cute Halloween graphic on them. They reminded me of the DIY Christmas Cookie Bags I made a couple of years ago. That’s when I decided to put the two ideas together to create these Halloween Treat Bags!
For the graphics, I wanted something vintage. As usual, I found amazing vintage art at The Graphics Fairy. She has the best selection of vintage clip art, graphics, and illustrations.
Remember this past Christmas when I used a bunch of vintage graphics to craft printable holiday gift tags? It was so much fun collecting and sourcing the graphics for those. They filled me with nostalgia and the magic of Christmas traditions.
However, my love for these Halloween graphics is different. While they are cute and have an old-timey feel, they are also quirky and maybe a bit creepy, which is perfect for Halloween.
Here’s a look at the eight I chose:
Aren’t they fun?
Anywho, that’s enough about how and why I wanted to create these Halloween Treat Bags. Let me walk you through the quick and easy steps for putting them together!
How to Make Vintage-Inspired Halloween Treat Bags:
For this project you will need:
- Printable Fabric Transfer Sheets*
- 5 x 7-inch Cotton Bags**
- Color Printer
- Iron
- Scissors
*If you use a different type or brand of fabric transfer sheets, please follow the directions on the package.
**There are a variety of bags that you can buy. You will find the ones I used HERE. They are constructed from a thicker material, so they’re a bit more expensive. For a more affordable option, I recommend THESE.
Begin by downloading the printable file:
Vintage-Inspired Halloween Treat Bags Download:
You can access the download in the IBC Printable Library, which can be found HERE.
If you’re new to Inspired by Charm, you can get access to this library by SUBSCRIBING HERE. Once you’ve subscribed, you will immediately receive an email that contains a link and password to access this download.
If you’re already on the IBC Mailing List, you can find the password to access the Printable Library at the bottom of any email from Inspired by Charm.
Next Steps:
With your PDF download successfully saved to your computer, load the printable fabric transfer sheets into your printer.
Adjust the printer settings to the highest quaintly and then print.
(You’ll notice that the printable looks backward or mirrored. This is okay. Since you’ll be ironing these transfers with the printed side down, you want the image of the graphic mirrored so it will read correctly when the paper backing is removed.)
Once printed, cut out each graphic as neatly as possible.
Next, make sure your iron is empty of water. Turn off the steam and then set the iron on high heat (cotton setting).
Iron the bag to remove any wrinkles. Then place the graphic on the bag so that the printed side of the graphic faces down. I positioned the graphic a bit closer to the bottom of the bag rather than in the center of it to allow for the gathering at the top when the bag is cinched shut.
Using the iron, apply heat to the transfer for 45-60 seconds. Apply medium pressure and be sure to move the iron around to avoid scorching the bag.
Repeat this heat transfer process with all of the bags and graphics. Let each bag sit until it’s cool (2-3 minutes) before gently peeling off the paper backing.
The Halloween Treat Bags are now complete and ready to be filled with candy or treats!
I am majorly pleased with how these turned out! They are even better than I envisioned.
I do love these particular cotton bags. As I mentioned above, they are a tad more expensive, but in my book, they are worth it. Of course, if you are making a lot of treat bags, a more affordable option may be preferable.
I filled my Halloween Treat Bags with candy, but you might tuck in other treats: gift cards, money, lottery tickets, small bottles of liquor (for adults), or even baked goods. And if you go with the sturdy bag, you could probably reuse it for seasonal storage or as a change purse.
There are plenty of options for gifts or personal use.
Looking for more Halloween DIY Projects? Try these:
- Printable Halloween Recipe Cards
- Halloween Flower Arrangement
- Spider Cheeseballs
- Halloween Treat Buckets and Luminaries
- Chocolate Skull Cake
I hope you enjoyed this project. Did it stir up a little seasonal creativity in you?
Happy crafting!
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Love these! Thank you for the tutorial & for sharing where to get everything from!
Your talent amazes me, Michael! Thank you for the idea. I will use this for my grandson’s first birthday party bags. His mom has chosen a Halloween birthday party, and this will be perfect.
LOVE YOUR BLOG! I look forward to it everyday ….
Hi Michael, I just made the Halloween bags, my first attempt at transferring art. I used your templates and I love them, I’m going to give 4 to my gr. grand kids for Halloween. Thanks so much for having such a fun website. Love all your ideas. My daughter, who is quite artistic, copied your Hocus Pocus Blackboard for the display over the fireplace. I added a Haunted Mansion I painted black (a old plastic dollhouse). It really turned out quite nice.
Thanks again for all your great ideas.
This is one of my favorite diy’s! I love these vintage post cards! I would like to make another set of these… happen to have another round of Halloween printables? You make it so easy with them already the right size and on one sheet. Thanks!
These bags are so cute!
Glad I found your site, enjoy and “inspired” by everything. Making these for elderly relatives who are not able to get out and enjoy much right now. So cute. Agree with “you need to make more ideas for upcoming holidays“. Thank you for sharing your amazing talents
I just made some and they are just so adorable! Initially, I was just making them for my granddaughters but I think the adult bags may be a bigger hit for my daughters and son in laws! Such a great idea to put little liquor or wine bottles, lottery tix and a fancy chocolate.
Yay! Love that you made them already. So happy to hear that!
xo Michael
This is sooo cute…thank you!! Just ordered everything to make 🙂
LOVE!!!
I just love these bags and plan to make some soon. Thanks for posting this.
Found it! Now I feel stupid! Can’t wait to make the bags! Thank you for a great website!
Don’t feel stupid. I’m glad you found it!
xo Michael
I am on your mailing list and I am unable to find the password to make the Halloween bags. Can you let me know where it is?
Thank you.
May I please have your address? I want to “Trick or Treatl” for the adult Halloween bag! Haha!
Love these! Michael….you are soooo creative!
LOVE THIS! Your graphics are perfect! I think I will make this on a larger scale for my grandchildren’s trick or treat bags. Thank you for the inspiration and graphics!!!
Will I need to launder the bags before applying the transfer? These are fabulous and fun! Thank you for sharing with us.
No. There’s no need to wash them.
xo Michael
Love it!! Thank you for sharing. Your site and home are inspirational.
How fun! I love this look.
So darn cute! I tried the link to the paper and I couldn’t seem to get it to work? It took me to the bags. Next you need to do Christmas bags, Easter bags, etc. Too cute! Thanks for the inspiration.
Sorry about that. Thanks for letting me know. I’ve updated the link. You can find the transfer paper HERE.
xo Michael