Arts and Crafts: DIY Party Favor Bags

Our Gracie turns eight this weekend. After much consideration, she decided to celebrate with a luau party. We've had fun coming up with a menu and some activities, and I'm working now on some of the pre-party preparation. Today, I'm sewing some party favor bags à la Mich L. (Thanks, Michelle!)

I pulled some fabric scraps from my stash -- a green print that reminds me of some of the textiles we saw while in Hawaii along with some glittery red fabric patterned with hibiscus. The hibiscus fabric came from my Aunt Ruby who cut it into circles for a project that was later abandoned. This was a great way to use up something that would have been otherwise unusable.

I cut the fabric into strips.
I straightened up the rounded edges of the hibiscus print as I cut.


I folded the fabric right sides together, then sewed the strips into tubes.
Next, I divided the strip into thirds.
I just eyeballed this and divided the tubes
by running three zig-zag seams across the width --
one 1/3 down the tube and the other two 2/3 down and about 1/4" apart.


I made the first cut right under the first seam.
I made the second cut between seams two and three.
This left three open ends and made three little bags out of each tube.


I turned the bags right side out, but I didn't hem the open ends.
I just cleaned up the thread ends and rough edges.
These are party favor bags, after all -- likely to be tossed in the trash.

I filled each bag with Good & Plenty and Good & Fruity packets.
I found a giant bag at Tom Thumb on clearance for $2!


Each favor bag also holds a fish whistle, a shiny squawker,
a plastic hibiscus necklace, and a pack of Extra Island Cooler gum.
Each guest will get a lei when they arrive.


I tied them off with a double length of twine from my stash.


The whole project was very easy. I used fabric I otherwise might not have and knocked the whole thing out in less time than it would have taken me to get out of my PJs and drive to the party store.