Candy Filled Balloon Pumpkins

Did you wear homemade Halloween costumes when you were a kid? I know I sure did! A week or two before Halloween each year, my mom would ask us what we wanted to dress up as, and then we’d rummage through the closets to create a totally awesome and unique costume – whether it was a witch, or a fairy, or a pirate – I don’t think I ever had a store bought costume. Sometimes my mom would sew some accessories for us (one year she made an awesome Little Red Riding Hood Cape…), but it was pretty much whatever we could throw together from the closets.

And the crazy part is that all my friends had homemade costumes too. I remember one year, my mom actually let me cut holes in a white bedsheet to be a ghost, and I was soooooooo excited! I had been asking her for years to be a ghost and she always said no, so I was pretty pumped when she finally agreed. Which was great, because on that particular Halloween, it was cold and snowy, so I could wear my snow suit underneath the sheet, and no one knew. It was just a sheet, but I was so proud!

I need to start creating original costumes like that with my kids. They have about a billion store bought princess dresses – and I’m pretty sure if I ask them what they want to be for Halloween this year, they’ll want to be one of the princesses. (Again.) And my poor son is going to wear the Old Navy dragon costume I bought 6 years ago. All three of my kids have worn that dragon costume for two Halloweens each. lol I’m not sure if that’s bad parenting, or just really awesome efficiency??

Some day I’m going to throw an epic Halloween party for my kids, and imagine how amazing it would be if it was with homemade costumes only?? (I’m sure the other parents would hate me… haha). But wouldn’t it be awesome?! And I’ll give out these adorable candy filled balloon pumpkins as favors to all the guests, inspired by Hostess with the Mostess. They’re such an simple and adorable party favor idea for any kind of Halloween party! And they’re so easy to make!

Candy Filled Balloon Pumpkins

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Orange Balloons (I used 12″ balloons from the dollar store)


• Halloween Candy


• Green Tissue Paper


• Sharpie


• Double Sided Tape

I was AMAZED by how much candy you could actually fit inside the balloon. What you see in the photo below is what I included in the balloon – One mini chocolate bar, a lolly pop, rockets, a green apple chew, and two chocolate bars. I could have gotten even more into the balloon too.

I filled the balloons by myself, with no help from anyone else. It was a strategic motion involving the two fingers on my left and the middle finger on my right hand holding it open, and then my thumb and pointer finger pinching the candy and guiding it in. I’m sure it looked ridiculous, but it wasn’t nearly as hard as I was expecting.

Capturing a photo of me filling the balloons for this tutorial was pretty much the hardest part! I had to use my tripod and a 2 second timer delay, so this next photo was pretty much the best I could do. I think you get the idea though.

See all the candy it fits?!

Just be careful with the lolly pop sticks. At one point I had one poking out the side which could have caused it to pop, but I re-positioned it and it was fine.

Blow up the balloon until it’s full, then let out half the air until the balloon is the size you want it. I have no idea if this is true, but I feel like stretching the balloon first by filling it completely with air makes it a better shape in the end.

My balloons were fairly opaque, so you couldn’t really see the candy unless you held it up to a window. You can see the candy through the balloon in the photo below.

For the balloon stem, I cut out a 2 inch wide strip of tissue paper.

Then I folded it in half several times, and cut some fringe into it, like in the photo below.

Then I opened it back up, wrapped it around the knot in the balloon and secured it with some double sided tape.

Then get creative and use a black Sharpie to draw some Jack-O-Lantern faces on your pumpkins!

I like happy pumpkins, personally, so all of the faces I drew were smiling – It’s like a happy little pumpkin patch full of laughing pumpkins!

If you want to make them spooky, just draw creepier faces. And you could even throw in some white balloons with ghost faces!

Just picture a table loaded with these guys for your Halloween party guests! Or you could even put them on the floor in a sort of pumpkin patch.

Ooooooo… and you could throw a glow stick inside as well to make them glowing pumpkins! That would be amazing!

These candy filled balloon pumpkins are AWESOME favors for Halloween parties! They’re super inexpensive and really quick to make! Imagine the party games you could play!!

If you’re looking for more awesome pumpkin party favor ideas, be sure to check out our tissue paper pumpkin favors! Almost the exact same idea as these balloons, but you use tissue paper instead!

Source : onelittleproject.com
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