Every holiday, we get requests for candy replacement ideas for kids and their classmates. This year, make a bowl of Halloween surprise balls filled with wind-up trinkets, tattoos, and tiny toys. Read on for more!

Surprise balls are an awesome way to gift treats to little ones — because the excitement of unwrapping them is half the fun!  Just wrap a few spooky toys, like these monster finger puppets, temporary tattoos, and chattering teeth, in crepe paper streamers until you’ve got a tidy ball. Add cardstock features for detail, and you’re ready to roll! As the kids unravel the ball, they’ll find all the little trinkets hidden within the layers.

Materials Needed: Crepe paper streamers (in 3 colors different colors), scissors, tiny gifts,  Aleene’s Tacky Glue Quick Dry, cardstock, washi tape

Step 1: Gather a variety of tiny gifts to wrap in your surprise ball.

Step 2: Starting with the largest item, begin to wrap with the crepe paper streamer. Continue to wrap the item until it is completely wrapped. Wrap the second item until you have a ball shape, then add a tab of washitape to secure the end of the streamer to the ball.

Step 3: Wrap the remaining items, creating 5 balls all together.

Step 4: Cut out face details from cardstock.

Step 5: Secure the faces to the surprise balls. Happy gifting!

Crafting by Erica Kjos