Since I haven’t talked favors in a little while, I scoured my favorite packaging shops for some fabulous supplies to inspire you to add some extra personality to your favors. Then again, why stop there? With such pretty things to work with, you might find yourself adding lace and ribbon to places you hadn’t originally anticipated!

Gold glitter ribbon from Caramelos; twine set from Nice Package; luxe ribbon from Nice Package; pink paper daisies from the Gilded Bee; pink tassels from Package in Style; vintage lace from Package in Style.

These treat bags are great for your guests to grab their treats with and go. They’re lined to give a little extra support to them since more fragile desserts are present as well as candy, and they’re perfectly sealed with a ribbon.

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What You’ll Need

Our Favor Bag PDF Featuring Leigh Wells‘ Calligraphy (available here)
Clear Plastic Treat Bags
Single Hole Punch
Scissors
Bristol Board (Available at Art Supply Stores)
Cover Weight Paper
Bone Folder
Ribbon
Glue Sticks

Open up a treat bag and cut 1.5″ down the seam. Remove the two inches of bag on all sides except for the front wide panel so that the remaining side has a newly created flap. Fold the flap over to that the fold aligns with where the bag was cut, then crisp the fold with a bone folder.

Flatten the bag and taken new measurements. Open the bag and measure the expanded width, and add this measurement onto the measurement of the height of the bag. With the adjusted measurements, cut a piece of Bristol board that matches them. From the bottom of the cut card, measure the height of the card up to the bag’s width measurement (for example, if the width was 2″ then measure that amount from the edge) and fold across the card at that point with the bone folder. This card is now set up to line your bag, and be compressed for storage. Insert it into the treat bag with the bottom lining facing towards the side of the bag with the flap.

After customizing the label sheet with your names, event date, or both, print the sheet on cover weight paper and cut one out along the exterior dotted line. Using a glue stick, add adhesive to the back of the label and affix to the treat bag (on the side that has the flap) in your desired position.

Using a handheld hole punch, punch two holes about 1.5″ from either side of the bag that go cleanly through the folded over flap, the card, and both sides of the bag. They should line up, so punch carefully! Cut a length of ribbon and feed it through the holes and tie in a bow – the length of the ribbon is up to you, so see what you think looks good on the size of the bag you’re working with.

Images by Michael Haug; prop styling by Kirki Schultz; food styling by Maddy Hague.

If I had to sum this DIY project up quickly, I’d say it was certainly the tastiest I’ve ever done. My husband was very “disappointed” to hear I wanted to do a test kitchen on hot chocolates for this project to find the ultimate gift mix for fall and winter brides who right about now have favors and bridal party gifts on the mind. After quite a bit of mashing up of different recipes and proportions to create a recipe that sounded right to me, I finally found my perfect base…

… and then I built on it. I tested a few additional recipes that added a little something extra to the hot chocolate mixes to make them feel a little more luxurious and special. If you don’t see an upgraded recipe here that you’re interested in, or you want to incorporate a flavor or ingredient that is a part of your wedding, use the base to do some building on by yourself! You’ll want to prepare the cocoa about a week in advance to give the mixes enough time for flavors to combine properly in an airtight space before putting them in their individual vials.

Base Recipe:
½ Cup Sugar
¼ Cup Cocoa
¾ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Dash of Salt

A Quick Word on Cocoa: Upgrade to Ghirardelli ground cocoa rather than your standard Hershey’s. I always keep a tub of it around the house for baking. The flavor difference alone is worth the extra few bucks – but it’s also easily accessible: check the baking aisle of your local supermarket or Target’s grocery section. It’s in a gold canister – you can’t miss it!

In a bowl, add sugar, cocoa, and salt and mix thoroughly until completely combined. Measure out vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon at a time, adding each to a different area of the bowl. Thoroughly combine (by hand or by mixer) vanilla extract with the sugar and cocoa mixture until the wet ingredient has been completely absorbed and the mixture is smooth with no visible lumps. Transfer to an airtight container for storage if you are not adding additional ingredients. Makes approximately four one-ounce servings.

Gourmet Upgrades:

Peppermint Patty: add ¼ – ½ Teaspoon* of Peppermint Extract and thoroughly combine, by hand or by mixer, until the wet ingredient has been completely absorbed and the cocoa is smooth with no visible lumps.

Butterscotch Bliss: add ¼ Cup of Butterscotch Chips into the mixture and combine thoroughly so they are evenly distributed throughout. They’ll melt in the warm milk and be positively sinful!

Almond Joy: add ¼ – ½ Teaspoon* of Almond Extract and thoroughly combine, by hand or by mixer, until the wet ingredient has been completely absorbed and the cocoa is smooth with no visible lumps.

Guilty Pleasure: add ¼ Cup of Bittersweet Chocolate Chips and ¼ Cup of Mini Marshmallows into the mixture and combine thoroughly so they are evenly distributed throughout for something rich and craveable!

Sunshine State: add ¼ – ½ Teaspoon* of Orange Extract and thoroughly combine, by hand or by mixer, until the wet ingredient has been completely absorbed and the cocoa is smooth with no visible lumps.

* : It should be said I highly favor using ½ teaspoon of all the extracts, but my husband prefers ¼ and wanted me to let you know that.