My oldest daughter turned 7 this week. SEVEN! Apparently I’ve turned into that paranoid mom who keeps her kids home from school to keep them from getting sick. But there’s a really bad bug going around at school right now and I didn’t want my daughter to be sick for her birthday party. I sound crazy, I know. But 3 out of her 7 birthdays our family has gotten the stomach bug right on her birthday. That’s really bad luck! And kids birthday parties. Wow, don’t get me started! I’m apparently NOT one of those moms who breezes through them. I drop my kids off at all these birthday parties, and most of the parents seem so well put together! Calm. Collected. They look like they’ve got it under control. But as all the parents were dropping their kids off at my daughter’s birthday party over the weekend (10 kids between the ages of 5 and 7… oh help me…), I was in full on panic mode on the inside… and probably on the outside too… Those kids have ENERGY! Wow. The only saving grace is that every once in awhile I’ll pick my kids up from a birthday party, and one (or both) of the parents look like they’re about ready to hide in the closet with a bottle of wine… lol… Now, THOSE parents are keeping it real. They makes me feel more normal, like we’re all surviving this crazy world of parenting together. haha
This year, between keeping the girls home two extra days, and making these LUCKY pot of gold licorice rainbows (sure, I’m going to go ahead and be superstitious and say these lucky charms had something to do with it! 😉 ), we managed to stay healthy! Yay!!! And my daughter had an amazing birthday party! These rainbow licorice treat bags were inspired by the super cute goody bags over at Our Best Bites. So simple, and so cute, and my kids were sooooo excited to get them!
Rainbow Licorice Treat Bags – Pot of Gold St. Patrick’s Day Licorice Rainbows
The full printable directions are at the end of this post, but here’s what you’ll need:
Rainbow Twizzlers Gold Coins Cellophane Bags Green Ribbon Tiny Elastics (optional)
I bought the rainbow licorice at Walmart and I found the gold coin chocolates at the dollar store.
I live in Canada, so all I could find were gold $1 Loonie coins.
The great thing about Twizzlers is that the rainbow package has all of the colours of the rainbow! Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple!
It’s hard to see here, but this is what the cellophane bags looked like. (The link to the type of cellophane bags I bought is in the list of materials above.) I bought them loose at the bulk store.
Don’t cut the licorice. It works much better if you leave them at the length they come in. Start by bending a purple piece of licorice in half, pinching the two ends together, and lowering it into the bag. You’ll want the two ends to be about 1″ from the edge of the bag on both sides to leave room for the other licorice colours. There are folds in the cellophane bag – Try to get the licorice behind the folds so that the gold coins can go in front of the rainbow.
Add one colour of licorice at a time, shaping the rainbow and making sure the pieces are stuck together as you go.
Work your way through all the colours of the rainbow!
Then add the gold coins, and place them on top of the rainbow, in front of the folds in the bottom of the cellophane bag.
Since my gold $1 Loonie coins were so large, I only put 4 coins in each bag, but it will depend how large your gold coins are.
This step is optional, but I find it really helps. If you have any tiny elastics lying around the house (or you can get them at the dollar store), they are fantastic for holding the bag closed so you can tie on your ribbon.
Pinch the top of the bag closed with your fingers, then stretch the elastic over top and into place.
Then cut out a piece of apple green ribbon and tie it around the elastic. The ribbon should cover up the elastic, but if it doesn’t, just snip the elastic and pull it out if it’s visible.
These are so cute! And really quick to make!
In the bags of Twizzlers I bought there were exactly 5 pieces of each colour. So you can make 5 treat bags from one bag of licorice.
These rainbow licorice treat bags are SO EASY to make and they look so cute! They are a perfect treat to make for St. Patrick’s Day and would make adorable goody bags to give out at a rainbow birthday party. Such a fun and simple treat bag idea!
Here’s even more fun party ideas:
How to Make a Pinata
Paper Plate Flowers
How to Make a Paper Star
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
Where to buy:
