Hello fellow Ribbon Retreat Fans!
 
I’m Melissa from over at Bless this Mess. I’m a photographer, recipe developer, hobby farmer, momma and general lover of all things delicious. My blog, Bless this Mess, is an honest picture of a happy small town life.

You’ll find posts about raising backyard chickens, remodeling our house while living in the mess and lots and lots of family friendly recipes, desserts included. And of course, I love to craft and sew!
 
With Halloween just around the corner I, like many of you, have started my Halloween sewing. You can’t start too early in my book! I wanted to make a cute trick-or-treat bag and the mega Ric Rac was just begging to be used. I thought it looked perfect for the wrappings of a cute little mummy, so that’s just what I did. This fun and novel mummy trick or treat bag will last for years to come! Plus it has a secret… you can make it glow in the dark! Keep reading to see what I mean. My kids have been begging me to let them play with it already, so in my book, it’s a big hit!
 
Here’s how you can make one of your very own.
 
Supplies:
 
3 yards white Mega Ric Rac (2 1/4 inch wide)
11×14 inch fabric pieces, 4 total, mismatched or the same (fat quarters are perfect for this!)
15-20 inch handles, 2
11×3 inch piece fabric (behind the eyes)
3×8 inch piece of medium-weight clear vinyl
2 1-inch google eyes
2 1 1/2-inch felt circles (behind the google eyes)
glow stick
thread
pins
scissors
sewing machine
rubber rat, for moral support

How to:

1. Sew the 11×3-inch piece of material onto one of the four 11×14-inch rectangles, about 4 inches from the top. This will be the material behind your mummies eyes. Don’t worry about finishing the edge of the material; it will be behind the ric-rac, and it’s a mummy! A little unraveling is ok here.
 
2. Pin the ric rac where you’d like it, cutting as needed. Feel free to criscross and overlap pieces to get more of a “wrapped” look.
 
3. Sew the ric rac into place.
 
4. Glue (hot or super) your felt eye accents and then the google eyes into place. Once the glue has dried, place the clear vinyl over the eyes. Sew the vinyl down on 3 sides leaving one skinny end open.
 
Remember how I said that the bag could glow in the dark? Well this is how; this is where the glow stick will go! What kid doesn’t love something glowing to pack around on Halloween?
 
5. Placing right sides together, place a second 11×14-inch rectangle on top of your mummy face. Sew around three edges, keeping the top open. Repeat with the other two pieces. You should now have two “bags” that are inside-out. One is the outside of the bag (the one with the mummy) and the other is the inside lining.
 
6. Pick open a 4 to 5-inch opening in the bottom of the lining bag using a seam-ripper.
 
7. Leave the lining bag inside out. Make the outside mummy bag right-side-out, so that the mummy is looking at you. Pin the handles into place on both sides of the bag. Pin with their raw edge pointing up and their curved edges down.
 
8. This is the only “tricky” part of the project, and it’s not really tricky once you do it…
 
The inside lining is still inside-out. You need to pull the lining up over the mummies face (the whole outside bag) so that the right sides of the mummy and lining are facing each other. All of the raw edges of both bags need to be level with each other and the raw edges of the handles should be poking out. So the order should be the mummy in the middle, handles, then inside-out lining.
 
Here’s what it should look like:
 
Line up all of the fabric edges and sew around the top circle of the bag so that everything is sewn together. When going over the handles I would back up and sew it a time or two more for added strength.
 
9. Once the top is sewn together you are going to pull the bag through the hole in the bottom of the lining.
 
10. To finish up you can sew or hand-stitch the hole in the lining shut and then tuck it into place inside the mummy bag. You are done in just 10 steps!
 
This bag is the perfect size for younger kids. My babies are 6,4, and 2 which means they are short. I didn’t want a bag that was so big they’d be dragging it around all night. If you want a larger bag the same sewing principles/instructions apply, just plan on more materials to get the job done.
 
Thanks SO much for letting me be here, Ribbon Retreat, and for having so many awesome accents and fabrics to inspire my projects.
 
And thank YOU for reading! Have a great day – Melissa

It glows!!!! It glows!!! What little kiddo wouldn’t love their trick-or-treat bag to glow in the dark??? AND…how awesome for parents to have a glow in the dark bag as your little ones go door to door and walking through neighborhoods? AWESOME! Thank you so much Melissa! We are so excited to have you as our newest Contributor. Melissa is very talented and so much fun! For more crafty inspiration and awesome projects by Melissa, pay her a visit over at Bless this Mess!

I love this time of year when all of our kiddos are gearing up for this excitement filled night! The Ribbon Retreat has SO many fun and festive Halloween ribbon to create and complete all of your Halloween projects! We also have some AMAZING Halloween crafts and bows you are sure to love! Check them out in one convenient place…HERE. Click if you dare!!!

Happy Creating and Happy Halloween Prepping!