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DIY St. Patrick’s Day “Pot O’ Gold” Treat Bucket

This St. Patrick’s Day “Pot O’ Gold” Treat Bucket is the perfect party favor. It’s easy to make and really tasty.

Make this the best holiday with help from our other St. Patrick’s Day posts.

Gold coins in a bucket with a rainbow candy handle and the words "St. Patrick's Day Pot O' Gold Treat Bucket" digitally written on top.

I can’t believe St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner. This year is seriously flying by. I say that every year, but this one is exceptional. I feel like I was just packing to go to Florida for Christmas, and somehow I’m already making fun St. Patrick’s Day treats.

It’s a little early to make these treat buckets for your party, but you’ll want to pick up the supplies now — especially if you need to order the gold coins because those will take some time to arrive.

But, if you’re having a party or just looking for something festive to do with the kiddies one of these weekends, this easy DIY St. Patrick’s Day “Pot Of Gold” favor bucket is the perfect treat.

Your kids will have fun helping you make them … and eating them too.

Shamrocks cut from cardstock with scissors and the words "30+ St. Patrick's Day Crafts" digitally written on top.

This isn’t the only St. Patrick’s Day idea we have on Drugstore Divas. If you’re looking for more ideas, check out our full list of St. Patrick’s Day treats and crafts.

DIY St. Patrick’s Day “Pot Of Gold” Treat Bucket

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St. Patrick’s Day “Pot O’ Gold” Treat Bucket Supplies:

How To Make A St. Patrick’s Day “Pot O’ Gold” Treat Bucket:

A mini plastic bowl filled with black and silver paper shred.

Fill the mini round bowls with a mix of black and silver paper shred. The more full you pack it, the easier the rest of the craft will be.

Quick note: If you don’t want to buy two bags of paper shred for this, you can just leave out the silver. Or, you can use gold tinsel instead.

And, if you don’t want to use either of those, you can fill the round bowls with black tissue paper instead. Just be sure to stuff it with something. Don’t paint the buckets.

Gold coins on top of black paper shred in a clear bowl.

Arrange several chocolate gold coins inside the bucket.

A rainbow Air Head candy shaped like a handle in a mini bowl that's filled with gold chocolate coins and black paper shread.

Bend an Air Head candy into a U shape. Tuck the sides of the strip down into the paper shred.

If your candy belt is floppy, you can put a toothpick into the center of your pot of prop up the candy. Let it stay there for a little while as it takes shape. Then, remove it using a pair of tweezers.

Place the treat buckets out as party favors and enjoy.

A St. Patrick's Day Pot O' Gold Treat Bucket.

St. Patrick’s Day Treat Bucket: Frequently Asked Questions

Where can you purchase gold foil coins?

The only place I could find chocolate coins, locally, was at Big Lots. Nowhere else was selling them for whatever reason.

You can, however, order chocolate gold coins online. Just make sure to check the shipping date to assure that they’ll get to you in time to make these sweet treats.

What can you use instead of chocolate coins?

If you can’t find chocolate coins, any gold-wrapped candy will work. So, Rolo chocolates, Hershey’s Kisses With Almonds or Hershey’s Nuggets, and mini Reese’s peanut butter cups, are all perfect because they’re wrapped in gold wrappers.

Since you’re using a food-safe mini round bowl to make this, you could also fill it with gold Sixlets. Or ditch the pot of gold idea, but stick with the St. Patrick’s Day theme, and go with rainbow Skittles. Mini marshmallows work too. Honestly, this is your treat now, so you can get creative.

And, if you don’t want to fill the buckets with candy, you could fill them with Lucky Charms cereal instead.

If you’re using a galvanized bucket, it’s not food safe and you have to use wrapped candies in it. Using a galvanized bucket means you wouldn’t be able to eat the Air Heads candy either. So just be sure to keep that in mind if you’re using those buckets and giving these out to younger kids because they’ll instantly want to eat the pretty candy.

Where do you purchase mini round bowls?

I found the mini round bowls at Dollar Tree in packs of six.

If you can’t find them at your local dollar store and are looking around for them, the ones I used are 3-inch bowls that are usually used for parfaits. Since they’re meant for food, they’re food safe for unwrapped candy.

Alternatively, you could look for black cauldron buckets, since that’s what everyone associates with a pot of gold. Those will be more expensive than these mini round bowls, though, so they’re not the best option if you’re making these on a budget.

With those buckets, you’d still want to add the paper shred into the bucket for height. If not, you’ll need more gold coins to fill the bucket since you won’t have a filler at the bottom. And of course, that can get expensive too.

Can you make these ahead of time?

We don’t really suggest making these ahead of time because the rainbow candy is covered in sugar and you don’t want to just leave that hanging around.

If you’re making these for this year’s classroom parties and you need to make them ahead of time, or need to transport them, we suggest completely assembling them, then putting them in airtight cellophane bags. Tie them with a cute ribbon and put them in a plastic bag, and you’re good to go.

Shamrock Pretzels on a tray.

More St. Patrick’s Day Treat Ideas:

If you’re looking for some more small treats to make this holiday, our St. Patrick’s Day shamrock pretzels are always a big hit when we bring them to parties.

If you’d rather not be over the top with the shamrocks, mint works too. Try our Mint Chocolate Bark or our Layered Chocolate Mint Bars.

There’s also our DIY St. Patrick’s Day Rainbow Jar Craft too.

Yield: 1 Treat Bucket

DIY St. Patrick’s Day “Pot O’ Gold” Treat Bucket

This St. Patrick’s Day “Pot O’ Gold” Treat Bucket is the perfect party favor. It’s easy to make and really tasty.

Active Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Difficulty Easy

Materials

  • Black paper shred
  • Silver paper shred
  • Chocolate coins
  • Rainbow Air Head candy

Tools

  • Clear mini round bowls

Instructions

  1. Fill the mini round bowls with a mix of black and silver paper shred.
    Arrange several chocolate gold coins inside the bucket.
  2. Bend an Air Head candy into a U shape. Tuck the sides of the strip down into the paper shred.
  3. Place the treat buckets out as party favors and enjoy.

Notes

If your candy belt is floppy, you can put a toothpick into the center of your pot of prop up the candy. Let it stay there for a little while as it takes shape. Then, remove it using a pair of tweezers.

Would you make this St. Patrick’s Day treat bucket for your St. Patrick’s Day party? Let us know in the comments.

Pam

Thursday 29th of February 2024

This is such a cute idea! Love it!

Paula Short

Tuesday 27th of February 2024

Oh my goodness this treat basket is so cute! What a great idea.

stephanie

Monday 26th of February 2024

Super cute! :)

Lisa | Handmade in Israel

Sunday 25th of February 2024

I love the treat bucket! So simple and so cute!

Beth

Thursday 22nd of February 2024

Such a FUN idea for kids of any age!

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