Reindeer treat cups

These simple reindeer treat cups are a fun and easy DIY gift idea kids can make (or you can make them for kids!).

This Christmas gift idea was first published in 2020 and has been updated and reshared for today’s audience

You might also like our washcloth snowman DIY gift idea

Do you know somebody who’d like a yummy Reindeer treat cup? They’re super easy to make.

We’ve used a hot glue gun to stick it together, but if you’re working with kids use a low temp hot glue gun or even tacky craft glue instead for safety. The only part which really needs the hot glue is the pom pom nose, so if you’re using tacky craft glue you could replace this with a red dot sticker or a hand-drawn nose. They would still look just as cute.

You can fill the treat cup with whatever you like. Nuts, sweets, chocolates, whatever. 

I put together a mix of caramel popcorn, chocolate maltesers, and mini marshmallows for our treat cups.

How to make reindeer treat cups

You will need

• Paper cups in a brown or earth colour. I’ve used these ones (affiliate link)
• Construction paper or card stock in brown and a lighter shade of brown for the ears. This set (affiliate link) has a nice range of browns
• White card stock
• Small pom poms
• 4×9″ cello bags (affiliate link) for your treat mix, or just use pre wrapped sweets if you prefer
• Bakers twine (affiliate link) or ribbon
• Black marker
• Scissors

How to

1. Draw a circle for the muzzle on brown paper and cut it out.
2. Fold a small piece of brown paper in half and draw an ear shape on it. Cut it out to get two matching ears.
3. Fold a piece of lighter brown paper in half and draw an inner ear shape and gut it out. Glue on top of the larger ear shapes.
4. Fold a piece of white card stock in half and draw an antler shape. Cut it out to get two matching antlers.
5. Draw two eyes with thick black marker and cut them out.
6. Glue the pieces into place with your hot glue gun (or tacky craft glue).
7. Glue the pom pom nose on and draw a smile on the face.
8. Place a cello bag inside the cup and fill with treat mix.
9. Tie the cello bag with a piece of bakers twine.

And there you have it, a quick, cute and yummy DIY gift.

Have you seen our 3D Reindeer character portrait?

More handmade gift ideas for Christmas

• These finger knit bookmarks are a great addition to a book gift
• Make a washcloth snowman with a small treat attached
• We have a printable set of Christmas paper baskets featuring Santa and a reindeer
• Print and colour a pop-up nativity card
• Make easy handmade Christmas cards using cookie cutters