How to Make Wedding and Bridal Shower Centerpieces or Favors Using Mini Pails

Make these quick and inexpensive mini pails to decorate your wedding, bridal shower, or other upcoming event. Depending on your budget, you can make these as table centerpieces or make one for each party guest as a favor.

Each mini pail takes about 5 minutes to make using common craft tools. Each pail costs under $3 to make, not including the filler materials. The supplies should be available at most major craft retailers. If you cannot find an item, please refer to the shopping guide at the end of this article.

You could easily adapt this craft project to make fun buckets as birthday party favors.

Supplies Needed for Wedding Favor Mini Pails

3 ¼ inch mini craft pails
Decorative scrapbooking paper in your choice of theme
Decorative stickers in your theme
Decorative accents such as rhinestones, flowers, or ribbons
Tacky Glue
Paper trimmer or scissors
Permanent marker

Filler materials such as candy or flowers

Step-by-Step Instructions to Make Wedding Favor Mini Pails

1. Decide on your theme before going to the craft store. The theme will help you narrow your decorative accent choices so you stay within budget. In the example photo, we used a butterfly motif for a summer wedding.

2. Clean the interior of the mini pail gently if you plan to put unwrapped candies inside.

3. Measure the circumference of your mini pail. Add ¼ inch for overlapping.

4. Use the paper trimmer to cut a 1 ¾ inch wide length of decorative paper. Be sure to make it long enough by using the measurement in the step above.

5. Apply tacky glue to the wrong side of your decorative paper strip.

6. Apply the strip carefully along the bottom outside of the mini pail. Be sure to overlap the ends so you do not have any pail showing through.

7. Use your fingers to apply pressure while the paper strip adheres to the pail.

8. Allow to dry completely.

9. Add decorative embellishments such as stickers, glitter, rhinestones, or ribbons. In the photo example, we randomly added butterfly stickers to the mini pail just above the decorative paper. Then, we added clear rhinestones to the pink portion of the decorative paper for extra sparkle.

10. Add an accent to the top.

11. Use the permanent marker to write the name and date of the event to either the top or bottom of the mini pail. If applicable, write the guest's name on the mini pail favor.

On-Line Shopping Guide for Wedding Favor Mini Pails

Mini pail: The pail used in this guide is made by Sierra Pacific Crafts. You can check their website for a craft store in your state or call them to find out where to get the mini pail.

Butterfly Paper: We used "Hello Beautiful" Beautiful Butterflies Paper from the Little Miss Muffet line by My Mind's Eye. Check your local scrapbooking store and ask if they carry this line.

Butterfly Stickers: We used "Vellum Butterflies" by EK Success, product number SPVM09. If your local craft store does not carry them, you can buy them online here.

Candy Filler: We used a favorite wedding candy favor called "Petite Mints" by Guittard. You can buy larger 5 pound bags online at Candy.

Rhinestones: We used rhinestones made by Kaisercraft, but any brand will work for this project. They already come with adhesive backs so you simply press them onto your project. Look at this website for more information.