Five Ways to Get Rid of Leftover Halloween Candy

Here it is, two full weeks after Halloween and there is still tons of candy in my house. Sometimes I wonder if Halloween candy lingers as long as it does since Christmas seems to encroach on the day more and more every year. And honestly, can you blame Halloween for trying to stick around a little longer? I would love to just toss the candy, but my son is at an age where he would definitely notice if it were to suddenly disappear.

Getting rid of excess candy last year was easy. The director of my son’s school collected it to send to our troops in Afghanistan. It wound up being an amazing teaching moment when the Marines sent a thank you letter. The troops gave the donated candy to Afghani children. In turn, the children told them were landmines were. To say it was a good trade is a vast understatement.

Now that our troops are starting to come home I’ll have to start finding alternate ways to get rid of all of this candy. Here are some thoughts I’ve had:

1. Mash all of those little candy bars into baby diapers for the classic – and slightly disturbing – baby shower game, “Guess What’s in the Diaper”.
2. Play with your food! Much like Peeps Sushi, build and sculpt things with the candy. The kids may like this even more than eating it!
3. Since you have to unwrap all of the candy to really play with it, save the wrappers and turn them into jewelry and handbags.
4. Bring it to the office pot luck. We’re close enough to Thanksgiving now that depending on how much candy you have left, you may be able to bring a nice sized bowl of candy for dessert at the office Thanksgiving celebration.
5. Save it to decorate gingerbread houses. Hard candies have an exceptional shelf life and look great on gingerbread houses, so hey, you’re already ahead of the game!

I’m sure there are a million other great ways to get rid of leftover Halloween candy and I’d love to hear them! What have you done over the years to get the extra goodies out of the house?