We’ve been long time fans of the You’ve Been Booed! Halloween tradition. See the evidence below from one of our earliest videos where we share how to make Boo Buckets. This annual tradition picks up steam every year around this time and people generally have one of two reactions. Either they are all in on “booing” friends and neighbors or they have absolutely no idea what a boo bucket is! We’re here to share all the inspiration from boo buckets to free printable tags. Updated for 2021.
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What is a You’ve Been Booed Gift?
If you’re in the dark about Boo gifts (call it a bucket, or a bag or just a BOO, we don’t care) it’s simply a treat that you deliver to a friend or neighbor, Secret Santa style. Though, the Ring Doorbell has really eliminated the element of surprise over the last few years. You can encourage your recipient to continue the fun but we don’t like to make that a requirement. There are no rules!
What to Put Inside Your Boo Bucket?
When we first started this tradition, we’d get these great Halloween-themed buckets from the Target Dollar Spot and fill it will all sorts of things. A favorite go-to was a seasonal cake mix, a tub of frosting, sprinkles, and cupcake liners. This is one of our favorite Boo Buckets to give because it’s affordable and makes a big impact.
As the neighbor kids have gotten older, the gifts have evolved a little bit. Last year, we packaged up Halloween socks from the Target Dollar Spot, Halloween themed hand sanitizers from Bath and Body Works and Halloween Tic Tacs in cellophane bags. It’s a great idea to buy items that can be broken down and distributed. Candy, baseball cards, variety packs of lip balm, gum, and so on.
Say you’re gifting grandparents, teachers, girlfriends or co-workers, you can put together an adorable coffee-themed gift like we did here. Other ideas might be to hit TJ Maxx and grab a Halloween-themed pasta and jar of sauce or Trader Joe’s and go crazy with all their pumpkin goodies. Or booze!
Free Printable “You’ve Been Boo-ed” Tags
We also like to include a little note with our gift, so we created this printable coloring sheet that you can tuck in with your gift. Your kids can color it before delivering it or coloring can be part of the fun in the gift. Click image to print.
Free Printable Halloween Coloring Page
Watch us make a Boo Bucket!
Click play on our video below. We’re putting together a boo bucket to show you how easy it is!
My kids have been begging me to do Boo Buckets this year for our neighbors. Thanks for the ideas and printables…now I have zero excuses not to do it. 🙂 I love all of the non-candy options, since candy is so plentiful this time of year (and for the next 2 months, for that matter).
~Jenny
http://www.introvertsguidetosobriety.com/
I had never heard of them until a few weeks ago. I love the idea! We got boo-ed last week. It was so fun putting together buckets for neighbors.
Love this idea!!
I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
I have read about these online but never heard about them locally (Southern Ontario). Is it a regional thing?
I absolutely love this! It’s like a May Day basket, which I am sad I haven’t done in way too long! Thanks for the great idea!
I love this idea! I plan on giving my neighbor a boo bag for her kitty!
I really love this idea! I think it’s a lot of fun, especially if you have a lot of neighborhood kids – not that people have to have children to get these, but I think involving kids in this would make it exciting!
-Lauren
Great ideas for booing!Thanks for linking up to Merry Monday! Pinned! Have a great week!
Kim
Thanks Kim!