Beyond the Bowl: 10 Innovative Ideas for Halloween Candy Stash

It's the day after Halloween and your house is full of candy. We asked our readers for their tricks on dealing with all those treats.

1. We hang on to a few favorites, but I take the rest to work and leave it in the break room. I work at a hospital, and honestly, the nurses are always grateful for extra snacks to help them through those long shifts.

2. We sort through the candy, pick out the ones that work well for decorating gingerbread houses, and then freeze those until Christmas rolls around.

3. We pull out anything my kids are allergic to, then each of them gets a snack-sized zip bag with their favourites for their lunches. The rest goes to the “magic elf" who trades the candy for a toy.

4. I let my daughter have a few pieces each day. After about a month, when she gets bored of it, I set the leftovers out for friends during our game nights.

5. If the candy makes it past my husband and me, I bake with it. Chocolate gets chopped up for cookies, and hard candies turn into toppings for cupcakes or ice cream.

6. The kids get a few pieces a day for the first couple of weeks, then they trade what’s left for a dinner out at whatever restaurant they pick.

7. I pack up the leftover candy and add it to a bag of non-perishable food to drop off at our local food bank.

8. When we get home, each kid dumps their haul into their own bowl. They eat a few pieces that night, and the rest goes into their “dessert bank.” If they finish dinner or do a chore, they get to pick a piece. The candy lasts longer this way, and no one ends up with a stomachache from eating too much at once.

   
   

9. My daughter’s birthday is right after Halloween, so I save the leftover candy for her party piñata.

10. Our dental hygienist told us to let the kids go wild the first night, so it’s an all-you-can-eat candy buffet until bedtime. The idea is to get it out of their system instead of dragging it out for weeks.