The year 2020 has been interesting, to say the least, so it’s not surprising that Halloween is a bit different too. Last year, my husband, toddler, and I dressed up as pirates and handed out goodie bags and glow sticks. But this year, like many other folks, we decided to go for a more hands-off approach by adhering to social distancing guidelines.

This candy holder is made out of cardboard boxes and is almost 8 feet tall. It has an acrylic window that displays all the candy capsules. The capsules rest on a ramp and continuously roll towards the tray as the tray is being emptied. Thought this would be a great idea to maintain social distancing while trick or treating!

More info: thehomedecorgirl.com

I had some cardboard boxes lying around from our recent move, which gave me the perfect opportunity to use them to make the giant cardboard robot

I packed candy in capsules a month ahead and “quarantined” them so there was no risk of them being contaminated. Each two-inch capsule fit one fun-size Oreo chocolate and one robot tattoo.

For the body of the robot, I used a TV box. This was perfect for the project because it had a slim profile that allowed more capsules to be displayed in the acrylic window on the robot’s body. It also came with an extra insert that I used for the ramp. For the head, I used a sturdy tuck-top box that opened like a clamshell. This style of a box was ideal for the head because I could easily replace the batteries of the lights anytime they went off. For the track wheels, I used one extra-large cardboard mover’s box; and a smaller box was used for the robot claws and a few other bits and pieces. For the full list of materials used, visit my blog by clicking here!

When building the robot, I didn’t realize how big it would turn out to be!

It is almost 8 feet tall and towers over my 3-year-old. I made the head detachable just so we could take it in and out of the house!

I used a shoebox lid for the grill on the body and an old Boon bath toy for the gears. For the tires, I went with a lavender color instead of a light grey.

Here is a closer look at the window on the robot

I added a Trick/Treat meter right above it. Deciding which font to use took me some time! I tried swirly letters, block letters and in the end, settled for a font similar to Rae Dunn letters. A simple font was the best way to go!

The back of the robot has an opening to put in all the candy capsules. The claws were secured to the dryer duct vent using zip ties and later strung up to the ceiling with a white cord.

Because the robot has a slim profile, we had to make sure it didn’t tip over with the weight of the candy, or in the instance that a kid tugged on it. I fastened a small box to the back of the robot with a lot of zip-ties and hot glue. Once the robot was placed outside, we filled it with concrete bricks (photo on the left). I also left an opening at the very bottom of the robot (photo on the right) and slipped in a layer of bricks as well. This made the robot very secure.

And finally, here’s what it looks like at night!

I still have to add more lights to the yard, but this is it for now. Also, the capsules will be put into the robot on Halloween, in case you noticed the window being empty.

The finishing touch was the lighted banner

I used white cardboard as a background. The letters were cut out of the remaining flaps of the mover’s boxes. I spray-painted them and used a circular sponge for the polka dots. The entire sign was framed using the leftover cardboard from the TV box and was later painted blue. I used globe string lights and inserted them into the “frame.”

Here’s a short clip of how it works

The structure of the robot is very simple. Inside the body of the robot is a cardboard ramp that leads up to the little red tray. The candy is loaded through an opening at the back of the robot. All the capsules rest on the ramp and continuously roll towards the tray as the tray is being emptied. The outer wall of the tray is just high enough to stop the flow of the capsules once the tray fills up.

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