- Easy
- 20–30 minutes
- No glue
- about 3.6 × 3.9 in (9.2 × 9.9 cm)
Turn up the heat on your craft table with a fiery Hot Fries Bag! This feisty snack pack features roaring orange flames, a cheeky little face, and a wide peekaboo window showing off crunchy red fries inside. Grab the free printable chips paper squishy template in US Letter or A4, which includes 3 versions: full color, a coloring page, and a blank outline. Pair it with a spicy cheese puffs squishy for the ultimate fiery snack stash!
What you need
How to make it, step by step
1Print the template
Print your Hot Fries Bag template at 100% scale on plain printer paper (make sure “fit to page” is turned off). Check the scale line in the top corner to see that it measures exactly 2 inches (50 mm on A4). If you picked the black-and-white coloring page, color the flames, cheeky face, and dusty red fries now, then let any marker ink dry completely.
2Tape the pieces
Cover only the front and back bag pieces with wide clear packing tape, rather than taping the entire sheet. Smooth each strip down from the middle toward the edges without pulling or stretching, because stretched tape will wrinkle later. This glossy layer makes the fiery snack bag shiny, strong, and extra squishy.
3Cut out both pieces
Cut out the front and the back of the Hot Fries Bag right along the solid black outer line. Take your time following the wavy top and bottom crimps and the gently curved sides, making sure to keep the small white border all the way around.
4Add a tape border to the back
Lay the flame-covered back piece printed side down on strips of regular clear tape, sticky side facing up. Cut the tape about 1 cm (½ inch) past the paper edge, then snip into this sticky border every 2 cm (1 inch) right up to the paper. These little flaps will hold your snack bag together cleanly around the corners and curves.
5Join front and back
Place the front piece right on top of the back piece with the white sides facing together, lining up the wavy top and bottom crimps. Fold the sticky tape flaps over the front edge one by one and press them down. Leave a 3.5 cm (1½ in) gap open on one side (where the pink line in the picture shows) for stuffing.
6Stuff it
Tear plastic grocery bags, cotton, or fiberfill into small bits and push them inside through the open side gap. Poke stuffing into the far flared corners of the bag first, then fill the middle behind the fries window until it feels soft and puffy. Stop before it gets too full, as too much stuffing makes the seams pop.
7Close the gap
Fold the last tape flaps neatly over the open side of the snack bag and tape the gap shut with an extra strip of clear tape. Run your finger firmly along all the wavy top and bottom edges and both sides to press the tape down well.
8Squish!
Done! Give the finished 3.6 × 3.9 in (9.2 × 9.9 cm) Hot Fries Bag a big squeeze and watch the fiery pillow puff right back up. Want a slow-rising squishy? Prick one tiny pinhole in the back of the bag.
Free Hot Fries Bag Squishy Template
- Color
- Coloring page
- Blank, design your own
- Step-by-step guide
One free PDF: the template in three versions (pages 1–3) and the step-by-step guide (pages 4–5). Print the template at 100% on plain printer paper.
Tips for the perfect squish
- Corner crimps pop open. The flared corners of the snack bag take the most pressure when you squeeze. Place a fresh short strip of tape right across any splitting edge, overlapping the old tape.
- Bag feels stiff, not puffy. If the middle window feels hard, there is too much stuffing inside. Gently open the side gap, take some stuffing out, and tape the edge shut again.
- Wrinkles over the fries window. Pulling the packing tape makes it ripple across the wide front design. Use shorter strips and lay them down gently without pulling, smoothing from the center outward.
- Red and orange markers smear. Bold flame colors laid down with markers need a moment to set on plain paper. Let your markers dry fully before taping; printer ink is fine right away.
Questions
Is there a black and white chips paper squishy template to color?
Yes! The free PDF includes 3 versions: the bright red-and-orange color version, a black-and-white coloring page where you can color the flames and fries yourself, and a blank outline to design your own snack bag.
What can I stuff my paper squishy chip bag with?
Plastic grocery bags give your snack bag a fun, crinkly real-chip-bag sound! For a soft pillow feel, use cotton balls or fiberfill, or try small pieces of memory foam for a slow-rising squish.
Can I use glue instead of tape to seal the bag?
Not for the edges. Glue doesn’t stick to the tape-covered paper, so the seams of your bag would pop open. Folding the snipped clear tape border over the edges holds best.
What paper works best for printing this template?
Plain printer paper (80–100 gsm / 20–24 lb) works best. Cardstock makes the bag stiff and it won’t squish as nicely.
Can I make a whole snack pack set or print it bigger?
Yes! To make a larger snack bag, print the page at 120% scale with both pieces on the same sheet so they match, or keep printing at 100% and pair it with a blue rolled chips squishy for a full snack collection.
More paper squishies to make
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