DIY Claw Machine Party Decoration

Are you planning a Toy Story-themed party and looking for a creative centerpiece that will wow your guests? Look no further! In this blog, we’ll guide you through creating your own claw machine using simple materials, making your party both memorable and magical.

A DIY claw machine decoration is the perfect way to bring the fun and whimsy of the beloved movie series to life. I decided to make the claw machine, the party favor bag display!

Materials Needed

Before you start building your claw machine, gather the following materials:

• Cardboard boxes (preferably one large and one medium-sized)
• Acrylic paint (in bright colors like red, and black)
• Scissors or a craft knife
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Decorative stickers (Toy Story-themed if possible)
• Foil (for the Claw)
• Small green bags (Dollar Store has good ones)
• Small toys and treats (for favor bags)

The large box I used was from my son’s new car seat, so it was the perfect size for the claw machine.

Step one: Cut out a big square out of 3 of the sides. I used a 14″x14″x4″ box to fill the bottom and make it solid.

Step 2: Using painters tape, tape all the rough edges to give a smooth look once its painted.

Step 3: Spray paint the whole box. I used red since in the Toy Story movie the claw machine at Pizza Planet was red.

Step 4: Make the claw. For my claw, I took the cut out of cardboard from earlier and traced 8 crescent moon shapes. Then I hot glued the ends together to create each arm. I wrapped aluminum foil around each arm to give the metal look.

Step 5: I turned the whole box upside down and attached the claw to the middle using hot glue.

Step 6: Using black cardstock for the background, add all the decorations. I used my Cricut to cut all the aliens, letters and other decorations. I used Tacky Glue to secure them to the box

Step 7: Fill and display! I got these bright green bag from the dollar store, since the aliens are green, I thought the green bags looked great. I glued a cut out of an alien to the front of each bag!

Alot of the buttons i had originally put on got pulled off through out the party unfortunately but this was a bit hit. I wound up giving this away on facebook market place to a woman having a toy story birthday party for her son. It felt great to beable to pass it on to a good home. All the hard work feels so good, but when the party is over it can be hard to let go.

This claw machine was so easy and fun to make. I hope this was helpful to you if you are throwing a Toy Story-themed party, feel inspired to make your own DIY claw machine decoration!