Homemade Christmas Crackers

 Hello Lovelies, with one week to go until the big day I thought it was a good idea to get on with making my Christmas crackers today. 

I know these are not a worldwide tradition so HERE is a bit of background in case you are not familiar.

I started off by making the paper hats from brown paper. I simply cut strips  slightly longer than the circumference of my head and glued the two ends together. Then I folded them concertina style and cut one end to a point, make the crown shape. I added an embellishment made from cut up old Christmas cards to add a festive touch. 

I found some topical "cracker jokes" online...they are supposed to be corny..... and chose the least political ones for the 5 crackers I needed to make. Christmas dinner is a one household affair this pandemic year. Fine for us, but it's a shame mum can't join us....well it's permitted but not worth the risk.

The only other thing they needed was a small gift. In the end I decided just to go with some cute chocolates. Popular with the whole household and no cheap trinkets which would end up in the bin.

I didn't do any research on how to make crackers online...Why make life easy when you can struggle with trial and error :0) Seriously though, sometimes I just like to wing things...but now I'm doing this post knowing I'll thank myself next year...

"all being well"....

Initially I used a whole toilet roll tube for the centre and two halves for either end. I also stuck down the snap...big mistake.

By trial and error I ended up deciding it was best to shorten the centre tube to 8cm long. The two outer tubes are 3cm.

It's important to leave a big enough gap between the tubes to tie the cracker securely. My tubes were 4.5cm across. I found a 5.5cm gap was ideal for this size of tube.

You don't have to be too accurate. 

Next I glued them to the paper wrap. I was using some old gift wrap, which I cut to 35cm in width, and just enough length to wrap around the tubes with a small overlap.

At this stage add your snap if you want one. They are easily sourced online , like HERE . Just lay it through the tubes and add your other bits. For me it was the homemade hats, choccy bear....

The easy quiz question...festive themed, and one of those corny jokes.

 

Here's everything tucked inside the centre tube.

Then add glue. I decided a blob either side of the tubes and all along one edge worked best for me.

Roll up as neatly as possible

And squeeze together the two places between the tubes, to try and stop your bits and bobs falling out.

Keep the cracker flat and tie some strong string or wrapping ribbon around each end, checking you haven't caught or lost any of the contents in the process.

You need the cracker to be sealed, this is why that 5.5cm gap was so important. 

Check the snap is central in the cracker and adjust if needed, before sticking or gluing into place as firmly as you can...otherwise it won't go bang when the cracker is pulled....which is the best bit! 

I decided to cut points into the ends of my cracker, this is why the cardboard rings are quite small, otherwise they show. I was careful not to snip through the snap though.

Here they are...far from perfect but I'm still pleased with the finished effect. I've done some recycling, avoided loads of packaging and whiled away a few happy hours on a miserably wet December day.

In the end I decided they needed a little something else and found some washi tape in my stash to add.

The only things I bought to make these were the snaps and the chocolate. I'm hoping the fact this is basic, thin wrapping will help them pull apart easily. Brown paper would be a great choice too.

Mine are safely tucked into our tree until Christmas dinner, where I think they look really nice.

I've got snaps left over so next time I'll simply need to source the "gift". 

Toilet roll tubes are easy to collect over a few weeks. These were put in a shoe box last January with this craft in mind...get me, Mrs Organised :0)

I hope this helps anyone else out there who fancies a fun bit of Christmas craftiness.

Jacquie x