A DIY Christmas cracker is a fun activity with the kids, a great way to personalize Christmas dinner and reduce plastic waste. Here is a guide to making them and ideas for what to fill them with!
What you’ll need
- Scissors
- Christmas wrapping paper, or
- Coloured paper, preferably Christmas themed
- Cardboard tubes (from inside a toilet paper or roller towel roll)
- Trinkets and gifts
- Snaps
- Paper party hats
- Jokes
- Ribbon
- Glue
Method
- Cut pieces of Christmas or coloured paper into 30cm by 16cm rectangles.
- Start by cutting the paper into rectangles (30cm by 16cm(
- Place the paper face (or patterned side) down
- Fill the cardboard tube with its contents
- Lay the snap strip along the length of the paper in the middle of the rectangle
- Place the cardboard tube (now full) right on top of the snap strip in the centre of the rectangle
- Make sure there is a significant amount of paper beyond both ends of the tub (this will become the tufts of paper on each end which people grab onto to pull the cracker)
- Roll the wrapping paper around the tube and tape it to hold it in place with the ends open
- Now use ribbon to tie the paper closed at each end. Be careful not to tear the paper.
Ideas for Christmas cracker fillings:
- Chocolate
- Keyrings
- Earrings or rings
- Microfibre cloth for cleaning screens
- Lip balm
- Stickers
- Badges
- Jokes or prompts (“tell us a fact nobody here knows about you” or “do an impression of the person to your left” – get creative with it!)
- Scrunchies
- Mini spirit bottles
- Mini perfumes
- Gift card/coupon
- Seeds
- Artisinal soaps
- Collectible Lego characters
- Lipstick
Don’t forget to place personalized crackers at the corresponding guests’ seats, and recycle the waste!
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Feature Image: iStock
