SUPPLIES:
Toilet rolls or paper towel rolls - cut to desired size
Scraps of Christmas fabric
1 1/2 to 2" spools of ribbon
1/4" spools of ribbon
Christmas Cracker Snaps
Tissue paper to make paper hats - if desired
Jokes or sayings for inside Christmas Cracker
Small chocolates
Small gifts or prizes
INSTRUCTIONS:
Cut pieces of fabric approximately 7" x 11" using pinking shears, if available. If you use bigger rolls for the base of your Christmas crackers, roll the tube in the fabric before cutting, gather up one end to determine approximately how much fabric should be left to wrap ribbon around it. For a tube that is 4" long, I have a 3 1/2" overlap at each end. You also need to allow about 1 1/2" of the circumference of the tube for over lapping. (if you have a sewing machine, you can do a narrow zigzag around the edges of the cut fabric)
Mark the centre of the tube and the centre of the fabric
Using your glue gun, run a bead of glue the length of your tube near your centre mark. Match up the centre of the fabric to the centre of the tube and press the fabric lengthwise into the bead of glue.
Roll the fabric around your tube and run another bead of glue on the tube and press the fabric into the glue so your tube is now completely wrapped in your Christmas fabric.
Take your wide ribbon, run a bead of glue at the end, centre it on the tube and press, bring the ribbon around, so it overlaps about 3/4". Cut and fold the raw edge under, run another bead of glue on the ribbon and place it carefully over where the ribbon started.
The length of thin ribbon you use to wrap the ends of your crackers, will depend on how big you want your bow to be. Before cutting off strips of ribbon, pull off about 2 feet so you have lots to work with (don't cut it) Now gather in one end of your Christmas cracker, wrap your ribbon around it, tie it and make a bow. When you are satisfied with how it looks and how much you want on the tails, mark it, then undo your bow so you can measure how much you used. You will now know how much to cut each ribbon, without wasting any. If you are going to reuse your Christmas crackers each year, you can put a small bit of glue in the centre of the ribbon, and glue it to the cracker where you will be gathering it in. That way you will always have the ribbons attached to the crackers.
While paper hats are always included in the Christmas crackers, I find most people don't wear them as they never fit and they are just added to the mounting pile of trash, therefore I don't bother with them. However if you do want to make them, take one sheet of tissue paper and fold length wise. Measure an adults head then divide by 2 and add about 1" so you can glue the edges together.
ie: if the head you measure was 24" you will need to cut your folded paper 13" (remember it's folded lengthwise)so you have 2 pieces that are each 13". Run a glue stick about 1/2" at each end of one sheet and stick them together. Draw 3 peaks in the folded edge, cut and you have your paper hat that should be 24".
What you decide to put into your Christmas crackers is up to you. I save chocolates from Halloween, but you could buy more expensive chocolates to use. Instead of the really cheap trinkets that are included in the store bought Christmas crackers, you could buy things to personalize them.
For young boys, you could use hotwheels. (These are often on sale) For girls, there are barretts, lip gloss, small gel pens. Often they have great stickers that are themed that both boys or girls would like. If someone collected angels, you may find a small angel that would be perfect or for someone who likes to sew, perhaps a fancy thimble. I don't think you can go wrong with Scratch tickets as everyone of all ages seems to like them.
If you have certain colours that you use in decorating your home, you could buy fabric for your Christmas crackers to complement your colour themes.
You could use the Christmas Cracker as the wrapping for a special gift for someone. Make a really fancy Christmas Cracker and it could hold a bracelet, necklace or watch for instance.
Of course you need to include a joke or inspirational saying. I used a search engine and typed in "Funny Christmas Riddles and Jokes" and found lots to choose from.
I have bought the Christmas Cracker Snaps at Michaels in the past, but you could also using search engine to see if you can find a distributor.
STORAGE:
If you plan on re-using your Christmas crackers, find a box that is big enough to store them in. I use discarded Christmas wrap, and stuff the tubes so they don't get flattened.
For more frugal Christmas decorating ideas, visit my Angel Decorations project and my Handmade Greeting Cards project.
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