Two people in my life are to thank for my love of Christmas crackers on a festive table. My late ouma Ruth (who always had them on the table at Christmas) & my dear friend Vicky who was the very first person I knew who made her own. Sure they are frivolous, but there is something really festive about having crackers on the table don’t you think?
There are so many options… you can make fun, colourful crackers with quirky gifts & jokes in. Or how about real foodie versions with a mini cooking tool (like a small grater) & some foodie quotes or questions inside? Or you can keep it simple & classy with plain colours, handwritten quotes & exquisite little treats. I’ve opted for the latter this time around as I’m making a batch of crackers for our ladies-only Dinner Club Christmas dinner. Each cracker has a beautiful hand written quote or Christmas Bible verse; a lip gloss, nail polish or perfume sample, plus a Lindt chocolate inside.
The hardest part of making your own crackers is gathering all the goodies. Luckily many of the items are optional, so play around with what you can find, what you enjoy using & what your guests will appreciate.
DIY CHRISTMAS CRACKERS
What you need:
Tissue paper, crepe paper or thin wrapping paper in a colour or design of your choice
Toilet paper inners
Christmas cracker bangers (or snaps) – from your local hobby or craft store
Craft glue (like Pritt)
Sticky tape
Stickers, decorations, washi tape, glitter, confetti for decorating
Ribbon or raffia
Jokes / quotes – printed or handwritten
A chocolate, sweet or nougat for each cracker
Miniature gifts – I love little necklaces, playing tops, bookmarks, mini erasers, lip balm or gloss, tiny toys, jewellery
A paper hat (optional) – personally I don’t do the hats, but the right crowd could have lots of fun with it
How to assemble your crackers:
Cut the paper into rectangles for each cracker – about 20cm x 30cm. I now stick the banger to the paper with only a tiny bit of glue.
Place the toilet roll inner in the middle of your paper & roll the paper around it to cover. Now stick it together with sticky tape or a sticker. Tie the one side with ribbon or raffia & pop the chocolate, gift, paper hat, confetti & quote (or joke) in at the open side. Tie the open side, decorate to your heart’s desire & voila – you are done. Easy peasy.
A tip: You can use normal wrapping paper, but I have found that if it is too thick, it will probably not pull & tear so easily, so I prefer to work with tissue paper.
I love how festive these look. Now it’s your turn to make some! Have fun.
Yolandi ♥
We always make our own! Can’t stand the shop-bought ones.
Yay! x