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I love this time of year. It’s completely crazy, in a good way. My boys are counting sleeps ’til Christmas already. Santa will have his work cut out for him this year – I do hope he shops on Ebay as one son has requested the entire set of back issues of a UK Make-your-own-robot magazine from the early 90s, and the other is coveting a rocket from the Thunderbirds. Sheesh, sorry Santa, no bikes or nerf guns required at our house.
The Silly Season is craft-a-palooza at our house. I hope you’ll indulge me sharing a few of our Christmas craft creations over the next few weeks.
If you’ve ever considered making your own Christmas crackers, these go off with a bang. They’re named too, so they make fab place holders at the table.
There’s no need to purchase a special kit. You’ll need a packet of cheap-as-chips ready-made crackers (ours were from Aldi). They’re simply deconstructed and re-wrapped. You can fill them with all manner of goodies – I do suggest you retain the crappy jokes and paper hats though. Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without them.
Using an alphabet stamp pad for the names looks great, and is the perfect task to give children (excellent incidental alphabet practise too)!
You can save the cracker off-cuts, and other scraps, for the kid’s craft box. The inner cardboard circles from the organza ribbon make great ‘car wheels’.
Are you making any special decorations, or doing anything exciting for Christmas? Do share!
PS. We have a winner for the 1=2 Christmas Giveaway. Congratulations Alicia Boarts!
Make-your-own Christmas crackers
FOR 20 CRACKERS:
20 store-bought inexpensive Christmas crackers
3 packets 50cm (20″) wide x 2 metres (80″) long, gold crepe paper
20 metres (65 ft) red organza ribbon, cut into 40 lengths of 50cm (20″)
20 patterned paper pieces (I used vintage wallpaper), 110 x 160 cm (43 x 63″) each, or as required
20 red shipping labels (available at craft stores, etsy or ebay)
Alphabet stamp pad (or you can hand-write the names)
2–3 goodies to stuff inside each cracker; such as chockies, tiny bags of sweets or Lego minifigures
1. Grab your ready-made cracker.
2. Carefully cut off the ends of your cracker, taking care not to cut the snap.
3. Re-position the snap in the centre of the cracker.
4. Push an extra couple of goodies into each cracker. You can customise them for adults and kids.
5. Roll a piece of crepe paper around your cracker, and glue the join. You can cut the paper short, but I like to leave them long as they look très elegant.
6. Tie organza ribbon around each end, and fasten your shipping labels.
7. Voila!
one equals two 