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How to… make Cracking Christmas Crackers (Guest Post)

November 19, 2010

More Christmas Toilet Paper Roll fun today, with these easy to make DIY Christmas Crackers.

We love Christmas Crafts for all ages.. and these are a great together project for all the family to make this Christmas!

If you haven’t met Chris over at Thinly Spread, it is about time you did! She is a wonderful lady with a busy family of 6 (four children that is…) and she still finds time for plenty of hugs, stories, baking, walking, crafting and of course sharing this through blogging! I am pretty certain many of you have made “crackers” before, but I thought it would be nice for Chris to do a Guest Post for you, as herย ย  crafts always come out so well. Also, I find it helpful to sometimes have a reference of how others have got crafty! Especially when they come up with tip top crafty “filling” ideas! Go Chris!

How to make your own Christmas Crackers

I was delighted when Maggy asked if I would guest post here on Red Ted Art today mainly because I think sheโ€™s marvellous but also because it meant I could use that title!

She asked if I would do a little How Toโ€ฆ post about cracker making when I revealed in a comment that we have a pile of saved loo roll tubes for that very purpose which threatens to engulf me every time I open the cupboard!

Crackers are so satisfying to make with children because they use up saved bits and bobs very nicely, they are easy peasy and they look fab.

For a basic cracker all you need is 2 empty toilet tubes, some crรชpe paper, some saved ribbon, 2 elastic bands, glue, sticky tape and a needle.

Cover the toilet tubes with glue (glue sticks work better here than brushing on PVA as crรชpe paper has a horrible tendency to turn to mush in childrenโ€™s hands. Putting the glue onto the tubes also helps prevent a crรชpey disaster!). Holding both tubes carefully roll them up in the crepe paper. Pop in your gift, joke and paper hat, twist the ends and secure with elastic bands.

To make cracking the crackers easier we have found that puncturing the crepe paper with a needle where the tubes join gives it a helping hand and avoids a tug of war over the Christmas table!

Now all you have to do is decorate it. We usually put a circle of ribbon around the join and sellotape it at the back (donโ€™t stick it on or you will undo all your good work with the needle!).

You can decorate it with anything you have to hand. We always have stickers and confetti around as well as glitter glue and tinsel because I stock up when the shops are selling things off in January!

A cracker wouldnโ€™t be a cracker without a silly hat inside, a joke and a little gift. One good idea for these crackers is to make tissue paper hats and then pop in the things to decorate it with as the gift!

To make the hats fold a piece of tissue paper in half, measure a 30 cm length (the length of a school ruler and when unfolded it will give you 60cm which goes nicely around a head. Make them a little smaller if you have very little ones or they will drop over their eyes!). Now cut a wavy or pointy edge to make it look like a crown. Stick the loose edge together.

Of course, you need a good supply of corny jokes. We rely quite heavily on the Denis the Menace Joke Book and the Corny Jokes for Kids website. My 4 year old (Bonus Boy) particularly enjoys โ€˜Why did the Chicken cross the road?โ€™ jokes at the moment. As this is the fourth time round for me they are growing a little stale. I never tire of the donkey joke though.

Q: โ€˜What do you call a donkey with 3 legs?โ€™

A: โ€˜A wonky!โ€™

Hilarious no?!

You can buy cracker bangs to go inside your glorious home made offerings but we find that shouting โ€˜BANGโ€™ very loudly does the trick and makes everyone laugh, a lot!

Once you have got the hang of rolling crรชpe paper around loo rolls the only limit is your imagination. We will be making these glamorous crackers as presents for adults and we will be popping a home-made chocolate truffle inside each one.

They make great decorations and you can make them with one loo roll holder and without contents if you want to. They can be strung up as a mobile or piled up in a bowl on the table or used to decorate a tree.

I told you they were good! I especially liked the joke. If you enjoyed this tutorial, why not let Chris know, by hopping over and visiting her at Thinly Spread. She would love your visit!

Fancy some more Christmassy TP Roll Crafts? Take a look at these:

12 Christmas TP Roll Crafts

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Filed Under: Christmas, How To's, Loo Rolls 20 Comments

Comments

  1. fabmums says

    November 19, 2010 at 8:10 am

    They are lovely, it’s amazing the stuff you can do with loo rolls:)

    Reply
  2. jfb57 says

    November 19, 2010 at 9:30 am

    Crumbs! You two will be taking over the opwrld soon!! Fab to see you both together!!

    Reply
  3. TheMadHouse says

    November 19, 2010 at 12:48 pm

    My boys will love that joke, he he he

    Reply
  4. Roslyn says

    November 19, 2010 at 11:08 pm

    It’s nice to make your own because you can put into them stuff you want.

    Reply
  5. Metajugglamum says

    November 20, 2010 at 10:25 am

    Wonderful, fab, just SO brilliant … I’m rushing off to count my (100s of) saved loo-rolls RIGHT now …

    Marvellous post Chris, we will definitely be doing this.

    MJMnL xxx

    Reply
  6. Fiona says

    November 21, 2010 at 9:07 pm

    Oh, this is super exciting for us as you can’t buy crackers here in Switzerland (well except from the over priced shops aimed at expats).
    Can’t wait to make my own with the girls now ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  7. Van says

    November 22, 2010 at 12:53 pm

    I love these! A super cheap and fun-to-make alternative to the store bought variety!

    Reply
  8. Bonni says

    November 23, 2010 at 12:08 am

    Beautiful! I’m blog hopping and found your blog. I’m a new follower. Would love for you to check out my blog and follow back!

    Reply
  9. Belinda says

    November 25, 2010 at 10:53 pm

    What a great idea! I have been saving empty toilet rolls because I knew they’d come in handy for *something*. I know my little girl will love making these with me…thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply
  10. mermaid says

    November 27, 2011 at 8:36 pm

    Haven`t made them before. Should try this year!

    Reply
  11. Liz Burton says

    December 13, 2011 at 7:42 pm

    The wonky donkey joke is one of my all time favourites!

    Great tutorial and I can just see you all sitting around the table shouting \”BANG!\”

    Reply
  12. Laura@howtocookgoodfood says

    December 13, 2011 at 7:48 pm

    Your website is bringing out the art & craftiest in me again! Was so good at school & did art a level too. Now I am slowly getting back in to it and love making these Xmas crackers, which I do every year for the pre-school Xmas Fair.
    I will be visiting again as my 5yo needs to make a Christmas decoration for her class next week ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
    • Red Ted Art says

      December 13, 2011 at 7:55 pm

      Ah Laura you are LOVELY! And am so pleased. I have to confess – I am the same – I did lots of arts and crafts when I was younger and then life and work got in the way and now I am so chuffed to be doing this with my kids. It has been a huge creative stimulation for me too ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
    • Red Ted Art says

      December 13, 2011 at 7:57 pm

      PS my favourite decorations for 5yrs olds ish would be:

      https://www.redtedart.com/2010/12/15/kids-get-crafty-christmas-baubles/
      https://www.redtedart.com/2011/12/03/kids-crafts-traditional-walnut-babies/ (if you are good ish at walnut splitting, use a knife and gently prise them open)
      and https://www.redtedart.com/2011/11/16/kids-crafts-christmas-cards-decorations/

      And there is another tomorrow!

      Reply
  13. Krati says

    November 17, 2014 at 9:23 pm

    Loved the idea!! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  14. Alexis says

    October 18, 2017 at 7:31 pm

    It’s pleasant to make your own particular since you can put into them stuff you need.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Chocolate Sunday for Festive Friday! | Thinly Spread says:
    November 19, 2010 at 2:09 pm

    […] 5. Cracking Christmas Crackers: Guest Post at Red Ted Art […]

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  2. Gifts From the Larder – Festive Friday! | Thinly Spread says:
    November 11, 2011 at 7:57 am

    […] crackers first appeared as a guest post over at Red Ted Art last Christmas! GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Origin", "other"); […]

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  3. Irresistible Ideas for play based learning » Blog Archive » Christmas is-a-coming! says:
    December 1, 2011 at 3:03 pm

    […] ::: Red Ted Art – How to … Making Christmas crackers […]

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  4. Chocolate Sunday for Festive Friday! - thinlyspread.co.uk | thinlyspread.co.uk says:
    April 30, 2012 at 2:44 pm

    […] 5. Cracking Christmas Crackers: Guest Post at Red Ted Art […]

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