Easy DIY Reusable Fabric Christmas Crackers (No-Sew!)
One of the things my children love the most about Christmas Day is the Christmas crackers. There is something so special about that moment sitting down at the Christmas table when the snaps go off and dinner can begin.
Sadly though, over the last few years it's seemed like the quality of crackers is declining, and we're often left with a pile of unused plastic gifts and a lot of waste paper. And so it was that I decided it was time to make some of my own reusable Christmas crackers, to use next year and beyond!
Here is how I made them!
Table of Contents
Why Make Your Own Christmas Crackers?
Aside from the fact that reusable crackers are more eco-friendly than traditional crackers, there are a few other benefits.
1. Making your own Christmas crackers is significantly cheaper than buying them. Many of the reusable crackers I've seen for sale cost upwards of £30 each. Single use crackers are cheaper but not particularly good value for money when you're only using them once.
2. These Christmas crackers are so easy to make! There's no sewing involved and you can make one cracker in about 10 minutes. You could probably even get this done on Christmas Eve!
3. You can make your own unique Christmas crackers, out of any fabric you like, completely to your taste. I don't know about you, but I sometimes find it really hard to source crackers that match my table design, so using a piece of fabric from the stash I already have makes it a little easier.
4. You can make these more personal than traditional Christmas crackers. Because they're homemade, you can fill them with your own gifts, and even make them specific to each person.
If you want the traditional cracker fillings like the party hat and joke, you can get cracker filler packs, but I like to keep it simple by giving each person their own cracker with a special gift I've chosen just for them.
5. These are excellent if you have someone at your Christmas dinner who struggles with the snap in paper crackers, like small children. You can make your eco-friendly Christmas crackers without the snap, so that you can still have the joy of crackers but without the scare. Of course, if you do want to add a snap you can buy a snap pack and glue them into your cracker each year!
How to Make Reusable Christmas Crackers
Supplies
You will need:
Toilet roll tube or kitchen roll tube
Pieces of scrap fabric (or you could use wrapping paper too!)
Fabric scissors/Pinking shears
All purpose glue or a stapler
Sticky snap (optional)
Little gifts of your choice
Instructions
1. Trim down your toilet rolls or kitchen roll to form the two halves of your cracker
2. Take one of the halves and carefully make a small fold in the end. Secure with glue or a staple.
2. Cut out two rectangles of fabric using pinking shears so that the raw edge won't fray. I made my rectangles twice the length of my tubes, and wide enough to wrap all the way around with a little overlap. If you don't have pinking shears, you can fold a small amount of the fabric on three sides and glue it down with fabric glue.
3. Add a little glue to part of the long side of your rectangle as shown in the pictures below and then wrap the fabric tightly around the toilet roll, gluing down the edge.
4. Add glue to the end and tuck it into the end of the cracker, pressing down well so that the fabric isn't too bulky. At this point you can also add a snap if you'd like to.
5. Tie a ribbon around the loose end of the fabric.
6. Pop your gift inside and close the cracker by pushing the narrower half inside the wider half
Ways to Customise Your Crackers
One of the joys of making your own Christmas crackers is that you can make them exactly what you want them to be! Here are some ways you can customise them:
1. Use ricrac or trim around the ends of your crackers for a little festive charm
2. Remember you don't need to use all one fabric for your crackers - try mixing and matching fabrics for an eclectic look
2. Switch up the kinds of ribbon you use or double up on ribbon for a really luxurious look
4. Try using a pair of scalloped scissors rather than pinking shears for a fun effect on the ends your crackers.
5. Play with the size of your crackers - try doing little mini ones for kids and bigger ones for grown ups!
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