It’s that time of year again, a time for gifts, wrappings and bright and fun decorations. We thought you could do with some decorations-cum-fun treats that won’t bite too hard at your pocket. Christmas crackers can be used both as decoration and treats for the whole family.

They are easy and you can make them with materials right in your house.

What you will need:

1. Toilet-roll tubes or a thin postal tube cut to smaller sizes
2. Decorative paper (newspaper, wrapping paper, comics or any paper that is attractive to the eye)
3. Sticky tape/glue
4. Cracker snaps
5. Scissors
6. Decorative string or ribbon
7. Small, exciting items of your choice (key ring, nail polish, sweets, chocolates, eraser, jewellery, lip-gloss, pencil sharpener, you can even write little messages on paper etc.)

Method:

Step 1: Thread a cracker snap through the toilet roll and hold it down with glue or sticky tape.

Step 2: Place the toilet-roll tube at the edge of your paper, making sure it’s in the centre, and roll the tube up, completely covering it with paper. Make sure that there’s excess paper at the ends on both sides.

Step 4: Secure the paper with a bit of sticky tape or glue so that it doesn’t unravel from your roll.

Step 5: Close one end of the covered roll with a strip of tape/ribbon, leaving the other end open.

Step 6: Throw in your little items in the other end of the tube. Make sure you mix them up nicely so that it’s not just things for boys or girls but a mixture of both.

Step 7: Tie another piece of ribbon on the other side of your roll to close it.

And there you have it; your Christmas crackers are done! Now all you must do is put them on the table as decoration and later you can pull them up and reveal your trinkets inside with your family and loved ones. These have brought much joy and excitement to both children and adults alike and we hope they will brighten up your Christmas too.

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Tell us: What other little items are you thinking of putting inside your cracker?