Homemade Christmas Crackers

On Thursday evening, Kim and I got stuck into a couple of glasses of red, to loosen us up for the main event which was to make home-made Christmas Crackers.

I had been saving toilet roll tubes for about two months to use as seed planters, but decided to use them for Christmas crackers instead.  Here is how we made them.

I put a little cut in one end of one tube and them inserted it into a second tube. 

Then Kim cut some crepe paper to size to wrap around the tubes and then glued them in place.

Then I tied off one end with some fancy shiny stuff, so that one end was still open.

Then I stuffed them with useful things, like lollies, chocolates, pens, fridge magnets, pencil sharpeners, and nail clippers (you can never have enough nail clippers).  Too much plastic wrapping, I know, but we were both sick of the cheap plastic toys that shop bought Christmas crackers are filled with these days.

Once filled, I then tied off the other end, and passed it back to Kim.  She then wrapped some nice ribbon around each cracker and glued it in place.  I then stuck a bow on each one.

 

Here all of the finished crackers.  It took us about two hours from start to finish.  Don’t they just look pretty!  We didn’t put any bangers inside them, but the contents of each one will be well worth the wait. 

We are so looking forward to Christmas Day, as it will be cool here in Melton, with an expected maximum temp of about 23 degrees C.  That means that we can have a roast dinner.  Yummy.  Not too much fuss on the day, as I will prepare the veggies the night before and leave them in water overnight.  All the kids will be here for dinner which we will serve mid afternoon.  This year, it is not about the presents (as we had a limited budget), but all about the good times.  We have a special present that all the family can play.  Not very eco-friendly, but I will do a post about it after the big day.

I intend on doing a few posts over the holidays, but not as frequent as I usually do.  I realise that readers to this blog may be far and few between due to their own busy lives, so I will take that time to enjoy my own hard earned holidays.  Don’t miss me too much, because I will be back, fully recharged, stronger and greener than ever next year!

So, wherever you live on this big blue/green marble we inhabit, have a safe and happy festive season and see you back here soon at TGOG.

Lots of Love,

Gav, Kim, Adam, Amy, Megan, Ben, Butch the Wonder Dog, and the chooks!