Crackers are a traditional part of the Christmas celebrations, here in the UK.

This year I wanted to make my own crackers to give to family members. So here is how I went about making my very own boxes of proper little Christmas crackers.

The Crackers

I used the Tonic cracker die and my Sizzix Big Shot to cut 6 crackers for each box. I used a pad of 12″ x 12″ scrapbook papers in red, green and gold colours – the front of the pad has been lost so I do not know the brand, but I suspect it is a Hot of the Press pad from about 2005.

I added a thin strip of the paper to the ends of the crackers, one in each colour. So the two green crackers are one with red strips and one with gold.

I used a score board and bone folder to crease the bendy bits of each cracker, to ensure they folder up nicely.

To make it easier to glue the crackers into a tube I wrapped them around a paint bottle first, then glued the seams with strong tacky glue (I used Collall).

I tied ONE end of each cracker with ribbon, again in the same colours, so now each cracker had a bit of each colour on it.TTCrackersOpen

Next I inserted a “crack” into each tube and glued just one end against the inside, trimming it flush with the cracker. I got my cracks from a seller on Amazon, they were very cheap!

I popped a gift into each cracker, and a homemade joke (obviously they are very corny jokes, as is the tradition!).

Once loaded I tied the other end of each cracker, then glued the opposite end of the “crack” into place as before.

Finally the cracker had a 1″ circle from the Tin Teddy Vintage Christmas Digital Collage Sheet glued onto the front. I originally intended to make little rosettes but ran out of time on that. The circles look cute on their own though.

The Cracker Box

To make the box I used A3 sized Centura Pearl by Crafter’s Companion. This is 300gsm, I wanted a sturdy box.

I calculated the size of the box by laying the crackers out and measuring their width, length and height. Obviously I measured 6 crackers!

I scored the sides of the box using my Ultimate Crafters Companion and Boxmaking Board (again by Crafter’s Companion).TTCrackersCloseUp

Carefully, I then measured one inch in from the edges on the inside of the box lid, to mark where the aperture would be.. and cut it out with a steel rule and sharp craft knife.

I glued the corners of the box base and lid with the Collall tacky glue, holding them in place with paper clips until I was sure they were bone dry.

I cut acetate panels, just a bit bigger than the aperture hole, and glued them to the underside of the box lid with tacky glue. I used a little sticky tape too, just to be sure.TTCrackerFlowers

The Tonic cracker die comes with some sentiment dies, and I used the “Happy Christmas” one to cut some of the scrap Centura Pearl out. I coloured the words with Letraset Promarker alcohol pens – they looks sort of metallic now because of the shimmer on the Centura Pearl. I added a little blob of red Cosmic Shimmer glue to the holly berries to make them have a bit of dimension. Then I stuck the sentiment accross the top left corner of the aperture with Pinterest silicone glue (so it was not totally flat, plus the silicone glue sticks to acetate well).

Then I cut the poinsettia from plain red and green card using my Silhouette Portrait and a file from the Silhouette store. I had originally planned to use a die-cut poinsettia, but the one I have was far too small. I assembled the poinsettias with tacky glue and when dry they were added to the box lid with the Pinterest silicone glue.

All ready to give as a gift… or use with Christmas dinner. TTCrackers

A Homemade Box of Christmas Crackers – Tutorial
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