Christmas Crackers

Do you do Christmas crackers? I had never heard of them until I met Husband. We have had so much fun adopting this mostly British tradition into our family. But, after many years of collecting tiny trinkets and forcing ourselves to laugh at jokes only a true Welshman could love, this year we decided to fill our own. Maybe next year we will actually make our own but for now, these unfilled crackers will do the trick. But what to fill them with that would be small enough to fit inside and yet useful in some way?Bookmarks! I made bookmarks for each child using personalized charms and black elastic cord. Proper instructions can be found here. Husband hand picked a joke for each person plus added a stick of Juicy Fruit to sweeten the surprise. The paper crowns were already tucked inside so once I tie up the open end, these babies are good to go!

Let me just add that these bookmarks were so easy to make (no sewing, no gluing, just cutting and tying) and so handy to have. I made some extras to have around until we open our crackers on New Years Eve.I used an old St. Francis medal and a pretty cross that came from a broken key chain. Even the beads from the key chain made a nice one. I could see some of you amazingly skilled beaders out there really running with this idea! Merry Christmas!