I love corn-on-the-cob, and since moving to the UK the idea of
Christmas Crackers, has really grown on me. So, I was intrigded when I stumbled on this:
in the days before Pinterest (remember back when you had to actually use Google to get craft ideas?).
Basically, the idea of a Christmas cracker is that it's a tube wrapped kind of like a giant piece of candy. It has a "snap" that goes off when pulled. Everyone at the table gets one and holds his own with his right hand and his neighbor's with his left (arms crossed). Then, at the same time everyone pulls. Traditionally, like a wishbone, you get the prize(s) if you get the bigger end, but nowadays most people each get their own no matter what.
Usually crackers contain a paper crown, a really bad joke and a small prize, like a keychain or some other instant clutter fun item.
We decided to celebrate Thanksgiving the year the I was pregnant (very early pregnant, we didn't even know!). We hadn't celebrated in years since moving to the UK. We invited some expat friends over (all adults and teens).
Like the original link recommended, I acquired a few empty toilet paper rolls, yellow crepe paper, green tissue paper and goodies to put inside. I didn't have green ribbon, so I used embroidery floss.
I'll confess, I first used green crepe paper for the outside too, but Ryan and I couldn't even tear the thing open: definitely use tissue paper!
I wrapped the crepe paper around each toilet paper tube. How green is this?! I did find I had to tape the paper at the beginning to get it to stay.
Then, inside each one I put a few
Werther's Originals (mainly because we like them and they are kind of a thanksgiving color), a thanksgiving joke I found and a wind-up dinosaur. I searched online for wind-up pilgrims, but didn't find any. If you know of anywhere where I can find some, PLEASE let me know! One year we celebrated Christmas with friends and had a race with wind-up santas from our store-bought crackers, which is where I got this idea. I don't know what dinosaurs had to do with thanksgiving, but I thought they were cute.
This is what they looked like when I was finished. A nice, fun, quiet activity to do while watching tv, or eventually with Little J when he is older -- hopefully by then I can find some wind-up pilgrams!
I really enjoyed this easy Thanksgiving craft. So much so that I bought fill-your-own Christmas crackers for this past Christmas and found special gifts I picked out just for each person. (I kept a folded toilet paper roll in my purse to check the size of items as I shopped, the store-bought crackers were a little bigger but it gave me a great guideline).
Someday, I may to try to make these
beautiful Christmas crackers I saw (via Pinterest) on
MiniEco.
I love corn-on-the-cob, and since moving to the UK the idea of
Christmas Crackers, has really grown on me. So, I was intrigded when I stumbled on this:
in the days before Pinterest (remember back when you had to actually use Google to get craft ideas?).
Basically, the idea of a Christmas cracker is that it's a tube wrapped kind of like a giant piece of candy. It has a "snap" that goes off when pulled. Everyone at the table gets one and holds his own with his right hand and his neighbor's with his left (arms crossed). Then, at the same time everyone pulls. Traditionally, like a wishbone, you get the prize(s) if you get the bigger end, but nowadays most people each get their own no matter what.
Usually crackers contain a paper crown, a really bad joke and a small prize, like a keychain or some other instant clutter fun item.
We decided to celebrate Thanksgiving the year the I was pregnant (very early pregnant, we didn't even know!). We hadn't celebrated in years since moving to the UK. We invited some expat friends over (all adults and teens).
Like the original link recommended, I acquired a few empty toilet paper rolls, yellow crepe paper, green tissue paper and goodies to put inside. I didn't have green ribbon, so I used embroidery floss.
I'll confess, I first used green crepe paper for the outside too, but Ryan and I couldn't even tear the thing open: definitely use tissue paper!
I wrapped the crepe paper around each toilet paper tube. How green is this?! I did find I had to tape the paper at the beginning to get it to stay.
Then, inside each one I put a few
Werther's Originals (mainly because we like them and they are kind of a thanksgiving color), a thanksgiving joke I found and a wind-up dinosaur. I searched online for wind-up pilgrims, but didn't find any. If you know of anywhere where I can find some, PLEASE let me know! One year we celebrated Christmas with friends and had a race with wind-up santas from our store-bought crackers, which is where I got this idea. I don't know what dinosaurs had to do with thanksgiving, but I thought they were cute.
This is what they looked like when I was finished. A nice, fun, quiet activity to do while watching tv, or eventually with Little J when he is older -- hopefully by then I can find some wind-up pilgrams!
I really enjoyed this easy Thanksgiving craft. So much so that I bought fill-your-own Christmas crackers for this past Christmas and found special gifts I picked out just for each person. (I kept a folded toilet paper roll in my purse to check the size of items as I shopped, the store-bought crackers were a little bigger but it gave me a great guideline).
Someday, I may to try to make these
beautiful Christmas crackers I saw (via Pinterest) on
MiniEco.
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