Crackers!
Rosalind Howard and Isobel Higley show us how to make upcycled seasonal crackers
Homemade crackers are low on waste. You can use up leftover wrapping paper and toilet roll tubes and fill them with useful (or delicious) prizes, rather than plastic tat.
You will need:
- patterned paper, wallpaper or old wrapping paper
- cardboard tubes (eg toilet roll or kitchen roll tubes)
- tape
- ribbon or string
- scissors
- cracker fillings: tissue paper hats, toys, games, jokes, sweet treats (See our ideas below)
To make:
Cut the paper to size: use three toilet roll tubes as a guide for length and, for the width, you will need just enough to cover the tube with a small overlap.
Position the paper on a table with the longest edges at the top and bottom. Place the cardboard tube in the centre of the paper.
Wrap the paper around the cardboard tube and secure with tape. The cardboard tube gives your cracker extra structure, so it won’t fall apart.
Twist one side of the paper around the end of the cardboard tube and secure it with ribbon or string. If using, feed the cracker snap through the middle of the cracker.
Add your cracker fillings to the open end of the tube, then twist the paper to seal the cracker, and secure with ribbon or string.
Tip: Use the cracker snaps as a guide when cutting the paper, to make sure they don’t poke out the ends
Ideas for plastic-free cracker fillings:
- wooden dice
- marbles
- sweet treats
- seeds – we wrapped sunflower seeds in scraps of fabric and tied with string
Thank you to Re-wrapped for donating the gorgeous wrapping paper, made using recycled unbleached paper and vegetable-based inks.
Photographs by Jo Haycock, JUNO Natural Connections columnist. johaycockphotography.co.uk
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