Christmas Cheer!

My newest holiday crafting project:  Homemade Christmas crackers!  These were made almost entirely of reused items from my home, making them inexpensive and good for the environment.

And they're really easy to make:

1. Cut a toilet paper tube in half.  (I had quite a collection of these already, as I was saving them for another project.  You can also cut down paper towel tubes.)

2. Wrap with festive tissue paper.  (Some I wrapped in a single layer, but others I doubled with matching tissue to add an extra decorative element.  Again, this was something we just had lying around the house.  We receive many gift bags, and save the tissue for future use.)

3. Secure the paper with some tape.

4.  Tie one end tightly with ribbon.

5.  Fill with goodies, and a little confetti for an added surprise!  (I mostly used candy, but any small items will work.  The poppers for my cousin also have a few crayons and Lip Smackers in each.  Next year I may put some dollar bills and hair ties.  Maybe even lottery tickets for the adults.)

6.  Tie the other end and curl the ribbon (not done here, yet).  You may also want to perforate the center with a needle along the seam created by cutting the toilet paper tube in half.  My sis and I tested a few, and without perforations they break at the ends rather than the middle.  We haven't tested a perforated version yet, but think it may help.