Ever want to make Christmas Crackers?

Okay, I am finally ready to show you the project I demonstrated at this weekends Stampinpalooza.

I am a huge sucker for Christmas, and Halloween, heck, all holidays for that matter. And I love all the cheesy traditions that come along with them. One of them being Christmas Crackers.

Years ago my sister used to make crackers and sell them, and they were so much nicer than the ones you could buy. Not to mention that the ones you buy are so much more expensive!

As soon as I saw the Waffle paper in the Holiday Mini I knew how I would use it. And I honestly can't say that there is a better paper for making crackers! Of course I made a Christmas one, then I had to try a Halloween one (how fun would those be to give out on Halloween night) and then I decided to make a Thanksgiving one too! I LOVE THEM!

Here are some close ups.
Fall using the brown waffle paper, Deck the Halls DSP for the wrapper, the leaf die for the big shot and Autumn Splendor stamp set for the main leaf. I tied this one using the linen thread!

The Halloween one uses black waffle paper, Halloween DSP, Silver Tinsel trim, the new XL Decorative Label punch, the Wicked Cool stamp set, oval punch and the new awesome bat punch. And if you think the bat is sparkly you are right, he is sprayed with Silver foil smootch spritz.

Finally I have the Christmas one. For that I used the Gold Waffle paper, Deck the Halls DSP, Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon and the Bells and Boughs set with a bit of Dazzling Diamonds Glitter!
Wouldn't these look beautiful on your table? And the best part is that they can be customized for your family. You don't have to put dollar store junk in them (all though the dollar store does have lots of great stuff). Why not earings for the women, cuff links for the men? Cars for little boys, hair clips for little girls. Or how about a Simply Adorned charm?? The possibilities are endless!! Just make sure you put tags on them so you know who gets each cracker! Plus you could then use them as your name tag! Talk about double duty!

I would love to see what you guys do with this. So I am going to issue a challenge. I would like for you to make your own crackers, for any holiday. I will work on posting a link widgit (update- posted now- see below) so that you can link to your creation here. I will leave the challenge open for a few weeks. I really want to see what each of you makes. I can't wait to see how you take this concept and make it your own.

Oh, and right now I don't actually have the cracker part (you know the part that you pull that makes the bang!) but I am told that the craft stores do carry them, just not yet. I am also sourcing out an online retailer. If you know some where you can get them, please post a comment.

You have until Oct. 27th to post your creation!! I can't wait to see them!!!!!



Happy crackering!!!

Cheers,