FP Holidays Across the Globe: A Traditional UK Holiday Feast & DIY

This post comes from our UK PR Manager Lisa! Follow along with her on Instagram @freepeopleuk!

In the UK no festive dinner table is complete without a Christmas cracker. Everyone gets a beautiful, shiny festive cracker at their place setting and before any feasting can commence, you must pull on either end with the person next to you, causing a big snap-crackle-pop! and lots of laughs. When talking to my American friends recently, I found out that crackers are pretty much unheard of in the states, so I wanted to share this ‘how to’ with you so you can create your own crackers at home and teach your family and friends this fun British tradition!

Inside each cracker is a joke, a small gift and a hat (which is then worn throughout the whole meal!) The gifts are typically something small and inexpensive, such as a bottle opener, tape measure or tiny sewing kit. But because I was hosting a girly dinner, I decided to gift everyone a little ring from a pack of 6 assorted rings, but you can put anything in yours.

Before you start making your crackers you need some jokes. In the UK the one rule is the cheesier the joke, the better! I went for a holiday theme, for example ‘what happened to the man who stole an advent calendar: He got 25 days!’ See, I warned you they were cheesy! You can either print them out or hand write them. I also decided to do an inspiration quote on the back, for example ‘write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year’. You need to do enough of these for each cracker.

Traditional Holiday Crackers

What you need:
Printed template:

• Template 1
• Template 2

Cracker snaps (available online and at some craft stores)
Tissue paper
Ribbon
Small gifts
Scissors
Glue
Ruler

Step 1: Print out your downloaded template on to A4 thin card stock. Choose either one design or use both so you can mix and match. Use a paper cutter, or carefully measure and cut the edges so you are left with just the template area.

Step 2: Lightly score the template lines so you can neatly fold the card. Cut in between the diamond shapes (so you are cutting triangles) on both sides.

Step 3: Glue a 1cm thick strip down the full length of one side of the template and wrap the other side over so it sticks together. Press firmly over the full length so it sticks.

Step 4: Tie a ribbon around one side of the cracker, leaving the other side open so you can put all the gifts inside.

Step 5: Now to make the hat. Cut a 10cm strip of tissue paper and make sure it is long enough to fit ’round your head, plus a little extra. Glue the sides together, then fold gently twice and cut diagonally down to hit the middle, unfold and it will have made a crown shape.

Step 6: Fold the hat up so it fits in the main body of the cracker and add the snap stick, joke/quote and gift. Tie up the other end, et voila!

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