These kid-friendly party crackers are a twist on the more traditional Christmas Crackers that have very specific contents and let off a loud crack when they are opened thanks to something called a cracker snap. 

By changing the contents and replacing the cracker snap with a confetti party popper, you are sure to hear squeals of delight from the recipient. The party poppers still give an element of surprise when the string is pulled to release the confetti, along with a small pop, making these suitable for many different celebrations, including: holidays, birthday parties, or wedding receptions.

You can use any type of wrapping material that you have in your supply, but when making them for the younger set, I prefer to use two layers of tissue paper simply because it’s easier for them to tear into without much frustration.  Your curling ribbon can be curled by holding the blade of your scissors firmly against the ribbon and dragging it down the length of your cut ribbon. Please don’t attempt this using a pair of your Fiskars Razor Edged scissors because those blades really are razor-sharp.

Next, you’ll want to gather a supply of small party trinkets that will fit inside your tube. Make sure to leave enough room for the party popper also. A happy mix would include candy, toys, and money. Dollar bills and dimes are easy to squeeze into tight spaces, just be considerate on how small the items are and the potential choking hazard if you’re giving to children prone to putting things in their mouth.

The fun part is packing the goodies into the tubes. It’s perfectly okay if the trinkets overhang the edge just slightly.

Because dimensions are sometimes different for those living internationally, you may not use the exact dimensions that we use in the United States. So use your flexible measuring tape in your Sew Taxi tool to measure the circumference of the paper tube and the length.  The tubes used in this tutorial are approximately 5 1/2” around and 4” long.

Cut your wrapping material to 3 times the length (12”) by the circumference plus 2” (7 ½”). This accomplished rather quickly if you use your cutting mat with a rotary cutting tool.

Use your hand punches in a variety of shapes along with scraps of cardstock to punch a small amount of confetti to mix with a handful of sequins.

Place your tube, centered, along one side of the wrapping material and tape the material to the tube. Roll the tube and secure the other side again with tape. Gather the overhang of wrapping material and tie curled ribbon to secure one side. Sprinkle a pinch of sequin/confetti mix into the open end of the tube. Secure open end with curling ribbon.

Use your AdvantEdge Starter Set along with other interchangeable cartridges to create an embellishment to wrap around the center of the tube.

Because of the delicate nature of the lace-like borders cut from the AdvantEdge, you’ll need to use a non-liquid adhesive.  I’ve found the best hold is created by running the border through a sticker maker machine giving you edge-to-edge adhesive coverage down the length of the strip making it very easy to apply to your project without the worry of it coming unstuck.