DIY Party Crackers

I love party crackers but I’m not often impressed with what is inside of them. The toys usually fall apart and those paper hats barely fit my big head (I blame the size of my brain for my oversized head – ha!). This year I wanted to make my own party crackers for a New Year’s Eve party basket I’m making for the neighbors. I followed the instructions on Craftaholics Anonymous and they were so easy to make! I’m going to make some more today for our own family party with the help of my 3 year old.

DIY Party Crackers:

You can use any color of tissue paper to fit your theme and decorate it with stickers, Washi tape, glitter…whatever you’d like! I stuck with a black and gold theme so I used black tissue paper, black & white baker’s twine and gold gem stickers from our local dollar store.

We’re going to make some cute family party crackers later today covered in my son’s favorite cartoon characters from Cars and Planes.

I used gold Washi tape to secure the seams. I then filled them each with a snack-sized chocolate bar, a joke for kids (simply Google “jokes for kids” and you’ll find loads of options) and then “Year In Review” conversation cards for each guest to answer with their family. You can print the free Year In Review conversational cards here.

I put each of the party cracker fillings inside of plastic bags to put inside each party cracker. After all, the toilet paper tubes used to be in the bathroom (yuck!) so I like the ideas of putting the fillings in plastic bags.

Simply fill each and then tie them closed. To break them open, simply pull on each end and they’ll rip open.

Other ideas for fillings include:

• charades in each for guests to act out
• puzzle pieces that the group can then assemble
• confetti
• secret messages like announcing a pregnancy
• stickers, small toys and other goodies for kids

For these black & gold party crackers, I put them into a gift basket we’re making for our neighbors.

I hope you have a fabulous New Year’s Eve celebration with your family. All the best to you in the new year!