The old year is coming to its end and the new year is about to begin. And as the tradition goes, the new year will be welcomed with laughter and fun, throughout the New Year’s Eve. One of my favorite traditions are the Party Crackers, which happen to also be a great DIY. Why buy ready-made ones from the store, if you can do it yourself! Fill them up with glitter or candy, the more the merrier!
This fun DIY will take some craftsmanship, at least some time and nerves. I got the idea from the Minico blog, which has a great template free to download, but of course I also made my own version of the DIY. Once again, you’ll need some paper, scissors and glue, as well as some ribbon to tie the cracker ends together.
In the mood of the New Years festivities, I opted to use shiny papers – Mirror silver in 120 gsm and Galaxy Metallic blue in 110 gsm, available at Europapier. Anything between 100-200 gsm works, as any thicker than that will be hard to fold.
First, take an A4 and fold it lengthwise into strips. Like in the photo below. Each fold being about 2-3cm wide. Then, cut out little diamond shapes, to allow the paper to fold into a cracker shape. To help to get them straight, do like I did, and draw some “guiding lines” along the paper (see photo)
When you’ve made all the cutouts, start folding the cracker into shape. Fold along the lines you drew before. With the help of some pressure and adjusting, it should fold into place rather easily. Glue the back of the paper to keep the cracker from unfolding, and place some ribbon, elastics or string around the end of the cracker. I used some green ribbon I happened to have handy.
And there you go! the more you make these, the faster you get with it. Why not make each New Year party guest their own, with their name on them. This way no one will get jealous, and the New Year can start in a happy and merry way!
Here’s a little tip: If you place an empty carton of toilet paper inside the cracker when you’re building it, the candy, presents or whatever you’ve placed inside, will be a lot easier to handle and will stay in place!
Images © Design&Paper