In England we call them crackers, I believe in the US they are referred to as poppers. Either way, they're the inner tube of toilet roll wrapped in nice paper, attached to a "snap", and filled with tiny presents.
They're usually just a Christmas thing here, so I don't know if anyone over the pond does have them at Thanks Giving. I made some last year for the Thanksgiving dinner our American friends hosted, and they seemed to go down well, so I'd like to repeat my previous success.
You can make your own from scratch, or buy ready made "fill you own" crackers, that have been left open at one end so you can put whatever goodies you like in there.
I got these for Waitrose supermarket, when they have them on offer at half price. At 12 crackers for £5, that's pretty reasonable, and I know they'll work. If I made them myself, I'd be a bit worried that I'd put the snap in wrong and they wouldn't work.
The crackers had very Chirstmassy messages on the handles, so I wanted to cover these over with stickers giving a more thankful message.
I drew out a quick rough sketch of a Thanksgiving message. Folk Yeah! is a bit of an in joke with our friends. I wrapped the paper round a cracker to make sure that the writing would fit.
I copied the sketch onto tracing paper so I could then copy it to graph paper and do a proper drawing.
A few more rought sketches.
Once I had the stickers, I wrapped one around each end of the cracker, one landscape, one portrait, to see which way worked better. Landscape worked better, although the stickers are too long and over lap. I left about a centimeter at the end of one sticker that could be cut away.
A few more rough sketches, making sure that the writing would fit on the stickers.
Drawing out proper.
Once I had the proper drawings, I copied them onto tracing paper again. Of course, these are still very very rough looking. I really don't mind. These are for friends, and if they look "home made" rather than polished, that's fine. They are home made. It's a bit of fun to bring to the party.
I scanned the tracing paper and printed the copy onto a scrap piece of paper before printing onto the stickers. Colouring in the stickers was pure childhood delight. ALL THE CRAYONS.
Filling the crackers. No one at the party has problems with alcohol or dietary issues/ allergies, so I'm filling the crackers with booze and chocolate.
Gins
From top left: Sipsmith Sloe Gin, Sipsmith London Cup, (missing as it's already in a cracker - Sipsmith London Dry Gin) Whitley Neill Dry Gin, Hendricks Gin and Gordon's Pink Gin.
Miscellaneous.
From top left: Taylor's Vintage Port, Baileys Original, Baileys Coffee, Lindisfarne Meade, Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey, Captains Morgan's and Mount Gay Rum.
Chocolates
After choosing the flavor pairings, I filled the crackers and tied the open end up. Et voila! Colourful Thanksgiving crackers!
To everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving, I hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow, surrounded by people you love and enjoying good food
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Thanks for having a look, and hope you enjoyed it!
