A 22cm x 16cm piece of heavy paper or light card is simply scored to become a classy table gift or place setting … I found this in papercrafter magazine and used it to try and stashbust a bit. Using assorted papers is fine as the washi edging unifies the group.

1. Score the paper along the 16cm length every 2.5cm leaving a 1cm tab at the end

2. Turn the paper and score at 4cm, 5.5cm and 7cm from either end of the 16cm sides
3. Flip the paper on to the reverse (unpretty side) and fold under each 5.5 cm score line

4. Trim out triangles within each section as shown – the triangles don’t have to be equal, just within the scored boxes so they help the cracker fold at the end of the make. I drew over the score lines to show them more clearly

5. unfold so you have diamond shape cut outs and then flip the paper back to the pretty side then crease all the other score lines

6. fix double sided tape to the tab and form the paper into a tube

7. tie string or strong cotton at each 5.5cm line and pull the cord tight so it draws the cracker closed (pop in your gift before you tie the second time)

8. decorate with washi tape at the ends as shown. You can add embellishments or names or flowers or …

When using paper other than A4 try cutting 16cm by 23 cm for a bigger cracker body… You can scale this up to make full sized crackers from wrapping paper and/or pop in a snap and joke for a traditional Christmas ‘make’