Hack Christmas Cracker Into a Meaningful Pre-wrapped Gift

Have you ever wanted MORE to come out of those little Christmas Crackers than some cheap toy and a slip of paper which is supposed to have some slightly funny joke written on it? Well I think most of us hope for more than that - I mean the design is so royal looking and beautiful, but the inside is so... laughable! So here's an alternative with a BANG to wrapping your own small gifts this year. Some ideas of what to put inside:

Gift Cards
Love Letters
Wedding ring
Candy
Emergency Chocolate
Watch
Candy canes
Chocolate Kisses
USB stick / SD card
Keys to car / Apartment
Earphone Jacks
Money
Bracelet / Necklace
Gum
Paper Butterflies
Multi-Tool Key
Pill Bottle Survival Kit

Step 1: Materials

I'm going to keep it simple, so basically what you need is the following:

Christmas Crackers
Ribbon (if you end up cutting it instead of untying)
Scotch Tape (If you rip it)
Goodies to put inside
Gift Tags
15 minuets

Step 2: Getting It Open

The interior varies a bit as to what toys or trinkets might actually be inside them. Usually the box will tell you, but if not, you just want to be careful you aren't going to set it off by pulling it apart. Shouldn't happen, but I think it could.

Firstly, untie or snip the ribbon that holds it - if it's paper, you'll have to cut a slit as carefully as you can so it's not visible, tape it back up when you're done, and add a bit of ribbon to cover up. Once you have the ribbon off, you want to gently tug the bottom away from the mid section and dump free-falling contents.

Once you've got the toys out of the way, it's much easier to open it up from the sides. Simply push one side to the top and the other side to the bottom and pull away from each other to dislodge the tab - if yours is taped, once again, you'll have to carefully slice the tape and reapply some scotch over top as best you can.

Ok, next step.

Step 3: Replacing Contents

Simple enough to replace it with the desired gift, but putting it back together might be tricky. You want to make sure your gift isn't too big for the cracker - especially if you don't want the person suspicious. Just make sure you also have everything from the original out - don't leave cheesy sayings or jokes inside. :)

Slip the tab back in place, and we are good to go to the next step.

Step 4: Tie It Up

Ribbons will give it the classic look as well as cover any issues that may have been had in problem areas.

Step 5: Add Final Touches

Adding a special tag will give it the final look of being a gift beneath the tree (or office party gift) and is easy enough to tie to the ribbon on one of the ends.