Bloody Christmas Crackers

[GlamorousHeifer]

I am driving myself mad (admittedly a short drive!) over Christmas crackers of all things!
I must have been looking online researching my options for about 8+ hours (in total, not 8 straight hours, I'm not that crazy!) but none of them are quite right.
Must be:
*Plastic free
*Beautiful
*8 pack
*Pre made, not make yourself
*Decent gift (no toe nail clippers or tiny screwdrivers!) Ideally a keepsake.
*Suitable for teen boys and girls
*Not more than £25.
Aibu to believe the crackers of my dreams exist despite an extensive search coming up with nothing?
For those that need to hear it, this is lighthearted, yes I do have plenty of other things to worry about, yes I know the COL has gone up and some people won't be able to celebrate at all etc etc.

i’d have given up after 8 minutes let alone 8 hours!

No one wants a keepsake from a cracker

I was going to do fill your own, but they seem to be as, or more, expensive than cheap ones. I’m thinking of getting cheap ones, untying an end, putting a gift in(well a scratch card-all adults)and retying them. And 25 quid is mad for crackers.

Haha me too, only £54 here...

Well hopefully I've helped the birds in some small way 🤷‍♀️

RSPB always do good ones, we’ve had ones before with wooden ornaments for the tree.

Have you looked at Hotel Chocolat ones?

Crikey, if its that important make your own, or do small table gifts. Personally I think they are a waste of money.

Kuckoo Crackers - 6 x 13-inch Build & Play Metal Construction Christmas Crackers amzn.eu/d/gswG4Es

I am driving myself mad (admittedly a short drive!)

That made me laugh because I can relate - I hate it when I can’t find what I want and get ever more convinced it must exist.

I know you’ve got some now and they look fab. Just posting to agree cracker shopping is hard. I don’t mind naff and I do like the screwdrivers but I hate most of the plastic tat. One year when I somehow had enough spare time and the kids were still young enough to be into it, we did make our own. I put in nice stationery like highlighters and novelty pencil sharpeners, fancy lip balms etc, we made hats and the kids wrote silly jokes. They were a big hit. So worth doing if you can be bothered/have time but it is a faff.

Try The Kuckoo Company - we bought the building block ones this year.

Thank you for this thread. I'm always looking for different crackers.
Have just ordered some Kuckoo ones with meccano style models to make inside. Should keep everyone busy for a bit.

you can still get the vintage wade animals and they aren't expensive if you haunt ebay. Buy them over the year and use them to fill your own.

We’ve gone for the Kuckoo ones this year , one set with puzzles and one construction set . We also needed more than 6 so will put a few from each pack out for variety .

Don’t buy them, can’t bear the waste.

Make your own?

I bought fill them yourself ones last year and put a lottery scratch card in them

this.

im going to nick that! thank you

We made some lovely little drawstring bags with luxury Christmas fabrics and ribbons instead of crackers. We reuse them every year and everyone gets a Christmas scratch card, a nice chocolate, a miniature bottle of what they like (or luxury hot chocolate sachet for non drinkers) in theirs. Some years we’ll add stupid jokes and a hat too. Shop bought crackers are so incredibly wasteful.

Crackers always seem to have the same gifts don't they. Tiny screwdrivers ..golf tees .metal egg cups

I doctor mine by adding a little gift . It's easy to do. Cut the elastic that holds it closed one end and jiggle it in. Then tie it closed with a bit of ribbon
All the family love them. Iv been doing it for years

I remember those !

I have been there, but truthfully, there is no such thing as a Christmas cracker that contains a gift that will be equally acceptable to both male and female adults children and teens. It is impossible! And especially not for an affordable price.

If you want your crackers to essentially be fancily-wrapped gifts, you will need to make your own I’m afraid.

If you just want them for the fun of pulling them, just get some eco friendly ones with with some chocolate inside.

Love this idea! Going to pinch it for next year as I just bought the sock shop crackers.

I got some nice ones from TK Maxx they had a varied selection in and I also found some old ones in the loft we can use

Exactly. Cheap and expensive ones all contain rubbish. The items in the expensive ones just get thrown in the bin. Who wants a 5cm cheese grater?