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.

We have 12+ people coming for lunch. Would 2x sets of taskmaster crackers work?

Buy cheaper ones and put another individual gift in.

Not a keepsake, but we buy Hotel Chocolat crackers.

They each have 3 different chocolates: milk, white + caramel - much better than plastic tat!

these ones meet your criteria of: less than £25, eco-friendly non-plastic, nice looking. And you make them yourself so you can add a small gift if you want to, or go with their paper content of a hat, joke and puzzle.

https://www.thecrackercompany.co.uk/collections/view-all-cracker-kits/products/watercolour-berries-christmas-cracker-making-craft-kit-make-fill-your-own

there are some other designs but some of them are a bit childish for teens.

Except I already posted earlier this afternoon to say I had bought the RSPB crackers so no need to make my own!
I won't know until Christmas day though if I'm satisfied.

I really like the ones from the little green cracker company, www.littlegreencrackercompany.co.uk/but they come in 6s and are more than £25...They are beautiful though, and the gifts all seem to go down well.

Isn't for grating nutmeg ?

The quality of Christmas crackers has really gone downhill in recent years. I was at a Christmas lunch the other day, and the only thing in the crackers was a sad, old joke! And decent crackers are very expensive too. I doubt that you will find anything with an original gift in them for £25 - cheap and tawdry seems to be the order of the day!
Have a go at making your own. It’s not difficult!

Yes sorry, realised that! Your post made me spend time looking at all the crackers online. Some are so lovely- and expensive!

Last year we had M and S ones with screw drivers, bottle opener, grater, key ring and nail clippers. The clippers were baby sized and broke the second time they were used by DH and part went down the bathroom sink u bend 😡 The grater and bottle opener were dangerously sharp making them less easily recyclable than plastic tat possibly making them less sustainable or just differently non planet friendly. I would actually like crackers that just had mottos/jokes, hat and popped.

I buy cheap crackers, open 1 end and add Lindt chocolate, then tie up with new ribbon. If you can't find the gifts you want, add your own.

I got into sewing and the first thing my mother asked me for were reusable crackers! I followed a tutorial online that used velcro and we add a personalised gift and a banger in each so you still get the bang! If you aren't inclined to male your own try etsy; someone else has surely made some and then you can choose what goes inside and reuse them year after year!

I've made my own. A hot wheels car in my DS one, a mini bottle of baileys for DF etc.

The cheap ones at least have entertainment value as you all laugh at the crappiness of the gifts

Are you me OP? I go nuts over this every year. I just spring cleaned and found about 8 'cracker presents' that I spent a blinking fortune on last year (make your own) and no one took home. What a waste. I think they seem magical but actually they just need to be there and then gone. I have delegated cracker buying to DH from now on do I don't go crackers.
And I am extremely proud that I haven't twitched over the rspb ones!

In all the years I tried to find nice cracker gifts, I forgot they were supposed to be fun. Last year we had reindeer races. This year I’ve got rubber ducks.

don’t overthink, don’t overspend.

Saw this at Costco today and thought about you OP

We're having a cracker lucky dip this year. I have so many odd crackers left over from previous years that I am not buying any, and everyone can choose one from the box. Good gift or bad gift - choose wisely!

Have you noticed how many have blooming honey dipper things in? How many can you want?! Love a tape measure or mini screwdriver set myself but have done personalised ones this year with everyone’s favourite musician as a peg doll. They’re awesome but it has cost me a fortune!

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1393520147/liam-gallagher-with-message-board?ref=yr_purchases

@DutifulLark
I ended up splashing out on some (what me and DH thought were fabulous) locked room puzzle crackers

What are locked room puzzles?

OMG! I bet you are right. Hilarious. I could still grate a tiny bit of cheese with it though couldn’t I? 🤣

I think this trend is due a bid to be more eco and have less plastic tat. Which I fully understand. I just wish there was less of a divide between the bog standard crackers and something of substance. Need to remember to buy in Jan sales for next year.

You're never going to get six keepsake gifts for less than £25!!

Why not doctor the crackers yourself? My mum always did this. Fill them with scratch card or miniature of gin or a lipstick or similar!!

Like an escape room Puzzle Post. They were great (as are the escape rooms in an envelope) but my guests were miserable buggers which ruined it.

I do!

They're perfect for grating parmesan. I'm still slightly gutted my sister got it that year. Been on the lookout for crackers that have one in since. My glasses are a bit loose and need some tiny screwdrivers. I'm hoping the two crackers I have left over from last year has some.

I shall keep Kuckoo in mind for future years (kids are too young ATM). I'll probably settle for supermarket crackers for this year.