Can I buy crackers without crappy landfill-ending gifts in them?

[KeiraTwiceKnightley]

Just that. We like crackers. The silly hat, snap and joke are great and can all go in paper recycling. But the gifts are rubbish. Literally. Even if you spend a lot more and get mini screwdriver sets instead of plastic fake nails most still end up in a drawer/the bin eventually.

I've seen fill your own crackers but wondered if anywhere does crackers that contain the paper stuff but no plastic shite?

Just make your own scrooge

I'm watching this thread myself as I'd be keen to know what the answer is. I'm sick of seeing really posh lovely glitzy looking crackers with rubbish gifts in them. I'm yet to see decent ones and have been refraining from getting any

Sparklesdontshine It's not about being a tight arse it's about wanting decent things inside and not aload of white.

s*

Best we got were Cluedo ones from Sainsburys. Each cracker had various things to help you play the game and obviously hat and joke and there was a board inside the box.

We cleared the table after food and played Cluedo for a couple of hours. They had other games as well such as Monopoly.

John Lewis sell fill your own crackers
With the hat and joke you just buy the gift.

We got the ones from Hotel Chocolate last year. Only paper waste and three decent chocolate figures inside.

I've bought ones with just a hat & joke and added treats & decorative bits. Treats have included good chocolate, stationery items, lip gloss, scratch lottery tickets etc. Recipients can swap with each other for desirable items.

It seems a cheap & easy way to get the cracker base and snap without too much effort and no landfill.

Hotel chocolat sound good. Or JL fill in but bung in a choc Santa or something. Thanks.

And it really isn't being a Scrooge. O just don't want to add yet more to the plastic tat that we will chuck out some point after Boxing Day.

We got those ones with different whistle/ recorder type things where everyone gets a different musical note. Then someone is the conductor (music comes with them, you each have a which helps with conducting ) and you play tunes as a family, usually laughing a lot. We still have them.

I agree with you Keira. Could somebody please explain how they put stuff in a cracker without breaking it please?

There are, but it does depend on your definition of not likely to end up in the bin.

I've had a set which contained wind up toys and a game - yes, it went in the bin eventually, but was played with for months by the dc (and think there's still the odd toy clattering about).

This year I've got a set which has handbells inside - lots of fun messing around with carols etc after lunch, and then a set of handbells for the dc to play with (we are a musical family, so I do understand this might not be everyone's definition of 'not crap')

You can get Ines with chocolate inside, no crap there.

I did fill your own for a few years, but ultimately it wasn't worth the effort (I didn't want to put 'just' chocolate in, and wanted to personalise each one to recipient) and was just one more thing to try to find time to do after bedtime etc.

*each gave a number

I hear you OP!
I'm thinking of buying a make your own set and buying some charity gifts for them, maybe trolley key rings. It's just the time it will take!
I personally think a group of charities should get together and make them so when you pull one you have a hat, joke and then a little note which says £1 has been donated to (insert names of various charities).

That's a great idea, Tweebee. My sister works for oxfam in the head office - I'll suggest to her and see if she can influence someone.

Mini screwdriver always quite handy I find.

Please do Keira!
PandasRock where did you get your handbell crackers from?

The John Lewis ones you just slot the gift in the middle, you can fit quite a lot in there. I put in scratch cards, lottery tickets, £5 for the teens, mini cosmetics, miniature alcohol wrapped in bubble wrap etc. I personalise mine for the recipient.

I recently saw cracker strips in Hobbycraft.

Lakeland have them, but cheaper on Amazon - check reviews, as there are different companies, and on a couple of them people have complained about being out of tune.

They have the whistle Ines too, and I've seen chime bar ones - all the same principle, one note for each recipient, and lots of chaos as the conductor tries to get people playing on time!

I bought some in Paperchase with little notepads etc in. DD will probably have them all!

Thanks pandas. They do sound good. Just been looking again at making my own but it's all so expensive. We're not on a really strict budget but things are tight enough to make me wonder if I really need to spend so much money on paper hats and snaps.

Ooh, the paper chase ones sound good. Dd2 would love those, and happily scoop up all the loot!

Do the Hotel Chocolat ones actually crack? I ask because their mini ones are unbelievably disappointing; the cracker is just wrapping and does not crack. There’s no crap joke either.

There was a really good selection of crackers on amazon, tbh.

when I did fill your own it ended up quite expensive - a miniature is £4/5, a decent lip balm £3+ etc, and once I'd added it all up, I might as well have spent the £25 on a box of crackers with decent stuff in (which I'd looked at and thought 'not spending that much on crackers!')