Whenever I've spent Christmas in the US I've always taken crackers with me .. and my US guests have loved them :) I've used the kits for years now, putting small gifts in hem. This year I shall be putting Loafdom silver in them .. much nicer than the plastic compasses and play "rings" that tend to be the standard gifts in the ready made ones these days :)
They're dead easy to make up as all the work has been done, save rolling the into a tube, fitting the cardboard "lugs" into the slots, squeezing them where the cut out bits are to make the cinched in ends .. just pop the hats, jokes and gift in before you squeeze the second end. Takes less than a minute a cracker, and the snap is usually already stuck to the inside. Then on Christmas day you hold one end, the person next to you grasps the other ... you both pull.. and BANG!! .. and the cracker pulls apart and out pop the hat, joke and gift :)
We used to make them with crepe paper, loo roll tubes in the centre, and two tubes, one twice the length of the other, having to twist the paper and fasten it .. lol .. but this is much easier :)
Give them a try .. and you'll find they become a part of your Christmas :) And you can always substitute a small toy or model for one of the gifts in the kids' ones and keep the necklace for yourself .. lol
Caryl
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