Christmas is fast approaching and I have been busily making bonbons. Of course you can buy them… they are everywhere in the shops. But homemade crackers just add that special magic to the day. If you are hosting a meal or celebration, this is an amazing addition to the Christmas table. And even if you’re going elsewhere for the party, they are a wonderful personalised (and fun) gift to share with all. See the bonbons below that I made for our family Christmas.
Here is a step-by-step guide, so you can make them too.
Stage 1: Make the bonbon bodies
Step 1: Collect the papers you want to use. I chose three different colours: red, neutral and turquoise. Allocate one 12 x 12 inch sheet per bonbon plus some coordinating papers for embellishing. Steer away from really busy papers if you want to decorate your bonbons as too much pattern can be over whelming.
(The papers that I used were: Echo Park Dear Santa Range ‘Let It Snow’ and ‘Joy’; October Afternoon Make It Merry Range ‘Make A Song’, ‘Make A Gift’ and ‘Make A List’. Extra paper for embellishments: Echo Park Dear Santa ‘Christmas’.)
Step 2: Trace/photocopy your bonbon pattern onto your papers and cut out. Kaisercraft have a terrific template which I used. Enlarging the template to fit an A4 page creates a good size bonbon. Don’t forget to trace/photocopy your pattern onto the back side of the paper.
Step 3: Assemble the bonbons – roll the paper into a cylinder, insert the tabs and use a small strip of clear sticky tape over the tab closures to ensure they stay shut.
Step 4: Use the off cuts from the 12 x 12″ papers to wrap around the bonbons. They match perfectly and the bonbons look coordinated as you play mix and match. My papers were double-sided so this provided even more choice of patterns and colours.
Stage 2: Filling your bon bons
All bon bons need good jokes. The internet is a good source of jokes and I will share with you some of the ones that I used. Print out one per bon bon.
Christmas Riddles
Q. Which of Santa’s reindeer has bad manners?
A. Rude-olph!
Q. What do call Santa when he stops moving?
A. Santa Pause!
Q. Why do mummies like Christmas so much?
A. Because of all the wrapping!
Q. What do you call a Santa that sleeps all the time?
A. Santa snores!
Q. What Christmas carol is a favourite of parents?
A. Silent Night.
Q. Why is Santa so good at karate?
A. Because he has a black belt!
Q. Who gives presents to baby sharks?
A. Santa Jaws.
Q. What do you get when you eat Christmas decorations?
A. Tinsilitis!
Q. What do vampires sing on New Year’s Eve?
A. Auld Fang Syne!
Q. Which elf was the best singer?
A. ELFis Presley.
Christmas Images
Funny Christmas images are also great in your crackers. Once again the internet is a terrific source for these. The resolution is often quite low but that is fine as the images only need to be about 5 cm x 5cm. Below are some of the images I used. It is worthwhile getting higher quality inkjet paper to print these as regular print paper often yields disappointing results.
Stay tuned for part two tomorrow! Including more things to include in your bon-bons and adding the last decorations to them. — Jenny
Scrapbook Creations 
These look absolutely fantastic Jenni! So cleverly made and so beautiful. Thanks for all the hints about what to fill them with too 🙂
Oh my god! I love the shark joke!!!! Total crack up!!!! I think I’m going have to make that joke one of my Christmas Facebook status!!! Lol
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Love Jenny’s work and these are just so gorgeous!!
Thanks for the inspiration!