A spry clown -- did he leap from Santa's bag? -- makes a Christmas cracker all the more fun. Made of foam balls, pipe cleaners, and batting, the ornament plays on the German cotton-wool Christmas figurines of the late 1800s. The cracker, a traditional English holiday favor, is filled with peppermint candies and covered with crepe paper.

For Clown:
1. Mix 2 parts craft glue and 1 part water. Tear a few small pieces cotton batting; press around a 1-inch Styrofoam ball (for head). Using a flat paintbrush, saturate batting with glue mixture, pressing onto foam. Repeat with a 2-inch ball (for body). Let dry 1 hour. Repeat process to apply a second layer.

2. Cut 4 strips batting: two 1 inch wide (for legs) and two 2 5/8 inches wide (for arms). Brush 1 strip at a time with glue mixture, and wrap end of a cotton pipe cleaner twice; trim excess. Trim leg pipe cleaners to 1 3/4 inches. Trim arm pipe cleaners to 3 3/4 inches. Attach head to body with 1 1/4 inches of pipe cleaner, leaving a 1/2-inch neck (use a pin to make holes in body). Attach arms and legs; cover seams with more batting and glue. Draw face. Insert a trimmed floral pip for nose (we painted ours red). Trace hat template onto patterned paper. Cut out; use craft glue to secure at seam. Glue a 1/4-inch pom-pom to hat, then glue hat to head. Glue 2 more pom-poms to body. Trace collar template onto red honeycomb paper (position paper so that its lines are perpendicular to dotted line on template). Cut out; place double-sided tape on 1 side. Unfold; fasten around neck, pinching closed with tweezers.

Cracker How-To:
1. Cut a 9-by-12-inch piece of red crepe paper (paper's lines should be parallel with short sides). Affix a short side to a 2 1/2-inch-long cardboard tube with double-sided tape. Roll to cover at least twice; tape. Fill tube with candy; twist paper ends. Cut two 2-by-20-inch strips of cream crepe paper.

2. Scrunch strips as pictured. Wrap around cracker ends; cinch in middle with cotton string. Fold inward to ruffle. Trim excess red paper. Attach clown to cracker: Insert a toothpick 1/2 inch into leg and 1/2 inch into cracker. Adjust as needed.