DIY Puzzle Fortune Cookie Paper Craft!

I’m one of those people who would look forward to the end of a meal, just for a fortune cookie. They don’t always make sense. But that doesn’t stop me from grabbing one & cracking it open. Also, I really like the taste of fortune cookies. It’s pretty much the same story for a friend of mine. So, on her 18th birthday, we wanted to do something with the fortune cookies. But, the cookies on their own don’t make much a present. Since you really never know what you’re going to get. What if you get all bad fortunes? That would be a bit of a downer. So, we used a little bit of manipulation, to make the messages a little more personal (and not nearly as nerve wracking).

Time: We didn’t actually bake the cookies, so it didn’t take much time. 15-20 minutes at max.

Budget: Medium.

Materials:

• 18 fortune cookies
• An 15-18 line message/poem
• Colorful paper
• Basket (optional)

Steps: We actually opted for a paper craft version of the cookies instead of baked ones. This video will help go through the steps better!

We were inspired to make this gift, by our local baker. She takes orders for making fortune cookies. However, we wanted to make paper versions of the cookies instead. So, that they can be mailed, as well. Also, its far less wasteful. Because, you will need to break all the cookies.

Like I said, we wanted the messages to be more personal. So, we decided to change the “fortunes” by using a poem instead. We used one with 15 lines and 3 messages for the 18th birthday & wrote each line on a separate strip of paper. Next, we jumbled up the strips of paper and handed them over to the baker to make the cookies.

Once they were ready, we plated them up nicely & the gift was ready! In some ways, I think it’s a perfect gift for people who don’t have a lot of time to make the gift. But, still want to put in some effort.

You’re probably thinking about why we jumbled up the strips. How is the message supposed to be clear, if we have done that. We were actually going to mark the cookies in order, so that the poem would be clear.

But, as we were planning the ideas, it occurred to us, that we could probably make this into a short activity. So, we purposely mixed up the lines of the poem. And asked our friend, to assemble the poem as she opened each cookie.

There was a lot of confusion (naturally) and a lot of rearrangement. But, eventually she assembled the entire message. And, honestly, she loved it!

We also got a great keepsake from the idea, as we saved the strips & pasted them in the correct order. Now, it’s a sort of card, to keep as a memory! Sweet, right?

Let us know what you think of this custom fortune cookie paper craft in the comments below!