One of the most fun and memorable Christmas traditions is pulling a cracker at dinner, reading the terrible joke, laughing at the corny gift and looking just a little silly in the paper hat. This year, why not make your Crackers extra special by making your own? That way you can write your own jokes and personalised the gifts in each Cracker. They are remarkably easy to make and in this blog we walk your through how to make your own Christmas Crackers.
What you’ll need
Cardboard tubes like these ones from Hobbycraft
Double sided sticky tape and a glue gun
Ribbon
Some stiff card to support the inside of the pull sections
Wrapping paper or crepe paper. Don’t get really high quality thick wrapping paper or metallic paper as these will be difficult to pull.
Tissue paper for the hats
Scissors
How to make Christmas Cracker hats
No Christmas Cracker is complete without a hat, luckily they are really easy to make. Simply take the tissue paper and cut it so that it is around 6 inches wide. Wrap it around your head (and perhaps one or two other people’s heads to get an average size) and cut the paper to the right length. It might be worth making adult and child sizes and then identifying the cracker, through decoration, as to which has an adult hat and which has a child’s hat. Once cut to length simply glue to two ends together. Flatten the hat out and then fold it a few times so that it is only about 2 inches wide. Mark a diagonal line from the top left down at a suitable angle to the right hand side and cut it out to create the crown effect. You now have your completed crown. If you want more decorative options for the shape, cut out whatever pattern you want in the top couple of inches of the hat. For a step-by-step guide see this guide from ehow.
How to Make your Christmas Crackers
Cut the wrapping or crepe paper to at least 3 times the length of the tube you are using and so that it wraps around the tube completely. You will need this size as the paper will get scrunched up as you make the pull ends. If it is too short, then the pulls will be too short and no-one will be able to get a good grip of the cracker.
Wrap the paper around the tube and stick it down using the double-sided tape. If you have decided to use snaps then insert the snap through the tube so that an equal amount sticks out each end. Using your thumb and forefinger scrunch up one end of the paper tightly to create your pull. Secure the scrunched section by tying some ribbon tightly around it and finishing it in a lovely bow. Cut some of the stiff card, roll it into a circle and insert it into the end section of the scrunched paper.
Make sure the snap is inside the card. Use the double-sided tape to stick the card into the inside of the wrapping paper to create a nice stiff pull. Glue the snap to the inside of the card to secure it in place. You are now ready to insert your hat, whatever gift you have chosen and your joke. You can buy downloadable joke designs from the internet, like these ones from Etsy, or you can make your own.
Once you have put everything in, scrunch the end as previously for the other side, tie tightly with the ribbon, insert the stiffener card and glue it all together. You now have your completed Christmas Cracker.
Christmas Cracker gift ideas
Given the hilarity that surrounds the gifts found in most Christmas Crackers, the choice of gift to put in your Crackers is really important. We’ve picked a few of our favourite options to help give you some inspiration:
- This corkscrew is perfect. We would recommend taking it out of the plastic box so that it fits in the cracker, but what a great gift. Bottle opener and corkscrew in one and small enough to pop in your pocket.
- For those who love to sew, how about this lipstick needle and pin case? It comes in various colours and with 5 metal needles. Perfect to pop into a wash bag for weekend away emergencies.
- For something a little more boozy how about these cocktail miniatures? Just make sure they only go into the adult crackers!
- For the kids, why not treat them to these luminous Christmas tattoos? You can cut out the ones you want and the kids can be wowed when they light up at night.
- How about putting in a lucky dip lottery ticket? Who knows, someone might just become a Christmas millionaire?
Making your own Christmas Crackers is great fun! No more unfathomable puzzles or bottle openers that bend rather than open a bottle of beer. Take the guesswork out of the shop bought crackers and make your own. What a great talking point as everyone pulls their Crackers over Christmas dinner.
