I have wanted to make my own Christmas Crackers for a number of years now, but have never quite got around to it. This year though when I was looking for crackers to match my blue, white and bird theme (you can see more ideas for Christmas Themes in this post), I couldn’t find Christmas Crackers in the right colour for a reasonable price, so used this as motivation to finally make my own!
Christmas Crackers – Easy DIY
You will need:
- Cardboard tubes
- Christmas cracker snaps
- Wrapping paper
- Twine
- Toys / trinkets to go inside cracker
- Printed out jokes
You can buy pre-made DIY Christmas Cracker Kits from places like Riot Art. The sets of 6 I purchased were on sale for only $3.99. You can just buy the parts individually of course, like these Christmas Cracker snaps from e-bay – a pack of $24 is currently $4.80 plus $2 postage.
I made up my first batch of six during the day with the kids and then later that night I made the remaining 18 using a slightly different process which was more efficient and easier for building of the Christmas Crackers. (Hence you will notice the change in light in the photos for the ones I made at night!)
Measure the length of paper you will need and cut out enough paper lengths, I made 24. Make sure you keep enough width in the paper so it goes around the cardboard roll more then once, to give it extra thickness.
Ask the kids for their favourite jokes, type them up and print them out, cut them into sizes that will fit easily into the cracker. While you cannot see it on these jokes, I actually wrote the child’s name and age next to the joke.
Fold back the edge of the paper, so when you seal the Christmas Cracker the edge looks neat. Add a Christmas Cracker snap to each cardboard roll. I used about 2cms of sticky tape to gently tape the snap in place.
Sort out the trinkets and jokes into groups, so you can quickly fill the Christmas Crackers. I bought some gel pens ($12.95) and then a tub of mixed stationary items ($4.99) from Officeworks.
I used seals to stick the paper together around the cardboard tube.
Then tie and one end with the twine. Make sure you do the tie tight enough so that the trinkets cannot fall out of the hole that is left. Fill each tube with the trinket. To get the rubber bands to go in properly I needed to shake the tube, so they fell to the bottom. The magnetic clips where a tight squeeze and needed a little push to get them to fit in. When choosing items to put in the Christmas Crackers make sure they will fit in the tube!
Christmas Crackers are now ready to adorn the Christmas table on Christmas Day.
Have you made your own Christmas Crackers before?
11 comments...read them below or add one
They are gorgeous. I had never thought of making my own crackers. Now I am very tempted x
I really enjoyed making them, plan to do it again next year too!
I love making bonbons. It has been a tradition in our family since I was a child. I like your trinkets. It is often hard to find something small enough to fit in the tube! You can see ours from last year and the year before here:
http://froggooseandbear.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/this-years-crackers.html?m=1
and
http://froggooseandbear.blogspot.com.au/2010/12/diy-bonbons-aka-christmas-crackers.html?m=1
Yours look fabulous Emma – love the sheet music idea. I was wondering what to do about the hats. I might have to try and make my own to include next year. Thanks for sharing your links. Nic
Really nice…thankyou …good to get some “local” ideas too ( love os blogs though!)..like ..less decision making at this time of the year…love your blog..
Thanks for the lovely feedback Jan!
This is so cool! My brother and I have thought about getting these to celebrate and never thought to our my own. Forgive me if this seems like a newbie question, but how do you make the “popping” sound with the crackers?
Hi Rashelle,
The snaps (thin long sticks) have a thing in the middle that makes the pop or snapping sound.
Nic
Ah, got it! Didn’t think the long strips were indeed the source of the *snap*! Thanks again.
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