Crackers!!
I can’t imagine tucking into a Christmas dinner without pulling a cracker first. I love the naff hats, the cringe-worthy jokes (and just the tradition of it all).
Crackers are so easy to make…and if you don’t fancy making some for the table you can make some miniature ones to hang in the tree. They also make really cool gift boxes.
I’ve put some templates together if you wanna try. I initially drew these up for my son because he breaks up from school next week and I wanted to line up a few nice things for him to do. (I’m going to ask him to make one for each of his grandparents for Christmas – I’ll cut out the cracker and he can fill it with drawings, sweets and confetti and decorate the outside…sorted!).
Here’s how:
1) Download the pdf and print onto thin card. There is a large template and a miniature template. (Full size crackers are 25cm long and miniature crackers are 16cm long).
2) Cut around the outside with a pair of scissors.
3) Score along all the dotted lines. Compass points are great for scoring card.
4) Using a craft knife cut out all the diamond shapes.
5) Fold along all the vertical lines.
6) Fold along horizontal lines as shown. At this point you would insert a cracker bang and tape it into place at each end using sticky tape. (I didn’t use any cracker bangs for this post because I didn’t get my act together and order them in time!…If you wanna buy some, have a look on ebay).
7) Bring ends together and join using a glue stick or double sided tape.
8) Tie one end with a length of cotton/ribbon/string*
9) Wrap a gift/sweets/hat/joke/confetti* in some tissue paper
10) Pop inside cracker and tie the other end with cotton/ribbon/string*
* delete where appropriate!!
Job done!!
Hope all your Christmas or Hanukkah crafts/preparations/plans are coming along a treat.
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FRIENDS (AND ALL ROUND NICE PEOPLE)
Mary #
Hi Kate
These are LOVELY!!!
Definitely going on my to-do list for Christmas.
Thanks
celine #
very cute ! bravo !
Colleen @ Hello Olive #
I love these! Have posted about them here:
http://helloolive.blogspot.com/2011/12/make-your-own-crackers.html
Hope that’s ok… x
Kate #
Hi Colleen,
Of course, that’s fine.
Many thanks
Chochi #
I looooove these. They are so cute :3 I think they are great as a gift ^^
Pritesh #
OMG! These are SO easy and wonderful!!!!!
daniel #
these are great!!! i made the large ones!!!
do you mind if i post this on facebook
Kate #
Hey Daniel…that’s cool. I’d love to see some pictures!
Kitty #
This is a really cute project and I love the pattern, but where your tutorial says to cut out the diamonds with a knife then score & fold. it would be much easier & safer to fold the paper then cut them out with scissors – 2 snips on the fold lines cuts out a diamond (no knife and cutting mat required either) as all the lines that need folding are straight and parallel .
Kate #
Hey Kitty,
You are absolutely right. I hadn’t thought of doing it that way! Doh! Will update tutorial tonight!
Katie #
What are crackers? Like what is their purpose? I live in the States and we don’t really have those here.
Kate #
Hi Katie,
Check the following link out!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_cracker
Lovin' This! #
I think I will use these to put favors in for my son’s first birthday party that we will be celebrating right after Christmas! They are so nifty and will be loved by all! Thank you so much for sharing!
Jessica #
Fun craft and beautiful tutorial!
Carien(Holland) #
WOW!These are great! Thank you so much !
Jacqueline #
Just made one of these to package my Secret Santa Present, they loved it and kept it to re-use to wrap one of their pressies
Kate #
Yeah….glad it went well Jacqueline x
signora aurora #
I will make them for a birthday party!
So easy and nice! Thank you!
Monica #
These are nice! will for sure try it, thank you!
amy e #
This will not print on full sheet of paper completely, I think you need to move the template up a bit for this to work.
This looks neat, good for hard to wrap presents like little plastic animals, thanks for sharing
Kate #
Hi Amy…the template prints well on my printer.
If it is problematic on your printer then sometimes there is a ‘scale to fit’ checkbox in your printing preferences dialog.
If anyone else has problems then let me know and I will adjust the template…
Tara Galuska #
you’re a lifesaver! i stumbled across this and it is the perfect way to add a little extra fun to my christmas wrapping.
Lauren #
How awesome! I have to make some for the kids {and grown ups too} for new years with confetti!
I’d love for you to link up and share: http://tutusandteaparties.blogspot.com/2011/12/pinteresting-party-with-christmas.html
Marie Green #
I love these – I’ve been saving loo roll middles but these are far more elegant! great template and perfect for entertaining my son this afternoon!
Bonjour Juliette #
THank you so much!
I have yet to celebrate another Christmas mixed with New Year’s eve,
and i know what i’m going to do for my beloved friends, yay!
Diana #
WOW! It’s very great!
Laura #
Hi!!!
Your blog and your ideas are fantastic!!
I used this pattern to do my own Christmas Crackers this year! Thank you for sharing!
I linked your blog in my post/blog! (http://laubao.wordpress.com/2012/01/12/giorno-di-natale-christmas-day/).
Bye.
Laura
Kate #
So please you sent me the link Laura. The crackers look ace. Hurrah!
Clare #
so lovely! i’ve reposted them here: http://afestiveoccasion.blogspot.com/2012/01/ideas.html
and linked back
absolutely love the blog!
Kate #
Many thanks for the kind words Clare
Sora #
wow i love it! so cute ^^
i will make this for my sister. she’s ganna be really happy!
Thanks!
Carol #
This is gorgeous!!!
Vinnie #
Lovin’ these! Made 10 for Easter – wish I would have seen the suggestion of folding first then cutting – would have been faster and easier, but who cares! Just a labor of love, right???!!! Thanks…
Kate #
Yay…well done Vinnie…labour of love indeed!
elisabeth #
echt super idee – bin begeistert
Nicki #
Really really wnt to use this template but cant deem to dounload it
Also wnt the pacman and ghost garland but same thing
please help.
Kate #
Hi Nicki….what happens when you click on the links below?
http://www.minieco.co.uk/images/dec11/minieco-cracker-large.pdf
http://www.minieco.co.uk/images/dec11/minieco-cracker-small.pdf
http://www.minieco.co.uk/images/sept11/pacman-templates.pdf
Do you have adobe reader installed?
Ashley #
I really love this template but I wan to put cracker snaps in mine. I’m from the U.S. and I don’t real know much about crackers. Where would I put the snappers in? How can I ensure that the snapper will snap?
Kate #
Hi Ashley,
You basically put the cracker bangs in the middle of the cracker and tape to each of the handles…I’m going to buy some this year so will try and update the tutorial. I usually buy mine from ebay…I’m not sure where you can get them in the US. Let me know how you get on.
Check this tutorial out: http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/partycracker/
kiki #
thank you these are lovely, saving lots of stuff for one day…!
Kate #
know that feeling!
foto #
i made it and it”s sooo beautiful and cute ~~ ^___^
thanks a lot
foto #
you can see my work in instagram
my name is : FOTOALOMANI
Meaux #
Thank you so much for this – its genious!! I filled a bunch of them with salt water taffy from Bodega Bay for my husband’s French family and they couldn’t handle how cute they were. It made a simple souvenir from our US trip into a very special Christmas gift. Merci beaucoup!!
Kate #
Sounds great Meaux…so happy the templates worked well for you. Kate ^_^
Kati #
I have been searching all over for a good Cracker DIY… This is the BEST! Super easy! I’m going to be making a bunch of these for my friends, we play RuneScape, and if anyone is an RS nerd, you know Christmas Crackers and Party Hats are the rarest items, so I’m making everyone a Christmas Crackers and Party Hats! I’m so excited! Thank you for this amazing DIY!
Tahirah #
hey your creations are just amazing , i am a paper fanatic and i am so happy i came across your blog, could you tell me what type of paper you use or a link where i can by them online i live in Trinidad and its a bit difficult to get material in stores here.
Kate #
Hi Tahirah…I get a lot of my paper from Paperchase…which you can buy online but may cost a fortune for shipping. Have you tried ebay at all?
kylieshay #
Where can i find the cracker bangs? i was looking on ebay and amazon and could not find them… if you have a website for them could you please share.. thanks
Kaza #
I don’t know how old your question is, but I found cracker bangs in an Asian variety store. I’ve also seen them at some Asian grocery stores. They are much cheaper than anywhere else. I paid just over pound for 100.
Debora #
Two words: THANK YOU!
Aaron #
Hey, just wandered on here after weeks of gift searching, looking to make a present for some friends and my girlfriend… I love this website! But what type of paper could I use…? because (as a 14 year old) I’m pretty sure my parents won’t want me to spend so much money over paper… Also I want to make like flowers or some romantic because her birthday is just around the corner… Any ideas?
Oh p.s. I live in Nebraska in the good ole’ U.S. of A. so that’s why I can’t spend much money…
Thanks!
Rita Ho #
Very good and thanks for sharing….i loved your crafts so much ^^
Jenny #
Hi Kate! I was looking for ways to make my own Christmas crackers for a Harry Potter theme party that I’ll be attending and I just fell in love with your design! I put on the Hogwarts’ four houses colors onto the template and printed them out. They turned out real nice despite my not-so-steady hands
thank you so much!
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2h3cvtk&s=5#.UqlNDXrnbqA
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2lmnp7t&s=5#.UqlNWHrnbqA
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=120lds9&s=5#.UqlOInrnbqA
Kate #
Yay – they look great Jenny *pat on the back*
Hope the party is lots of fun
Kate ^_^
Lauren #
Hi Kate! Love the blog! I have asked Santa for your book too ^v^ I had heaps of fun using your template. I love the clean look. I made mine with the cracker inside and used a perforating wheel thing to make sure they come apart. I covered the perforation with a strip of paper from an old book. I also put cute little personalised gifts inside! I hope my family like them. We’re having a Christmas BBQ this weekend! http://instagram.com/p/h-Qr9FhgLS/
Delia #
I love these and am dying to make them so thanks so much for the template! Just a question….what is the width of paper to use. So 26cm long but what width? Thanks so much!
TT #
i love this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!