A recent – if brief – snowflurry in our village brought thoughts of Christmas to the fore. Not practical thoughts of course; the turkey remains unordered, the cake unbaked, and the annual pre-festive season plan to lose 6 pounds in readiness for vast amounts of eating has not even crossed my mind. Okay, it crossed it, but was quickly relegated to the dusty mental file marked ‘mañana’. No, it’s thoughts of décor and gift-giving that are proving deliciously distracting, and so I’ve embarked – very slowly – on the construction of handmade Christmas Crackers for everyone who’ll be around the table for Christmas Day lunch.
I hadn’t appreciated what a peculiarly British tradition crackers are; originating in the 19th Century and traditionally filled with French bonbons (there! Don’t say you never learn anything from me…), they are now a great British institution without which no Christmas table would be complete. Come December 25th, families up and down the country will be bedecked in dreadful tissue-paper hats, sharing cheesy festive jokes and examining the tiny plastic gifts contained within, as the smell of gunpowder from the cracker snap threatens to overpower the turkey.
This year for the first time I wanted to make my own crackers and avoid the mass-produced, expensive ones. I used Kate Lilley’s beautifully simple template and instructions, and blew it up to 150% before printing onto white heavyweight watercolour paper, to create my understated and slightly ethereal oversized crackers, to which I then added strips of gift wrap, monograms and ribbon, tied with festive polka-dot bells.
I wanted mine to be big enough to house a small but carefully chosen gift, so this year my recipients might get a French milled soap, a LEGO city mini man set, or a bicycle inner tube (I know, I know… families, eh?). No cracker would be complete without a seriously bad joke, so I’ve trawled the internet for the very best I could find and added those too, along with some festive confetti.
The most important element is the cracker snap, because Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without someone suffering heart palpitations at the sudden loud bangs caused by cracker-pulling. Cracker snaps are notoriously hard to come by, so as well as sourcing my own, I’ve gathered a small stash of sets of snaps to giveaway if you fancy making some of these yourself; details at the end of the post.
Given the need for clean fingers and craft knives, I’ve obviously made these ones without assistance from my mini-helper, but Harry and I will also be making more of these easy crackers together (below) as gifts for his friends and nursery teachers. Using toilet rolls and glittery crepe paper (and snaps, of course!), they are simplicity itself, and look pretty and festive, especially when filled with chocolates and candy canes – and sparkly nail polish for the teachers. It means saving up an awful lot of toilet rolls, but I have a toddler who is still thrilled to have graduated through potty-training and to have discovered the flush toilet, and so have time – and approximately 1,000 bathroom visits – on my side.
So; Christmas Crackers two-ways, depending on your staying power and inclination; a lovely DIY project to contemplate at this point before the mad rush takes over and you declare yourself insane for even contemplating frivolities such as this. As well as accessorising the Christmas table, they also make beautiful boxes for important small gifts. Like jewellery (she said, hoping her husband is reading..).
If you fancy making crackers yourself, I have 10 sets of 10 cracker snaps to give away; just leave a comment below along the lines of ‘yes PLEASE!’ to throw your name into the virtual hat and I’ll get Harry to pick at random and be in touch re your details; the near weightlessness of the snaps means I can send them around the world without having to send Harry out to earn a living just yet.
I should reassure regular readers that these last couple of posts don’t signify my whipping myself up into a full-tilt Christmas frenzy in the middle of November; rather, I am distracting myself from the thing I should really be focusing on; Harry’s birthday is in two weeks and he has indicated that what would make him happiest in the WHOLE WORLD would be a giant home-made birthday cake, shaped like a pirate ship. With real pirates. And a parrot. And a canon. And… well, you get the picture. Yikes. Watch this space…
Black & white image credit: Imperial War Museum, London.
Yes PLEASE! It’s my favorite time of the year and best holiday! I’ll get right on these lovely things. We’ve had crackers, but never snapping ones (we’re in the USA). I feel a bit deprived…
Yes please!
yes, PLEASE!
Love the idea of making these — what a fun item to include with in my holiday entertaining!!
Kenley
Yes pleeeeeaasse
Yes Please! I would love to make these with my two christmas helpers (7 & 3 years) for their Teachers gifts and the snap is the best bit!
Yes Please! Harry pick me!
Good luck with the pirate ship cake, I can’t wait to see that post! x x
Yes please!
I spent one Christmas in England years ago, and we had crackers and paper crowns and cheesy jokes. I loved it! (It’s also where I discovered parsnips. They have been in every Christmas dinner I’ve made since.) I’ve always had a vague intention to make crackers, but your post made it a plan. I just ordered the snaps online. Thanks!
Oh yes please! My little man hasn’t yet experienced crackers … We usually get what we can find here in the US, but I’d love to make our own! Best time of year! x
Yes please! These are so cute.Thanks for sharing.
yes, PLEASE! I am so excited to use these during my Christmas meal. I may even make some for Thanksgiving, as we are having a large family gathering.
You are so imaginative, Kate! Your ideas are fantastic, and your creativity with Harry is so touching–what a lucky little guy! (I loved the little mouse/fairy doors. LOL!)
Ooh, yes Please! Only just discovered your blog and I’m thoroughly enjoying it! Would love to give these crackers a go with my little ones!
Yes please! My in-laws are british and it would be a lot of fun to make crackers for the christmas dinner table.
YES PLEASE Kate. Without a doubt you are soooooo inspirational. I absoultely want to make these with my lovely 6 year old boy….he would be delighted. I show him everything you have made on this and we check in evry couple of days to your ‘creative space’ and according to him you are ‘just brilliant’. I definately agree with him. ‘Merci’..all the way from Luxembourg!
Yes please! I have also begun the mammoth task of Christmas crafting (150 Crystal tree decorations, anyone?) and having one less project to complete would be superb! Snap, snap!
Yes, please! I would love to make these to share with my family.
Yes PLEASE! First Christmas with only 9 people, not twenty odd. So excited to individualise the decorations etc.
Yes Please Kate. You are sooo inspirational. My 6 year old boy and I check out your ‘Creative Space’ every other day!! He loves it as much as I do. Thank you for bringing so much inspiration to us here in Luxembourg!
Yes please! What a great holiday DIY.
Yes please, what a great holiday DIY project
Cracker snaps? Oh yes, most definitely! I’ll be sharing the Christmas holiday with my delightful niece and nephews in London (well, and their fabulous parents too!). I’m just practically absolutely and most certainly positive that we NEED to make these! Having the snaps to go with them would be a simply mahrvelous touch.
Thank you for sharing! (And I’ve got my fingers crossed that we win…)
P.S. I’m heading to India for business next week. Do you need any small wooden elephants for your Christmas crackers? Do let me know… I’ve bought all that I can use (maybe even more than that), so would be thrilled to have a reason to buy more for someone else! LOL
Yes please Kate! I’ve been enjoying your blog for months now, and this is my first comment. I was prompted to post a reply as I’m planning to make crackers to take to my parents’ this year – it’s our first Christmas away from home with our three girls.
I hope you don’t mind but I’m inviting myself over for the holidays.
Yes Please!! Our last few Christmas crackers have been duds – not enough bang for our buck! And what a lovely blog!! Such great ideas!
yes, PLEASE! we have Christmas crackers every year, but to be able to personalize them is just BRILLIANT – can’t wait to make these!! Thanks for another awesome DIY project
yes, PEASE! we have Christmas crackers every year, but to be able to personalize them is just BRILLIANT. thanks so much for another awesome DIY project
Yes, please! The glitter crackers look SO PRETTY.
yes, please! I’d love to make some crackers for our celebration and I promise to clean my hands and be careful so that I might make some of those lovely ones from Kate Lilley’s template.
So beautiful, as usual. This is getting me kicked into christmas mode. I am motivated to make a market stand for my daughter and a bbq for my son; inspired by those you made for Harry.
I would love to win these, I am English but now live in the states with my husband and children. They all love the English traditions so it would be fun to make my own. Right now I get the funky little ones that you were talking about.
Thanks
Diane
These are lovely – count me in please! Also, relieved to hear i’m not the only person not to have made a Christmas cake yet – I was starting to wonder!!
You really have great ideas, and your implementations of them always look stylish. Congratulations on being FreshlyPressed!
Yes Please! I have been considering making some homemade crackers for my little girl. When I was in high school, I got to spend one Christmas in South Africa it is was totally fun celebrating xmas with a bunch of Brits and experiencing all the different customs, like having crackers at the xmas dinner.
Liz
PS. can’t wait to see how your whip up a pirate ship cake!
I would LOVE to win some cracker snaps. I’m well into saving toilet rolls with the intention of makibg our own crackers this year, though yours made with the template are much more beautiful! Crossing my fingers for a win. X
Yes please! Would love to make these for my family and start a fun Christmas tradition!
Hi Kate, I recently found your blog courtesy of Design Mom and am so glad I have. It’s been truly inspiring reading back through all your posts and I know I’m not the first person who wants to move into your house and just gaze lovingly at your kitchen. I sent a link to your blog to a friend of mine who is probably right now making up little boxes of gifts for an advent calendar for her three sweet boys. Seeing your homemade crackers has inspired me to make my own this year so would love to be included in your snap giveaway! Thanks for sharing your lovely ideas. Enjoy your weekend
OOHHH….these Christmas Crackers are such FUN!!! I’m going to make them for Christmas dinner. I’m a certified paper addict…..make paper flowers that often take as much as 3 hours to craft, and so your shared love of all things paper really makes my heart sing and my creative juices flow! Thanks so much for all of the inspiration and keep these fantastic ideas coming!
Yes please!!!! Both of my grandmothers did this for us when we were younger & it would be a fantastic tradition to bring back for my family & little ones:). Pleeeeeeeeeaseeeeeeee?!? Pretty please lol
Baby reindeer…eheeeheee. Love it Kate – looking forward to a few more Chrimble posts in the coming weeks! p.s. Harry – no cracker snaps required for me x
Yes please! These would be so fun as neighbor gifts!
Yes please! I think this is a great idea!
Just happend upon your blog. I.Love.It.
I am currently in the process of making the pinecone fire lighters
I would love to be in the lucky dip pot for the cracker ‘snaps’. X♡
Naomi
Yes please ! I spent only one christmas in England years ago, and loved the crackers ! Yours are really beautiful and would look lovely on my table fo xmas, so i think i’ll give it a try
Audrey
Yes please. Look how many of us our following your fun and amazing blog!
Crackers…you must be bonkers….. I have 3 boys (2×2, 1×6). Sam (the 1×6) had a rocket cake last year and I used those indoor sparkers as the exhausts. The same principal would work for a real canon….just a thought! Would love some of your cracker pulls.
These are fantastic. I love the way you can put a little gift tailored for each person inside. Yes PLEASE to the cracker snaps. We are away for Christmas this year (no turkey to order – or cook – yay) and homemade crackers would be a lovely gift to take with me. Gillian x
Oh, I would love these! I’ve always wanted to make homemade crackers — but was never quite sure where to get the snaps. So lovely!
Yes, please
))
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I love your blog and it would be fantastic to give crackers a go with my 3-year-old princess.
Our Family does this every year. It will be fun to create our own with unique surprises. Its something we look forward to every year. I’ve also bought them on sale after and used them for birthdays. Count me in for winning a set please. And thanks for the ideas.
Yes, please! Thanks for this idea! And thanks for including some corny jokes–my boys will love them. I’m afraid I don’t get the one about the pan pizza–but let’s blame that on cultural differences (we’re in the US) and not on my being slow!
yes, please!! we ae currently on assignment in Hong Kong & this mom of the year forgot all of our Christmas decorations back in the states. these would be a spectacular surprise!
Yes please! So kind of you.
Love your blog! So stylish and interesting and all of the projects are so “do-able” with a little more time and patience for some of course! I had also wanted to ask what make and model of printer you use? Ours has just broken so time for a replacement and definitey want a more crafty one! If you could let me know please, it would be much appreciated.
….if I am not a lucky cracker snap winner, could you please let me know where you found yours? Have seen them on ebay but not sure if they’re any good – we don’t want any failed snaps!
Hi Mel, thanks for the lovely comment! I use an Epson Stylus Photo 1400 – I chose it because the reviews said that colour quality was excellent (it is), and it prints to A3 size which gives me a lot more versatility for crafty projects. On the downside, it’s not cheap (about £250, from memory, plus inks), and not exactly compact.. but still, I love it irrationally!
Oh yes please- would love some cracker snappers- what a fab idea! Thanks
I would LOVE to incorporate a tradition such as crackers to my family’s holiday. We are in southeast Georgia (in the USA), and do not have fun in our holiday routine!
Yes,please!
So festive!
I would love to win the supplies; I’ve wanted to try making these. Please let us know where you purchased them.
Ooh yes please, yes please! I have never had or even made crackers before (being American) but I am sure my family would love them, who wouldn’t?!
YES please
and please please please!
My mom started including these in our family xmas eve celebration a couple of years ago. She gets hers at Costco, and they’re lovely, but it would be fun to make them ourselves for a change! Some snaps would be a huge help (and your source – I”m gonna need more than 10)!
My mom started including these in our family xmas eve celebration a couple of years ago. She gets hers at Costco, and they’re lovely, but it would be fun to make them ourselves for a change! Some snaps would be a huge help (and your source – I”m gonna need more than 10)!
We love Christmas crackers, and now I feel inspired, so yes, pleas!
Yes please! I’d love to introduce crackers to my little ones and their cousins. They’ve never heard such a thing exists growing up in Greece, and I just know they would love it!
Oh hello! Me, please!
Hello, we would like to reproduce these wonderful christmas crackers for our three children ,who don’t know this lovely tradition yet! Please could you send us a flat pattern, as we have no printer? Thank you very much.
Please consider me a candidate for your Christmas cracker snaps! Just actually almost bought some yesterday but decided they were not very cool and too expensive. Excited to make my own!!!
Oh yes please! I have always dreamed of having Christmas crackers. Comes from reading too many Enid Blyton books as a child I guess!
Yes, please, please, please! Good crackers are so hard to find in the US; I’d love to surprise my family with homemade ones this year.
Yes please!!I love Christmas crackers!! Super post!
xaxa
elli
Yes please!!
After reading your blog post, this is definitely the year we are going to make our own crackers! Love the teacher present take on it too. Winning a set of snaps would push us in the right direction so please put us in your virtual hat for a chance to win. But, win or not, we’re going to do it anyway … Thanks and good luck with the pirate cake!
Yes Please.
May I say: I love your blog. I just started following it. I live in Vancouver, but we recently moved here from London, so aside from you making beautiful things that are great form my little guy (3) and his baby brother (almost 1), I miss all things British – thus, I am addicted to your blog. hehehe….
we already made the bird cookies a few times – and Tristan soooo loved making them. Unfortunately we have some very skilled squirrels here, so most of our cookies fell victim to them. But like I said, we make batch after batch (have one drying right now on the kitchen counter – to be presented to the birds and their guests tomorrow morning – if it doesn’t rain).
I am also making the rocket-ship since T is so much into space right now. I even got inspired by you, and bought a sewing machine and had a go at sewing – made him a spacesuit. I also got creative and made the helmet out of paper-mache. The spacemen is all set to go. He loves it!!! so now we are just finishing the rocket.
Needless to say, you inspire us amateur moms to strive for greatness in creative and beautiful ways. and for that I thank you…. Keep up the good work – I’m excited to see what you will come up next.
Oh no! This post got buried in my inbox??? Am I too late? Can I still be entered in the cracker contest? Oh the look on Michael’s face!! Cheers!
How clever! Your crackers look so beautiful. Thank you, I’ve totally been inspired now – I’m having a group of crafty-type friends round for Christmas drinks (not just yet, next month!) and we can all make these. I shall ask everyone to bring a secret toy or gadget to go inside, and their worst joke. I’ll put out templates, and sweeties, and other supplies so everyone can go nuts doing up their crackers, and then we can mix them up and do a lucky dip. I’m so excited!
Your blog’s really lovely, am so pleased I found it (via WordPress daily post). I’m enjoying your previous posts and looking forward to what else you’ve got up your sleeve!
I have made my own crackers in the past by buying cheap ones from a Pound shop, using the snaps, jokes and hats(which I tarted up) with my own outer covering. Added new gifts and they looked great!
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Yes Please!!!! This is not a southern tradition but they look great so maybe it will become one for my family. Merry Christmas Y’all
Is it too late? OH YES PLEASE!
Hi. Im looking for cracker snaps, any idea were I can purchase them. many thanks. Im in Oz.