How to Make Our Crackers

Crackers not only look lovely on the table for Christmas, weddings and other events, they also make a great alternative to gift and party bags.
Match your cracker colours to the colour scheme of your event or make a different cracker for each person, personalising the theme of the cracker to each ones tastes.
Crackers are also perfect for holding small or 'paper gifts' such as gift cards and tickets. Much better than a plain old envelope! Why not tie the decorations in with the theme of the gift if it has one?
For extra sparkle and surprise, fill crackers with confetti so that when they are pulled the confetti flies out.
If you've already bought your crackers and need some help, take a look at our short step-by-step video, showing how to make our popular cracker kits and blanks.

Step-By-Step Instructions

  1. Firstly, gently push out all of the “diamonds” from the necks of the cracker boards.
  2. Crackers have four sets of crease lines across each one. Lay the cracker, design side down, then gently crease the lines to help with assembly later.
  3. With the cracker, still design side down, place your snap along the length of the flat cracker so that each end of the snap sits evenly on the handles.
  4. Stick the snap securely at both ends with a glue gun or good quality strong sticky tape.
  5. If using tape, make sure you put the tape along the snap and not across. This will ensure the snap bangs when pulling the cracker.
  6. Gently roll the cracker to join the middle tab into the slot. At this stage take care to avoid tearing the crackers where the “diamonds” have been removed, as this is the weakest part of the cracker.
  7. Now, before securing the end tabs, tightly roll up the hat, if you have one, and place inside the barrel, making sure it is completely within the barrel area. When you let this go, it will then expand to fill the barrel, which will leave you room for your gift and joke later. Now secure both end tabs.
  8. Use ribbon or twine from your craft box to tie the necks of your crackers. You will need approximately 50cm per cracker neck.
  9. Tie a piece of ribbon in a knot around one neck of the cracker, pulling slowly and gently until you feel the cracker is completely secured. Keep tight but do not overtighten it and then tie a bow.
  10. Now, fill your cracker with a joke and your chosen gift.
  11. Then tie the other cracker neck with another piece of ribbon.
  12. If necessary, trim the ribbons to complete your cracker.