Have you ever heard of English Christmas crackers? Those decorative, tube-shaped, party favors that are filled with goodies. When you pull both ends of the cracker, you'll hear a fun "pop" or "crack" noise, then out fall all the tiny gifts.

What are English Christmas Crackers?

First, a little history. Christmas crackers were invented in the mid-1840s and are a traditional part of British Christmas festivities. They are typically decorated with glorious paper and filled with a tissue paper crown, a joke or riddle, and a novelty toy.

Because you can vary the paper and the goodies inside, crackers can easily be adapted to suit any holiday. You'll see them in use at just about any festive occasion, like birthdays, anniversaries, or weddings.

Can you make Christmas crackers?

As fun as Christmas crackers are to give, receive, and open, they can be a bit expensive and are just screaming for customization and personalization.

There are actually two ways to make Christmas crackers yourself. The first is with a kit, and we've got a whole tutorial to show you how to use a DIY fillable Christmas cracker kit to make your own crackers quickly.

But if you're looking for a low-cost and truly customizable version, then THIS is the tutorial for you, so keep reading! I'm going to show you how to make your own English Christmas crackers, completely from scratch in any style you wish. They're super easy and fun to make.

Supplies needed to make a Christmas cracker?

You just need a few things to create your own DIY Christmas crackers from scratch.

Cardboard tubes

The structure of the cracker is built from a simple cardboard tube. You can use paper towel rolls, toilet paper rolls, or empty gift wrapping paper rolls.

The width of the tube will vary from roll to roll, but that doesn't really matter, as long as it's somewhere around 2 inches.

Cracker snaps

For an authentic cracker, you'll also need the mechanism to make the pop sound when you pull it apart. That "pop" comes from a cardboard strip inside with a treated middle that makes a sound when you pull it apart. (Similar to "snap pops" you throw on the Fourth of July.)

Cracker snaps (a.k.a snap strips) can be hard to find, but there are lot of cracker snaps available on Etsy to choose from.

You can make a cracker without a snap, but it won't be authentic and it won't be nearly as fun, so I highly recommend them.

Decorative paper

You'll want to wrap your cracker with a decorative paper. The best thing to use is a thin gift wrapping paper, which will tear easily. Thicker or plastic/film paper won't work well because it will be too difficult to tear when you pull the cracker open later.

Things to put inside

The best part about making your own DIY Christmas crackers is that you can fill them with whatever you like!

Traditionally, you should include a tissue paper crown, a joke or riddle, and a novelty toy.

You can also add candy or any little goodies you want. (Can you imagine getting an engagement ring this way? What a unique Christmas proposal that would be!)

How to make your own Christmas crackers

With all your supplies on hand, you're ready to make your own DIY Christmas crackers.

NOTE: For these instructions, I'll assume you have a 2" wide tube, which is average size for a gift wrapping paper roll. If your tube is much larger or smaller, you may want to adjust the measurements below accordingly.

Start by cutting one 4" long piece of cardboard tube and two 2" long pieces.

Cut the paper 8 inches wide and 12 inches long. Lay your tube pieces on one of the wide edges, leaving a gap between them. Make sure the gap is at least as big as your tube diameter. (This is necessary for the pinch/tie step coming in a minute.)

Use tape to attach the edge of the paper to the cardboard tubes. Make sure the small tubes on either end line up flush with the edge of the paper. The remaining tube should go right in the middle.

Lay the cracker snap lengthwise down the middle, on top of all three cardboard tubes.

Use tape to attach both ends of the cracker snap securely to the smaller tube pieces. (Do not attach it to the middle tube.)

Roll the tubes up until the paper is wrapped completely around them.

Attach the end with tape. (You can use double-sided tape under the paper edge to acheive a more finished look)

Time to close up the ends. Take your thumb and forefinger and pinch one end of the cracker closed, right in the middle of the gap we left between the tubes.

Tie it tightly with a piece of ribbon. You can see now why the gap in the paper was so important, and why it needed to be as wide as the tube — too short, and the paper wouldn't pinch all the way to the center, and would tear when you tied the ribbon.

With one end tied, it's now time to fill the cracker by just popping your goodies into the open end of the tube.

When your cracker is full, you can close the other end up. Just like before, use your fingers to pinch the other end closed and tie it with a piece of ribbon. Your cracker is complete and ready to be enjoyed at a party.

To open your cracker, just grab both ends and pull. This is often done by two people, each of whom takes one end. Be sure that when you grab the ends, you grab them firmly and have a good grip on the cracker snap inside. Then pull pretty hard and quick, so that you get a good pop.

The paper will tear and you'll hear the "pop", then you can enjoy the treats inside.

I love using Christmas crackers on each place setting at the table, so that everyone gets a fun surprise at Christmas dinner.

DIY crackers are so easy to customize because you get to choose whatever wrapping paper you want on them. Last year, Jo created some special Harry Potter crackers for her kids using Harry Potter giftwrap, and they loved them!