Craft your own luxury crackers

If you’re tired of the shop-bought Christmas Crackers, cannot find ones with luxury contents or simply want to be environmentally friendly and give making your own a go, then you will love this simple guide to make your own Christmas crackers. Not only is it a great Christmas craft, but there's no better way to add a personal touch to the festivities.

You will need:

• A4 piece of patterned paper, wallpaper or plain paper to decorate
• Cardboard tubes (e.g. toilet roll or kitchen roll holders)
• Washi tape (buy from Amazon or any craft shop) paints to decorate if using plain crackers
• Optional: Cracker snaps
• Ribbon or string to tie
• Craft knife
• Scissors
• Glue
• Fillings – for traditional ones remember tissue paper hats, toys, games, jokes however why not add a touch of luxury instead and consider our suggestions below!

To make:

1. Begin by decorating the outside of your cracker as you wish, then set aside until it’s dry. If you’re using patterned paper you can leave this step out.
2. Make sure your A4 piece of paper is positioned face down on a table and so that the longest sides are at the top and bottom. Position your cardboard tube in the centre of the paper, lengthwise, cutting to shape if necessary.
3. At each end of the tube, score your paper softly with a pair of scissors, making sure not to cut through the paper. Alternatively, cut small diamond shapes out (templates can be found online). This will make it easier to create your cracker ends.
4. Wrap your paper around the cardboard tube, overlapping the edges slightly and gluing in place to create one wide tube. The cardboard tube will give your cracker extra structure so it won’t fall apart.
5. Carefully twist one side of your cracker around the ends of the cardboard tube, secure it with festive ribbon and feed your cracker snap through.
6. Gently add your cracker fillings, being careful not to overfill, and secure the other side of your cracker with a ribbon. For a touch of luxury why not consider adding a miniature Molten Brown Bubblebath or a Jo Malone miniature cream or candle?

Alternatively, for those with a sweet tooth you can wrap individual Pink Marc De Champagne Truffles in film or tissue (or why not even make your own sweet treats) any for an alcoholic treat there’s an array of tiny bottles ranging from Gin to Baileys to be considered too!

Your family will love the extra effort you’ve gone to with the decorating and they’ll soon want to make handmade crackers of their own!