DIY Christmas Crackers {Poppers}

Want to make CUTE, DIY Christmas Crackers for the holidays? Looking for a FREE Christmas Cracker Template that you can download at home? Want to learn how to make Christmas Crackers with your Cricut? You’re in the right place because we’ll how to make a Christmas cracker step by step whether you have a Cricut or not!

Christmas crackers are a fun holiday tradition popular in England and it’s been gaining in popularity here in the US. Some people call them Christmas poppers or holiday bon bons (because they look like a piece of wrapped candy or chocolate) but they’re all constructed mostly the same.

Christmas poppers are often made out of fancy, Christmas wrapping paper. In the center is a cardboard tube filled with a small gift, sweet treat and a “snap”. When the ends of the Christmas cracker are pulled apart the “snap” makes a pop (thus the common name- Christmas popper). The snaps are hard to find here in the US but you can find them online HERE.

We’ll show you how to make Christmas crackers with a Cricut cutting machine AND we’ll show you how you can cut and fold them the old fashioned way. It’s really easy with all the free templates, Cricut cut files and detailed, step by step tutorial we have to. Let’s check out the finished poppers up close!

DIY Christmas Crackers

Make DIY Christmas Crackers for Adults

If you’re planning on making a DIY Christmas Cracker for adults you might include small treats that adults might like! This could include things like mini liquor bottles, small perfume or cologne bottles, christmassy scented candles, nail polish, colorful holiday socks, gourmet chocolates or homemade gourmet food to name a few ideas for Christmas crackers.

Make DIY Christmas Crackers for Kids & Teens

If you’re planning on making Christmas for kids or teens you might include small surprises like hair clips, mini lego sets, play doh, toy cars, DIY craft kits, chapstick, stickers, stamp and ink pads or small beauty products just to name a few Christmas cracker ideas.

We LOVE making professional looking Cricut Christmas crafts like our Snow Globe Candle DIY Christmas Gift (with FREE labels) , Grinch Cricut Ornament DIY +FREE GRINCH SVG and FREE Christmas cookie boxes +FREE SVG. Be sure to check those out too before you leave today!

This is an EASY DIY Christmas craft for adults, teens and tweens to tackle. You can make your own copycat Crumble cookie recipe at home OR purchase some cookies to place inside the printable crumbl cookie box PDF we’re giving you.

.

Make a Cricut Christmas Cracker

Although you don’t HAVE to have a Cricut Cutting Machine to make our cute, Christmas cracker- you can turn this into an EASY Christmas Cricut craft with our included FREE Cricut cut files! We provide all the cut files you need to make perfect Christmas cracker with your Cricut.

We’ll show you how to do everything step by step in Cricut design space. If you’re new to Cricut this is a great opportunity to dip your toes into an easy print, cut project. This could save you lots of time cutting with scissors! Especially if you plan on making several crackers!

DIY Christmas Cracker Supplies

We’ll step through this DIY Christmas cracker with our Cricut maker but you can make it the old fashioned way with our FREE PDF templates, cardstock, scissors and a Trim and Score Board. If you’re not using a Cricut, you may want to scroll to step 9 to get to the area where we show you how to assemble the popper without a Cricut.

Cricut Cutting Machine

Premium Heavy Cardstock (we used 80 lb)

Beacon 3 in 1 Glue (dries fast with no residue)

Glossy white sticker paper

Silver or Gold Elastic Cord

Trim and Score Board (if you’re not using a Cricut)

Cricut Weeding Tool

Scissors

Exacto Knife (if you’re not using a Cricut)

Small gifts or treats to fill the cracker

FREE Cricut Cracker Cut Files (Download after tutorial)

DIY Christmas Crackers With a Cricut

We have an overview video that you might want to check out before you dive into the detailed, step by step tutorial instructions below. You can see how it all comes together!

Step 1: Download Files and upload to Design Space

Download our FREE Christmas cracker templates. We’ll step you through how to make the reindeer (all the others will come together the same way. Upload the reindeer PNG cut files to Cricut design space. Select the simple and then select a print and cut operation. Select the reindeer in the library and add it to the canvas.

Step 2: Resize PNG print then cut files

The reindeer will need to be resized. Make the width 5.08 in and the height 9.25 in. This is is the maximum size we can make the cracker due to the size limitations of the Cricut cutting area. Click the “make it” button on the top right.

Step 3: Print and adjust machine settings

Click the “make it button”. Make sure everything looks okay in the preview screen and you are doing a “print and cut” operation. Hit continue on the bottom right.

Step 4: Send to Printer

Hit the “send to printer” button. It’s very important that you do two things before you actually hit “print”.

You need to turn off the bleed option and you want to tell your computer that you want to use the print dialogue box so that you can select the high quality print output option. The default is usually to print a low quality print and we want to make sure our poppers look nice! Your dialogue box should look like mine below. We used Premium Heavy Cardstock for our poppers.

Step 5: Load Blue Light Grip Mat

Press your printout onto the light grip blue mat. Make sure there are no air pockets and it’s not going to move during the cutting process.

Step 6: Select Material

Cricut design space will populate with some of the most popular materials that people use. Select 80 lb cardstock (unless you are using something completely different…then you should select whatever you are using).

Step 7: Load Tools

If you don’t have it loaded already you will need to load the fine point blade into clamp B. Then hit the load mat button on your Cricut machine to load the mat. When loading is complete hit the “go” button on your machine.

Step 8: Weed the Reindeer

Pull up and off the unused cardstock around the reindeer. Use a Cricut Weeding Tool to slowly lift up the areas around the antlers and ears of the reindeer (this are is the most delicate). Remove the reindeer completely from the mat by lifting up the edges with the weeding tool. Use the weeding tool to remove all the diamond shapes that will still be stuck to your mat.

How to Assemble Christmas Crackers

If you didn’t use a Cricut to make your Christmas crackers, this is where you’ll need to jump in and follow along. We’ll show you how to fold and glue up the crackers. I highly recommend a Trim and Score Board for non Cricut users- it will make things much easier to fold and cut. If you did use a Cricut machine, you’ll still want to follow along and see how the cracker is assembled.

Step 9: Begin to fold

Using a Trim and Score Board, score and fold the cracker like we have. Refer to our photos for help on the direction of the folds. It should look like the image below when all done.

Step 10: Roll and Glue to Form a Tube Shape

Pre-roll the reindeer to help the cardstock form a long tube shape. Using Beacon 3 in 1 Glue, add glue to the the provided tabs. Start with the center tab of the reindeer. Glue and hold until the glue is set (30-45 seconds). Then glue the head and the feet. You can also use craft clamps to hold everything in place while you’re waiting for things to dry.

Step 11: Stuff Your Crackers

Using Silver or Gold Elastic Cord tie a tight knot and then a bow on one end of the cracker. Elastic cord works well with a lot of tension so make sure you pull your knots and bows tight. Fill the inside of the cracker with a small gift, candy or trinket. Then tie of the other end with a knot and bow. Repeat for any other Christmas crackers you want to make!

I hope you enjoyed learning how to make this cute, Christmas crackers! If you love Cricut Christmas crafts and gift ideas be sure to check out our other Christmas craft ideas below! We have TONS of SUPER EASY craft ideas you can start working on today!

Grinch Cricut Ornament DIY +FREE GRINCH SVG

Santa’s Magic Key Sign w/Cricut +FREE SVG

Gingerbread Village Advent w/Cricut +FREE SVG

Christmas Cookie Gift Boxes w/Cricut +FREE SVG

Snow Globe Candle DIY Gift +FREE Printable Labels

Little Debbie DIY Tree Cake Ornament +FREE TEMPLATES

Save Our DIY Christmas Poppers on Pinterest!

Frequently Asked Questions:

How do you make Christmas Crackers?

You can make DIY Christmas crackers a several ways:

• You can use our FREE Christmas cracker template and cut the Christmas cracker out from a roll of Christmas wrapping paper. Then you can fill a toilet paper roll full of goodies and wrap it with the wrapping paper. Then tie each end with a ribbon.

• You can print out our FREE printable Christmas crackers onto cardstock with a desktop printer and cut them out the old fashioned way. Roll them up and fill them with Christmas goodies. Tie off the ends with a ribbon or bow.

• The easiest way is to use our FREE Cricut cut files to cut out our premade, cute Christmas characters from thick cardstock. The Cricut does the intricate cuts and all you have to do is make a few simple folds.