Here in Australia, Christmas crackers (AKA bon-bons) are a huge part of our Christmas celebrations.

They make an appearance on the table at almost every Christmas dinner we attend, ready to be ripped apart, so the “winner” can wear their paper crown prize with pride. The jokes are always terrible, the gifts are usually ridiculously small and cheap, but they are much loved and are a Christmas tradition for so many families around the world.

Make your own Christmas crackers with these 8 coloring cracker designs! | Find more Christmas printable activities and coloring pages at www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas

A few years ago,  one of my aunts started making her own DIY Christmas crackers for our family gatherings. They still had the traditional bad jokes and paper crowns, but the miniature gifts were personalized, and were far more interesting (sometimes we even scored some money inside!)

This inspired me to create a Christmas cracker template so you can get crafty and make your own crackers too! It’s a really nice way to personalize the experience and you can fill them with whatever you want!

Make your own Christmas crackers with these 8 coloring cracker designs! | Find more Christmas printable activities and coloring pages at www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas

I’ve created a series of 8 Christmas cracker templates that you can download and color in (because coloring just makes them even more fun!) or you can grab the free Christmas cracker template that we’ve used in this tutorial below.

Make your own Christmas Crackers with this free printable cracker template! Find more Christmas printables at www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas #christmascracker #template #free

The traditional Christmas cracker includes a “cracker snap” to make a bang when it’s pulled apart – but I haven’t included one in this tutorial because I think these crackers are too nice to be pulled apart – I’ll be using them as a special gift box under the tree instead! But if you do want to add a cracker snap, you can purchase them from Amazon below (affiliate link).

I printed my template on 200GSM card stock in this tutorial, because I wanted to make a strong cracker for under the tree. But you can also use standard printer paper, especially if you’re planning to rip them apart!

If you’re using thicker card, it’s a good idea to score your paper before folding. I just used a paperclip, compass or scissors (carefully!) and ruler to do this, but you can purchase proper scoring equipment (like this one on Amazonaffiliate link) if you prefer. It’s not necessary to score standard printer paper.

This Christmas cracker is also designed to have distinct, flat sides, however, if you don’t fold the horizontal lines, you can create a cylinder-shaped cracker instead. This is totally up to you!

Let’s jump into the instructions!

Make your own Christmas Crackers with this free printable cracker template! Find more Christmas printables at www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas
Get this FREE template to make your own Christmas crackers for a personalized DIY Christmas gift idea! Read more at sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas-cracker #christmascracker #free #christmas Learn how to make a DIY Christmas Cracker with this easy tutorial and free cracker template! www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas-cracker #christmas #printables #diychristmas #christmascracker Learn how to make a DIY Christmas Cracker with this easy tutorial and free cracker template! www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas-cracker #christmas #printables #diychristmas #christmascracker Learn how to make a DIY Christmas Cracker with this easy tutorial and free cracker template! www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas-cracker #christmas #printables #diychristmas #christmascracker Learn how to make a DIY Christmas Cracker with this easy tutorial and free cracker template! www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas-cracker #christmas #printables #diychristmas #christmascracker

How to make your own coloring Christmas Crackers

Step 1 // How to make a DIY Christmas Cracker with this easy tutorial and free cracker template! // www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas-cracker

1. Download and print the free DIY Christmas cracker template (Add it to your cart, then checkout and it will be emailed to you)

Step 2 // How to make a DIY Christmas Cracker with this easy tutorial and free cracker template! // www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas-cracker

2. Color in your cracker and get creative with your colors!

Step 3 // How to make a DIY Christmas Cracker with this easy tutorial and free cracker template! // www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas-cracker

3. Cut out the template along the solid line around the outside. (Leave the diamonds- we will cut these later)

Step 4 // How to make a DIY Christmas Cracker with this easy tutorial and free cracker template! // www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas-cracker

4. If you’re using thick card, score along the horizontal dotted lines. I’ve just used scissors and ruler to do this (pressing lightly), but you can purchase proper scoring equipment (like this one on Amazonaffiliate link) if you prefer. Thinner paper won’t require scoring before folding.

Step 5 // How to make a DIY Christmas Cracker with this easy tutorial and free cracker template! // www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas-cracker

5. Turn the page over, and score on the back of the card along the line that runs through the middle of the diamonds at each end of the cracker.

Step 6 // How to make a DIY Christmas Cracker with this easy tutorial and free cracker template! // www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas-cracker

6. Turn the page back over and score the remaining vertical lines (excluding the line through the middle of the diamonds).

Step 7 // How to make a DIY Christmas Cracker with this easy tutorial and free cracker template! // www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas-cracker

7. Fold along each horizontal line that you just scored. This is the best time to cut out the diamonds, because folding it makes it easy to access with the scissors.

Step 8 // How to make a DIY Christmas Cracker with this easy tutorial and free cracker template! // www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas-cracker

8. Once everything is cut out, fold along the remaining scored lines. Make sure the fold in the middle of the diamonds goes the other way.

Step 9 // How to make a DIY Christmas Cracker with this easy tutorial and free cracker template! // www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas-cracker

9. Add some glue along the 3 small tabs at the top of the cracker template. (Note: If you’re adding a cracker snap, attach it before this step)

Step 10 // How to make a DIY Christmas Cracker with this easy tutorial and free cracker template! // www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas-cracker

10. Roll your cracker and glue the tabs to the back of the opposite side to create a cylinder-like shape.

Step 11 // How to make a DIY Christmas Cracker with this easy tutorial and free cracker template! // www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas-cracker

11. Use a ribbon or twine to close one end of your cracker, then fill it with goodies! Candy, paper hats, bad jokes… you know the drill!

Step 12 // How to make a DIY Christmas Cracker with this easy tutorial and free cracker template! // www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas-cracker

12. Tie a ribbon or twine around the other end of your cracker, and you’re done!

Learn how to make a DIY Christmas Cracker with this easy tutorial and free cracker template! // www.sarahrenaeclark.com/christmas-cracker

If you’re the kind of person who prefers video instructions, you can check out my original Christmas cracker blog post for a step-by-step video guide using my old template, which is no longer available, but the only obvious difference is that the old template had 5 sides, but this template has 6. Otherwise, the instructions are the same!

Make a DIY Christmas cracker with this template and tutorial. What a great personalized Christmas gift!

If you’ve enjoyed this free cracker template, get the whole pack of 8 Christmas cracker templates for just $4.95 and start coloring straight away to make your Christmas extra special.

I hope you enjoy making these coloring Christmas crackers! Tell me what you think in the comments and please use the links below to share with your friends or save this post for later.

More Christmas printables you’ll love…

 

Please stop by my store to check out my other Christmas activities, or save 50% on all Christmas printables when you purchase the Christmas Coloring Bundle!

Save 50% on Christmas printables in this huge Christmas Coloring Bundle! It includes printable Christmas crackers, ornaments, bookmarks, coloring pages, gift tags, wrapping paper, gift boxes, Christmas cards and more!

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