How to make a Christmas cracker from plastic bottles

This giant cracker is the perfect finishing touch for your Christmas table.

No festive table would be complete without a cracker. The first crackers were created by London sweetmaker Tom Smith who was looking for a novel idea to boost sales of his wrapped sweets. In 1861 he launched his new range called “Bangs of Expectation”. We have taken his idea and created a giant cracker. The frame is made from two litre drinks bottles which means you are re-using rubbish and you can strip off the paper covering and recycle, which is a one small gift to the environment we can all celebrate. 

Cut your plastic bottles to size (Image: Dee Park)  

Step one

First cut the tapered ends of your first two litre bottle; this will become the middle of the cracker (I found the easiest way was to make a hole with one sharp scissor blade and then cut round the plastic). For the cracker ends, cut the second bottle in half and then cut off the tapered ends to create two cylinders. 

Work out the length of your paper (Image: Dee Park)

Step two

Calculate the length of all three pieces of plastic cylinders and then add two times the diameter minus five centimetres. This will be the length of your paper covering; it should be about 50cm. 

Add the sticky tape (Image: Dee Park)  

Step three

Resting a marker pen on a flat surface, draw a horizontal line across the bottom of the three cylinders. Using this line as a guide, put some double-sided sticky tape near them. Match the lines on the cylinders with the edge of the paper and roll up the cracker. 

The finished cracker (Image: Dee Park)

Step four

Tape two cracker snaps together to form one long double snap and pop in the cracker along with your surprise gifts before tying the bows carefully without tearing the paper. Tape the cracker snap ends securely inside the cracker’s short cylinders. Finish with more ribbon, embellishments and decorations and your cracker is ready for the Christmas table! 

Further information: a good tip to make sure the cracker pulls well is to use thin paper or two sheets of tissue paper as a covering. Ensure you secure the snap firmly into the cracker ends so it stays in place when pulled and will pull apart and snap. We filled ours with sweets, homemade hats, origami stockings and stars, and paper fortune tellers with Christmas jokes.