Best Christmas cracker fillers to make your own DIY homemade Christmas crackers

If you’re always looking for ways to make Christmas a little different and bit more magical, adding a homemade element is an easy way to start.

DIY Christmas crackers are loads of fun to plan and put together. The beauty of making your own crackers is that you can budget for them however you like, and with Christmas 2023 set to be a bit more of a stretch for us all than useful, that’s always going to be welcome.

Homemade crackers can be a ‘proper present’ with something in that the recipient will really use (as opposed to yet another metal puzzle) or something much cheaper that will bring a smile to someone’s face without breaking the bank. And if you have strong feelings about waste, you can ensure the contents are reusable, recyclable or even good for the environment (have a look at the seed bombs in our top ten list below).

All you need to get started is some ready-to-fill crackers. John Lewis has several this year, from these very jolly and reasonable Winter Fayre crackers for just £8 for 6, to these luxury versions for £10 for 6 if you want to go slightly fancier. Then you just need to fill them.

If you'd rather just buy crackers, though, check out our guide to the best Christmas crackers. We've even got guides on the best dinner sets and best cutlery sets that Mumsnetters love to complete your Christmas dinner table.

Here’s our round up of the best fillers for homemade Christmas crackers for 2023.

1. Best edible Christmas cracker fillers: Hotel Chocolat mini crackers

RRP: £18 for 10 | Buy now from John Lewis

Key specs

Dimensions: Not listed | Weight: Not listed | Materials: Chocolate in cardboard packaging

Reasons to buy

• Made with 100% ethical cacao

• Good crowd-pleaser

• Premium brand

Reasons to avoid

• Might not be fully appreciated by younger children

• Not suitable for vegans

What Mumsnet users say

“I've bought Hotel Chocolat crackers and will add a scratch card and a charity pin. The ones I bought are out of stock (marine conservation society) or I would have recommended them but I'm sure some other charities will have good options.” TentativeThree

Our verdict

Chocolate makes everyone happy doesn’t it? And Hotel Chocolat chocolate is always welcome. These mini crackers should slide inside your ready-to-fill crackers but if it’s a little tight you can always just pop the chocolates into your own crackers along with your hats and mottos or jokes.

Each mini cardboard cracker contains one Hotel Chocolate chocolate, which should leave room for something extra in your cracker, too.

2. Best Christmas cracker fillers for LEGO fans: LEGO Keyrings

RRP: £5 | Buy now from LEGO

Key specs

Dimensions: 9cm long | Materials: Plastic and metal

Reasons to buy

• Appeal for all ages

• Quality gift

• Many characters available

Reasons to avoid

• Small parts not suitable for under threes

What Mumsnet users say

“I’ve done Lego key rings in past years for DS and DNs.” Maray1967

Our verdict

If you’ve ever been disappointed by a cracker keyring, prepare to rethink your feelings. These LEGO minifigure keyrings are sure to go down a storm with everyone in the family. We’re very fond of this French Bulldog minifigure but we also saw Santa, ladybirds, sharks, superheroes, Minions, Winnie the Pooh characters and many more, so you could choose a relevant character for each person at the dinner table. They clip easily onto keys and bags as a bag charm - great for school when lots of kids have the same bag and yours needs to be identifiable. The metal keychain is really durable and the whole thing is as well made as you’d expect from a trusted company like LEGO.

At £4.99, they’re not going to be cheaper than buying pre-filled crackers but you will have something really special for the Christmas table and something that will actually be used rather than tossed in the bin with all the cracker snaps and paper napkins, so in that respect they’re good value.

3. Best Christmas cracker fillers for adults: Sipsmith Gin Mini Gin Trio

RRP: £12 | Buy now from John Lewis

Key specs

Dimensions: Not listed | Volume: 3 x 5cl bottles| Materials: Glass miniature bottles in a cardboard presentation box

Reasons to buy

• Great for grown-up crackers

• Consumable gift reduces plastic waste

• Pretty packaging

Reasons to avoid

• Breakable bottles so be careful when pulling!

• Only suitable for adults

What Mumsnet users say

“I’ve bought fill your own crackers from The Works and am doing gin miniatures with a minifigure for DS.” ToothFairyCat

Our verdict

Can we think of anything jollier than pulling crackers round the table? Why yes! Pulling crackers round the table and finding excellent gin inside them! Sipsmith is one of our favourite gins, and we are quite the experts here at Mumsnet, so we think these miniatures will be well received. Just be sure to warn your guests that the contents of their crackers might be breakable.

You get three miniatures in this box (which would make a lovely Christmas gift itself, by the way); one London Dry Gin, one Lemon Drizzle Gin and one Zesty Orange Gin. The miniatures work out at £4 which feels like pretty good value. If the adults round the table usually look fairly unexcited at the prospect of cracker pulling, these cracker fillers will ensure it’s always a highlight of future Christmases.

4. Best Christmas cracker fillers for fun: Baker Ross Snail Race toys

RRP: £6 | Buy now from Amazon

Key specs

Dimensions: 5.5cm long | Weight: 15g each | Materials: Plastic

Reasons to buy

• Lots of fun

• Good game for after lunch

• Good budget filler

Reasons to avoid

• Made of plastic

• Might encourage messing about at the table

What Mumsnet users say

“My mum has always made her own crackers. Things like wind-up animals that we could race along the dinner table, pots if bubbles that you can catch and hold when we/my dc were smaller.” TheFormerPorpentinaScamander

Our verdict

Kids and big kids alike will have lots of fun holding a snail race at the dinner table. Clear the plates away and turn it into a race track. Rest assured there’s nothing slow about these snails. Pull them back and release them to see them shoot off at speed. Each pack comes with four differently coloured snails to race. Take penny bets to make it more fun or just sit back and enjoy another glass of wine while the kids race snails along the hallway.

The only downside to these snails is that, yes, they’ll add to the mountain of brightly coloured plastic that you probably didn’t need in your house, but these last a lot longer than your average plastic cracker tat, and we think they add a bit of fun to Christmas dinner.

5. Best premium Christmas cracker fillers: Sass & Belle mini picture frame

Price: £7 | Buy now from Amazon

Key specs

Dimensions: 7 x 6 x 1cm | Materials: Resin frame, metal hook, jute string

Reasons to buy

• Pretty keepsake

• Appeals to many ages

Reasons to avoid

• You can’t choose which shape you receive

• The oval ones are quite hard to fit a photo into

What Mumsnet users say

“The cracker gifts are one of the main reasons I decided to make my own this year. Despite buying high end crackers - it still ended up being the same old wine stopper, lone biscuit cutter and bottle opener.” CatflapKitkat

Our verdict

For a classy filler for your crackers, these pretty miniature frames by Sass & Belle are just the thing. They’re a lovely idea for a family Christmas - you could even add family photos to each one to personalise them, and children will love having their own photos to hang in their bedrooms as much as older family members will treasure them.

The frames come in oval and rectangle shapes, which are both lovely, but you can’t choose which you’re sent, which is slightly annoying, so if you want to put pictures inside, order them in plenty of time to choose the right shaped pictures for each. At £6.99 a piece, they aren’t the cheapest fillers on our list, but if you want to do something a bit special, these might fit the bill.

6. Best Christmas cracker fillers for kids: Muppets Lego Minifigures

RRP: £3.50 | Buy now from LEGO

Key specs

Dimensions: Around 5cm | Weight: not listed | Materials: Plastic

Reasons to buy

• Fun for all ages

• Will keep kids quiet after dinner

Reasons to avoid

• You can’t choose which character you get so you could end up over Kermited

What Mumsnet users say

“My family are all Lego mad so I've ordered custom minifigures that look like each of us. I wouldn't normally spend that much but I think this year is going to be a bit unusual and we're planning to be at home, which the DC are a bit upset about so I want to make it a bit extra fun. They arrived today and I love them and can't wait to see their faces!” BarbaraManatee

Our verdict

Minifigures are an excellent cracker gift for kids and we think parents and grandparents will appreciate these Muppet minifigures, too. They’re beautifully designed with cool little extras like a rubber chicken for Gonzo and a banjo for Kermit, but they’re easy for small kids to put together themselves. They’ll certainly seem like light relief if you’ve spent all morning starting to build Hogwarts or The Death Star.

They come in mystery bags so sadly you can’t buy the entire set. The bags should squeeze into a cracker ok, but if you have trouble you could put the pieces in loose or pre-build them. Each comes with a little LEGO stand to display the characters. At £3.49 each, they’re a pretty good bargain for a branded item. If the Muppets aren’t your thing you could go for Star Wars figures, Harry Potter or any of LEGO’s many series of minifigures. Christmas definitely wouldn’t be Christmas without LEGO.

7. Best non-plastic Christmas cracker fillers: 3 Hedgehog Tree Decorations

RRP: £10 | Buy now from John Lewis

Key specs

Dimensions: 7 x 4.5cm each | Weight: not listed | Materials: Natural cone shell, polyfoam, sisal

Reasons to buy

• A good gift for any age

• Made from mostly natural materials

Reasons to avoid

• Little ‘instant fun’ here for kids

What Mumsnet users say

“I bought little Christmas ornaments - some wooden, some made of felt. I got cheap ones at Tiger, but I imagine Wilko, supermarkets etc would do similar ones.” KentishMama

Our verdict

These sweet hedgehog decorations come in packs of three and would look very cute either clipped onto the tree or decorating foliage on a mantelpiece. Each comes with a clip that you squeeze to attach the hedgehog to a branch of the tree - or anywhere else.

They’re made from pine cone shell and sisal and have a natural, woodland look that would go with most Christmas schemes. There are three in each box so you could fill a packet of six unfilled crackers for £20, which doesn’t seem bad at all. Giving a small decoration in a cracker is a nice way to build up a collection for the children for their own tree one day, too, so this could be the start of a yearly tradition.

8. Best eco-friendly Christmas cracker fillers: Blooming Bombs Wildflower Seed Bombs

RRP: £9 for 125g | Buy now from Amazon

Key specs

Dimensions: Not listed | Weight: 125g the bag (each seed bomb is very light) | Materials: A mix of wildflower seeds encased in clay and chilli powder

Reasons to buy

• Nice eco alternative to plastic

• Fun for all ages

Reasons to avoid

• They need a bit of ‘dressing up’ to look attractive

What Mumsnet users say

“Have a look on etsy for tiny little things to put in crackers. I've got little silver keyrings, phials of seeds, lego mini figures, there's lots of stuff on there.” Cakewitch

Our verdict

If you’re making your own crackers in order to be a bit more environmentally friendly, then filling them with something that will help the environment makes your efforts doubly worthwhile. This bag contains lots of seed bombs so you could put a few into each cracker. The bombs come with one bag to store them in but you might like to buy some little bags for each cracker, or wrap a few seed bombs in a square of fabric to pretty them up a bit.

Each seed bomb includes seeds for a variety of wildflowers, including poppies, cornflowers, red campion and more. The seed bombs are designed to attract bees, butterflies and other wildlife and they are encased in a mix of clay and chilli powder to repel slugs and snails. Just throw a seed bomb or two onto the ground or in a pot and ensure the area gets plenty of sun or rain and a year later, you should start to see growth. Truly, a gift that keeps on giving!

9. Best homemade Christmas cracker fillers: Mini Heart Scented Candles

RRP: £4.70 for 5 | Buy now from Amazon

Key specs

Dimensions: Thumbnail sized | Weight: Around 20g each | Materials: Ceramic holders

Reasons to buy

• Excellent value for money

• Strong scent

• Pretty ceramic containers

Reasons to avoid

• Children will need supervision when burning them

• Could break if dropped

What Mumsnet users say

“I was going to try to find mini candles, bath oils and perfume samples for mine.” Sizeofalentil

Our verdict

At less than a pound each, these tiny candles in ceramic holders are both super cute and a total bargain. Older children will find them impossibly sweet, though obviously kids will need supervising with candles, but we can’t think of any adult who could object to receiving a little candle - particularly with potential blackouts on the cards this winter!

As they’re so tiny, they don’t stay alight for long, but the scents are strong enough to fragrance a room well and the painted ceramic holders are really pretty.

10. Best budget Christmas cracker fillers: Mini Mochi Stress Toys

RRP: £7.50 for 24 | Buy now from Amazon

Key specs

Dimensions: 4-7cm each | Weight: 330g for the whole pack | Materials: silicone

Reasons to buy

• Excellent value for money

• Appeal for both kids and big kids

Reasons to avoid

• Not suitable for under threes

What Mumsnet users say

“We do this and like others have suggested we do charity pins, key rings, sweets, miniatures, you could do trolly tokens, earrings, mini pens, lips sticks/lip balms, mini hand creams, nail varnish, fidget spinners, fidget cubes, deodorant might fit, travel toiletries.” ChristmasAtHome

Our verdict

If you have a lot of crackers to fill, this bulk bag of Mini Mochi stress toys works out at around 30p per piece - and you get 24 in a bag. That’s a lot of crackers to fill. The cute little creatures are not just toys but are intended as stress relievers or fidget toys, and feel very smooth and tactile.

The bag includes 24 different Mochi creatures, including sleeping cats, ducklings, seals, clouds, fawns, whales foxes… and a ‘dragon cat’. No, we don’t know either. Still, there’s something for everything. And if you have any Mochis left over once you’ve filled your crackers, you’ll find they also work well as good behaviour bribes for kids.

How to make your own Christmas crackers

Whether you’re trying to save a bit of money, be more environmentally conscious or just fancy a simple festive project to get you in a Christmassy mood, homemade crackers are a great idea.

You don’t have to make the whole thing yourself either - fillable crackers are readily available online or at stores such as John Lewis - but there are instructions online if you want to go the whole hog.

What can I fill my Christmas crackers with?

Anything that’s small enough to fit inside! Check the measurements of your crackers first so you know what will fit before you start shopping, but here are a few ideas for things the right shape and size to think about:

• Lip balms or lipsticks

• Ferrero Rocher chocolates

• Stationery like pens and erasers

• Washi tapes

• Nail varnishes

• Flavoured mini oils or vinegars

• Gourmet snacks

• Tiny flashlights

• Mini card games

• Seed packets

• Lottery tickets or scratchcards

Is it cheaper to make your own crackers?

It’s as cheap as you choose to make it but, to be honest, it’s hard to bring crackers in cheaper than you can buy bargain basement ones. They can definitely be value for money in that you can make sure you fill them with things that won’t simply be wasted and luxury gifts inside crackers have the feel of an extra Christmas gift. But if you’re on a tight budget you can go completely DIY with homemade sweets or chocolates, handwritten jokes and paper for origami hats, which can all cost next to nothing.

You can personalise your gifts for each guest, by finding a small trinket that means something to them, or theme your cracker gifts so they’re all the same or even work together as a game for after dinner (we loved the snail race toys from Baker Ross for this - see below). What’s lovely about being able to make your own Christmas crackers is that you don’t all need to have miniature sets of tiddly winks and nail clippers; you can put little toys in for the kids and something more upmarket (gin and chocolates, anyone?) for the grown ups. The world is your lobster (as long as that lobster is smaller than 6cm by 10cm).

Once you’ve sourced your gifts, you can add other things. Go traditional with a paper hat and a joke you wrote yourself, or get creative and include a piece of origami paper with instructions, a ‘wish’ for the new year for everyone, a poem and a sweet, or whatever you like. You can buy cracker ‘snaps’ on Amazon if you want your homemade Christmas crackers to go with a bang.

What is traditionally in a Christmas cracker?

A ‘trinket’, a paper hat and a motto or joke. You can play around with this to your heart’s content though. Why not include a sticker or badge if everyone hates hats? Or leave out the appalling jokes and instead include a family memory or five lies and a truth and let everyone guess? Or if you’re newly pregnant or about to announce your engagement you might like to say it with a bang and scribble a secret note with your good news to put inside your crackers!

How do you make homemade crackers?

If you want to make from scratch rather than buy fillable crackers, they’re fairly simple. You’ll find lots of instructions on YouTube and elsewhere but all you need essentially is empty loo rolls (so start saving them up now), patterned paper or wallpaper and a few craft essentials like scissors and glue. Then you can buy your own snaps if you want them to go ‘bang’!

How we chose our recommendations

We spent several hours sifting through Mumsnet's forums for our users' recommendations on the best tiny treats to fill crackers with.

We also looked at arts and crafts and homemade Christmas websites for expert ideas on how to make your own Christmas crackers and what to put inside them.

Once we had an idea of the sort of items we were looking for, we scoured various websites for products that fitted the bill and would be small enough to fit into most unfilled Christmas crackers.

Why you should trust us

We work hard to provide unbiased, independent advice you can trust. We do sometimes earn revenue through affiliate (click-to-buy) links in our articles. This helps us fund more helpful articles like this one.