The best Christmas crackers to buy

It’s been a staple of festive celebrations since the 1800s, and here’s our roundup of the best Christmas crackers to buy.

It’s all part of the Christmas fun – pulling open a cracker and reading out the terrible joke to everyone at the table. However, the contents are usually a big let down.

Whether you’re fed up of receiving mini playing cards or mini screwdriver sets, there’s an impressive range of quality Christmas crackers to buy in 2019.

 

Traditional Christmas crackers

It’s probably best to begin this roundup with a look at traditional Christmas crackers to see what manufacturers have come up with this year.

We particularly like the option of having personalised Christmas crackers which bring a personal touch and means you don’t have to use name cards at the dinner table.

Along with choosing names, you can also choose the crackers’ contents which include tasty alternatives such as alcohol and family-friendly treats. There’s also the option to buy crackers for your furry friends too.

Alcohol and food Christmas crackers

Now we are talking! A great way to avoid traditional crackers is to opt for those that have food and alcohol contents.

We love the mini crackers from Hotel Chocolat which offer a nice bit of indulgence at £19.95.

If there are lots of gin-lovers attending Christmas dinner, then the Fevertree Gin and Tonic Christmas crackers are a sound choice. There are four available and the tonic firm has teamed up with various gin brands to create a cracking cracker that recipients will be pleased to enjoy. Available from John Lewis at £9.

If you’re quite happy spending a small fortune on Christmas crackers, then Fortnum & Mason have some impressive ones available. They not only look elegant, there’s also a range of gifts from the store’s bestselling produce, including champagne stoppers, chocolate and marmalade. A great way to continue quality Christmas present giving at the dinner table! Especially the Regency Christmas crackers at a cool £1,000 (though they do contain ‘silver plated treasures!).

Of the Christmas crackers aimed at whisky lovers, we particularly like the offering from Master of Malt who have a £24.95 treat this year with a six dram whisky cracker collection containing a malt whisky along with a joke and paper crown.

Best luxury Christmas crackers

With so many excellent and well-priced Christmas crackers available, this may be one item that someone looking for a touch of luxury can really indulge in. There are some very lavish crackers available.

We love the luxury Christmas crackers box from Harrods at £700. The six handmade crackers are tied with velvet bows and the trinkets inside are very much more upmarket then you will normally expect. This is what the Harrod’s crackers contain: a hat and these gifts Waterford Origami Butterfly tree decoration, Aspinal of London card holder and Shleep Merino Silk socks – among others. A great way to feel special on Christmas day!

Fortnum and Mason also offer their green velvet crackers, which cost £295. The pack of six are a fancy offering and contain a paper crown and a handpicked gift from classic tea timers to Fortnum’s tea towel and Champagne bottle stoppers.

For those who want impressive crackers at a better price, then John Lewis & Partners has a pack of six luxury Christmas party crackers for £40. Their offering includes a photo holder, a handbag mirror, a mini screwdriver set and a mini clothes brush as well as keyrings. The retailer says that the crackers have been inspired by scenes from the flamboyant 80s and these neon nostalgia crackers may even be worth offering to guests on New Year’s Eve.

Cox and Cox Luxury Handmade Black and White Crackers – £50 for 6

The contemporary colour and pattern of these chic crackers is unusual and would look stunning against a crisp white tablecloth. The ink splodge design, complete with glossy black ribbons, matches a range of Cox and Cox wrapping paper so your Christmas can look like an influencer’s flat lay.

We were thrilled with the gifts. They aren’t as decadent as they could be for the price but if you’re a lover of miniature things then the cheese grater and strawberry jam will have you squealing!

Each of the crackers has a hat, a joke and a thoroughly satisfying ‘Bang!’. Your prize may not be to your liking, wildflower seeds would be wasted on me as I kill all plant life, but someone at the table will take it home with pleasure.

Christmas crackers for families

Along with fun toys and fairly bad jokes, Christmas crackers for families really should deliver a big bang and value for money.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to appeal to family members of all ages with Christmas crackers that deliver.

Selfridge’s offers what is either a fantastic way to spend time after finishing the starter and waiting for the turkey main course or they are simply the worst idea for Christmas crackers ever invented. That’s their Ridley’s musical party Christmas crackers which contains eight whistles along with number stickers, a score sheet and a conductor’s baton.

As we say, this will either be a fantastically fun interlude between courses or a platform for a massive family falling out. You have been warned!

Also offering a musical interlude are these music-themed bumper pack of eight (not the standard six!) crackers.

The musical note design is unusual but festive, it would fit in nicely with most family’s Christmas decorations.

Nestled inside, ready to make blissful music, is a whistle and instructions for how to play a selection of Christmas carols.

No-one at Christmas.co.uk managed to make anything other than an awful noise but spending half an hour trying did make us laugh a lot and that’s what Christmas should be about isn’t it?!

In the same vein, Lakeland is offering a racing Festive Friends Christmas crackers which contain windup racing characters and a racetrack for £19.99. There’s also the beginning of the obligatory paper hat and joke and will deliver lots of fun at the Christmas dinner table.

Another unique consideration is to get a cracker that everyone around the table can enjoy. There is a star shaped cracker from Amazon costing £6.76 and designed to be pulled by six people, which then reveals a festive surprise in each of the arms. Certainly worth considering.

It’s also worth mentioning in this category that we adored the personalised baby’s first Christmas cracker from Not On The High Street at £44. It’s a fantastic idea with the baby’s name on the cracker along with a message of your choice and it makes for a lovely keepsake of their first Christmas. The cracker contains a mini paper hat, along with a wooden rattle toy to play with.

The best bargain Christmas crackers

Not everybody wants to spend a small fortune on Christmas crackers regardless of what they contain. And this is a quick roundup of the best bargain Christmas crackers available.

This is a particularly good guide for those with lots of guests on the big day who are looking for a budget-friendly option but still containing decent gifts.

We love an offering from Selfridge’s, their mini Diamond Christmas crackers set costing £12. Essentially, the crackers look more expensive than they are and the toys are of a decent quality to keep people occupied.

There’s also the joint family Christmas crackers from Marks & Spencer’s. A pack of 8 costs £20 and contain a good choice of gifts including spoons, cookie cutters and a bottle opener.

Make your own Christmas crackers

For those who want Christmas crackers that are really unusual, then there’s a trend to make your own crackers for the dinner table.

For those who are crafty then these are great opportunity to show off your skills and put some careful thought into the contents.

Among the best offerings we found is the holly and mistletoe fill your own Christmas cracker from John Lewis & Partners. A pack of six costs £8 with decent jokes and gifts being specifically chosen for those you love.

There’s a similar offering from Selfridge’s for £40 with these multi coloured reusable crackers, offering a chance to place a suitable gift inside for those attending dinner.

Lakeland also has a pack of six fill your own crackers, costing £14.99 and these come with jokes, ribbon, snaps as well as a gift tag. For the money, these are a sound choice.

There’s also the cheaper option of making a Christmas cracker kit available from Amazon from £8.99.

The best Christmas cracker of them

If you really want to impress with what must be the best Christmas cracker available this year, or, if ever, then you’ll need to go to Fortnum & Mason for what will deliver the ultimate ‘wow’ factor.

They are offering its ‘Regency’ crackers for a cool £1,000. What do you get for the money? This: Cheese Mice Markers, Tea Caddy, Napkin Rings, Bowl & Spoon, Egg Cup & Spoon – ALL are silver-plated plus the Olivewood & Sterling Silver Honey Drizzler.