Looking for something a little more joy-giving than nail clippers or a shoe horn stuffed into your Christmas cracker? Sick of hoarding mini tape measures and keyrings, or having the entire dinner table predict your future using the Fortune Teller Fish which pops out every year?
Spoil your family, friends and guests this December 25 with a luxury cracker – and there’s plenty out there to choose from. While you will be treating them to an pre-meal present they will be sure to cherish, you can also say goodbye to excessive plastic packaging and waste as the meal time companion will be housing items they’ll actually use - it’s a win-win.
Whether you’re after some extra festive tipples, pampering beauty products, or decadent chocolates, we have curated an edit of crackers that will add even more magic to your Christmas festivities.
Feeling tempted? See below for our favourite luxury crackers to get you inspired…
L’Occitane Festive Crackers Collection
Available from: now
These vibrant crackers from luxe beauty and skincare brand L’Occitane will liven up your Christmas dining table or add some magic to your Christmas tree branches. Tucked inside lies a duo of shower gels and hand creams from the label’s cherry blossom, almond, verbena and shea butter ranges for a pampering experience over the festive season.
Buy now £19.80, Sephora
Hotel Chocolat Mini Christmas Crackers
Available from: now
Set the table for 10 with these luxury Christmas crackers filled with everyone’s favourite choccies from Hotel Chocolat. Deliciously creamy and made from 100 per cent ethical cacao, they’ll make the perfect sweet end to your roast turkey lunch with all the trimmings.
Buy now £18.99, John Lewis
Sipsmith Gin Crackers
Available from: now
Ginspire your dinner guests with a boozy Christmas cracker – this set includes Sipsmith’s original London Dry Gin, their rich berry Sloe Gin, and fruity flavours of Zesty Orange and Lemon Drizzle. Look out for a golden ticket in your cracker – lucky recipients will win a Sipsmith prize, from a tour of their distillery to a year’s membership to their Sipping Society.
Buy now £15.30, Amazon
William Morris Gold Acorn Christmas Crackers 6pk
Available from: now
Bring vintage Arts & Crafts style to your table this Christmas. This six pack of paper crackers is covered in William Morris' timeless print rendered in a gold to suit all tablescapes over the festivities. It's a classic cracker with a tissue hat, joke and plastic-free trinket hiding within.
Currently on a buy one, get one at half the price offer at Ocado.
Buy now £25.00, Ocado
OTO The Calm Traveller CBD Set Cracker
Available from: now
Give the gift of mind and body rejuvination for your guests this Christmas with an alternative cracker that is full of CBD goodness. Featuring OTO’s Focus roll-on to encourage calmness and a mini hand balm and lip balm infused with natural botanicals, their skin will be left moisturised and nourished, while they’ll feel totally Zen.
Buy now £34.30, OTO
Drinks by the Dram Whiskey Crackers
Available from: now
For the whisky fans, get your hands on this box of six extra special crackers to lay on the table for a sophisticated adornment. Crack into them and they’ll reveal a festive tipple from lesser known or fan-favourite labels that can be enjoyed throughout your Christmas lunch or dinner as well as a party hat and joke for the ultimate celebration.
Buy now £39.95, Master of Malt
Advent of Change Christmas Crackers
Available from: now
One of the kindest crackers on the market, social enterprise brand Advent of Change has created an innovative alternative with a charitable twist. Ditch the usual unused trinkets that are packed into plastic packaging, and instead for this cracker where for each one, £2 is donated to a different charity – including helping with the homeless, frontline workers or clearing plastic from UK shores. They are 100 per cent plastic-free, recyclable and filled with jokes written by celebrities including Joanna Lumley and Harry Hill.
Buy now £25.95, Advent of Change
Joma Jewellery Christmas Cracker
Available from: now
Light up their eyes as they are presented with this luxury Christmas cracker, featuring a pretty silver-plated bracelet with either a snowflake, star or Rudolph charm. Wrapped in silver, blush pink or golden packaging, it will twinkle under the Christmas tree or as a centrepiece on the table.
Buy now £17.99, Joma Jewellery
We Are Paradoxx Christmas Cracker
Available from: now
Spoil your loved ones to thicker, fuller and silky smooth locks over the festive period with this blow dry spray from sustainable haircare brand We Are Paradoxx. Vegan-friendly and made from natural ingredients, this makes the perfect stocking filler, wrapped up in a super cute, plastic-free colourful cracker.
Buy now £9.00, lookfantastic
Emma J Shipley Luxury Crackers
Available from: now
Handmade in Dorset and presented in 100 per cent recyclable packaging, these vibrant and beautifully designed Christmas crackers will liven up your table over the festive period. The mystical animal print is unique and fun, and hand-tied with velvet ribbons to keep the trinkets inside a surprise. The crackers also include a Christmas hat and all contents are plastic free.
Buy now £32.50, Emma J Shipley
Melt Chocolates Christmas Crackers
Available from: now
Treat yourself and your guests to this box of six luxury crackers from Melt Chocolates, each featuring three chocolate bonbons, plus a festive hat and motto. Indulge in flavours including white chocolate and cranberry, Christmas spiced milk chocolate, and dark chocolate-centred gianduja bonbons - all handmade in Notting Hill by London’s best chocolatiers. Plastic-free and eco-friendly packaging.
Buy now £39.00, Melt Chocolates
Black Sheep Brewery Christmas Beer Cracker
Available from: now
Drink it, gift it, or stick it on the table for decoration. With this Christmas cracker, you can choose from one of the brewery’s award-winning beers – from Pineapple Milkshake IPA to Monty Python’s Holy Grail – to please the hops lover in your life.
Buy now £5.50, Black Sheep Brewery
Neal and Wolf Miracle Christmas Cracker
Available from: October 1
Treat your guests (or yourself - we don’t judge!) to beautiful hair through to the new year. This Christmas cracker comes from professional haircare specialists Neal & Wolf. Within the glitzy star white and rose gold wrapping, you’ll find a 200ml bottle of the label’s award-winning Miracle Rapid Blow-Dry Mist to protect your hair from heat damage and keep it shining bright this festive season.
Buy now £20.00, Neal and Wolf
Fever-Tree Ultimate Rhubarb & Raspberry Tonic & Mermaid Pink Gin Cracker
Available from: now
Keep your gin-loving family and friends hydrated this festive season with an exclusive Fever-Tree Christmas cracker that also makes a great stocking filler. Alongside the brand’s premium Rhubarb & Raspberry tonic water, there’s also a 150ml Mermaid Pink Gin bottle and Christmas hat. They can mix up the perfect G&T, with fruity raspberry and orange blossom hints, to feel merry and bright all night long.
Buy now £8.50, John Lewis
