Every year, without fail, we make a few homemade ornaments for our tree. (And some years, we make a lot!) This year, we added these sweet gingerbread man ornaments to the Christmas tree. For a fun twist, we added spices to our paint so that they not only look like gingerbread men, but they smell like them too.
Supplies Needed:
Thick cardboard (We used a shipping box)
Gingerbread man cookie cutter (optional)
Brown paint
Cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger
Glue
Assorted beads, sequins, buttons, and other baubles
White glue
String
Start by tracing your cookie cutter on your cardboard. If you don’t have a cookie cutter, you can freehand a simple gingerbread man shape or find a simple coloring page to trace. Cut out your gingerbread man shapes. This is not a very kid-friendly step in the process. My cardboard was thick and my scissors were dull, so I had to get out a box cutter. You may want to prep ahead if you’re planning on making quite a few of these. Also, do yourself a favor and punch a hole in the top for your string. I didn’t do this until the end and wished I would have done this step earlier.
Mix your brown paint together with a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. About a 1/4 teaspoon of each spice would do the trick. Your paint will be thick and goopy; make it thinner by adding more paint. Let the kids do the mixing. It’s fun to see it all come together. Once the paint is mixed, paint the entire surface of the gingerbread man. Try for an even coverage. The goopier it is, the longer it will take to dry. Once the paint dries, you’ll be able to smell the spices without the added paint scent.
Once the paint is dry, it’s time to decorate your gingerbread men. We had an assortment of beads and buttons. The girls searched and sorted to find the perfect embellishments for their gingerbread men. Use white glue (or hot glue) to add them to the ornaments. Once the glue is dry, you can add your string and hang them up on the tree. I just love homemade ornaments and these are the perfect fit for our eclectic tree.
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Terri is a writer and mom of two elementary-aged girls. She has a passion for learning and is always looking for ways to make learning fun. You can find her at Better Than Homework where she shares fun learning activities or Creative Family Fun where she shares art, craft, and family fun ideas.
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