3 Easy DIY Gingerbread Decorations You Can Make at Home
Want to add some sweet charm to your holiday decor? This tutorial has you covered! I'll show you simple steps to make DIY gingerbread decorations using everyday items.
From crafting the dough to adding frosting, we've got it all covered. Whether it's a garland, a jar display, or a gingerbread box, these crafts are sure to spread holiday cheer.
So, gather your supplies, and let's get started on these fun DIY gingerbread Christmas decor ideas!
This post was transcribed by a member of the Hometalk editorial team from the original HometalkTV episode.
Tools and materials
- Salt dough
- Food coloring
- Rolling pin
- Parchment paper
- Cookie cutters
- White acrylic paint
- Caulk
- Ribbon
- Hot glue gun
- Glass container
- Sand
- Cardboard box
- Batting
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How to make DIY gingerbread decorations
1. Make salt dough
For this project, we're going to start by creating a salt dough. Check out this salt dough recipe if you haven't made it before.
2. Add food coloring
I'm going to move on to my next step, which includes adding chocolate brown food coloring to the dough.
3. Roll out the gingerbread
Spread the dough onto the parchment paper and then lay another layer of parchment paper on top. Use a rolling pin to roll it out.
4. Cut out shapes
Then, like you would with cookies, use cookie cutters to cut out the shapes you want. I have snowflakes, snowmen, and gingerbread houses.
5. Bake
Lay all the shapes out on cookie sheets. I'm using a nonstick cookie sheet with a spatula. Once I cut out each piece in whatever shape it is, I carefully place it with a spatula onto the cookie sheet.
We are going to bake our salt dough for one hour at 200 degrees.
6. Add frosting
I'm moving on to the next step, which is making it look like there's frosting on the gingerbread. I'm going to be using a couple of different methods on all of my cookie shapes.
I'm starting with just plain white acrylic paint, using a little dotting tool as well as some artist brushes just to get more fine lines. I'm just changing up the pattern on every single cookie that I have.
Now with the houses, I wanted it to be a little more three-dimensional, so it just didn't seem like paint was cutting it.
I actually got some caulk from Dollar Tree, and I'm using that in place of white paint, then going over the caulk with white paint after it dries. I really feel like the caulk gave the gingerbread more of an icing-type look.
DIY gingerbread garland
We're using ribbon to make a garland. I'm taking my hot glue gun and dotting it on the back of each cookie.
I am using Gorilla Glue, and it does tend to stick pretty well. Just be careful. Make sure not to burn yourself. I'm keeping the parchment paper down to create a barrier so that it doesn't stick.
I'm evenly spacing each of the cookies just to make it look unified and cohesive, but also to show off how each snowflake is different.
DIY gingerbread jar
I'm taking a clear canister that I got off Amazon and some white sand that I got at Dollar Tree. So I'm pouring all the sand in. Now, you could also use things like powdered sugar. You could use flour.
Then you're just going to place the gingerbread men like I'm doing here, as well as little trees.
DIY gingerbread box
I'm taking a box that I got from an Amazon delivery, and I cut off the tops, like the flaps. 'm taking the three houses that I made and gluing them to the side of the box.
I had a couple of extra gingerbread men, so I wanted to add them to the front as well as a couple of the little snowflakes.
I'm using some quilting batting to cover up my box. I'm going to cut it to size, and then I'm using hot glue to assemble it to the box to make sure it's not going anywhere. Essentially just to mask the box and to make it look like it's a little snowy wonderland.
DIY gingerbread decorations
Here we have the final pieces. I hope this inspired you to try out some DIY Candyland Christmas decorations. Let me know if you use any of these decor ideas in the comments below.
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?