I can smell the cinnamon and ginger only by typing Gingerbread Tree Ornaments. What a treat! And what a natural scent for the home with zero waste!
Being a fan of cheap and pennywise presents, it is not a surprise I love these kind of ornaments that, not only, decorate your home but also feed the family, lol. Not one is left by New Year’s Eve in the tree.
You can also check out these Christmas Gift Tag ornaments, but unlike, the Gingerbread ones, can only be stored and not eaten. So I rather go for the edible ornaments. Yum!
How To Make the Gingerbread Ornaments
The process can’t be more simple. Choose a recipe that you already like for making the cookie dough.
Make the Gingerbread Cookies
Here is one I use all the time as it is really basic:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup molasses
Instructions:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until smooth. Beat in the egg and molasses.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, stirring until a dough forms.
- Wrap the dough balls in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough ball to a thickness of 1/4 inch.
- Using Christmas cookie cutters cut out shapes that will be our ornaments.
- Transfer the shapes to the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake the gingerbread shapes for 10-12 minutes, or until they are firm and lightly browned.
- Remove them from the oven and let them cool completely.
- Once the gingerbread shapes have cooled, use a small hole punch or a toothpick to make a hole near the top of each shape. Thread a ribbon or string through the hole to create an ornament.
- Decorate the gingerbread ornaments with icing, sprinkles, or other decorations, if desired.
- Hang the ornaments on your Christmas tree or give them as gifts.
Here is a great idea spotted in Pinterest to give you inspiration: Leaf Ornaments.
DIY Apple Cinnamon Leaf Ornaments
You also could do a version of the Hard Candy Stained Glass Cookies and play with different colors. Just use the recipe above and the instructions for the candy in the post.
Another way to Make the Ornaments: Salt Dough
If you are not into making edible ornaments, one great go-to craft recipe is salt dough: it’s cheap, quick, and easy to make; you probably already have everything you need for this recipe in your pantry.
I took a traditional salt dough recipe and added cocoa powder to make it look gingerbready, and painted and glazed it to make it look all grown up.
You can make these assembly line-style and they are so inexpensive, you can make one for every person on your gift list.
Project Materials:
- Craft acrylic paint, on hand or $.50 each
- Clear acrylic gloss spray, about $5
- Christmas ribbon, $1 per spool
- Salt, on hand
- Flour, on hand
- Cocoa powder, on hand or $1
- Cookie sheet
- Paintbrush
Total cost: $6 – will make at least 12 ornaments or 3 garlands
You can either make single ornaments, or garlands. I like them both!
Probably give the garlands to women (who would know what to do with a garland!) and ornaments to men (who can appreciate a good ornament).
Don’t forget to make single ornaments and let your children paint them as keepsake ornaments for grandparents.
Cocoa Salt Dough Recipe
- 1 cup of salt
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 cup of cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup water
Instructions:
1.Mix the salt, flour, and cocoa powder together in a large bowl.
2. Add water and mix until a large ball forms.
3. Knead on a lightly floured work surface until the dough is smooth.
If dough is too dry: Add up to 1/4 c. water (on Tablespoon at a time) if needed.
If dough is too sticky: Mix 1 Tablespoon flour with 1 Tablespoon salt, and add to mixture a little at a time.
4. Roll dough out on floured surface to about 1/8″ (as thin as you would for cookies).
5. Use the cookie cutters. Cut holes for hanging with a plastic drinking straw. Cut one hole in the top of the cookie to make a single ornament, or two holes in the sides to use for a garland.
6. Bake at 250 º F for 1 hour or until completely dry.
I cut out hearts and gingerbread boy shapes for my ornaments.
For the garlands, I poked holes in two sides of the hearts with drinking straws and for ornaments, I just poked a single hole.
Painting the Ornaments:
Once the dough is dried in the oven, you can paint it!
Don’t worry if you’re not a star decorative painter. Simple designs look best — these are supposed to look like cookies!
I outlined with white acrylic craft paint (for a royal icing look) and added details with colored paint.
Gingerbread Boys: The gingerbread boy simply got white outlines, eyes and a smile, three buttons, and a red bow tie.
Gingerbread Hearts: The heart shapes were outlined and filled in with flowers. To paint flowers, get your paint brush saturated with paint, and dot five petals in a circle. When petals are dry, add three white dots to the center of the flower, and swipes of green for petals.
Spray with Sealer: Use the clear glossy acrylic sealant spray to make these shine–it makes a huge difference in how they look (without spray, the dough is a dull brown).
To hang, add a length of Christmas ribbon. For the garlands, thread a 24″ piece of ribbon through three ornaments. I made these a couple years ago, and I hang my garlands up every year! They are so cute, and each garland costs a lot less than a dollar!
While you have the dough out, don’t forget to make salt dough handprints with your kids!! Put a hole in them and hang them up on your wall or Christmas tree!
