We decorate our home for Christmas with a different theme every year. This year, the theme was a “Gingerbread House Village”. And it was SO much FUN to put together!
I love that I was able to recycle a LOT of cardboard to make these pieces. Using cardboard also kept the cost of this decor to a minimum. You can’t beat that!
I love the monochrome look of this decor. The gingerbread color of cardboard and kraft paper, along with white “icing” made the entire decor pleasing to look at. We used our white Christmas tree to keep with the monochrome look. It worked perfectly.
With all the decor and all the gift wrap, I drew almost 400 gingerbread houses – all different. So much fun.
(Click images to enlarge them)
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Small 3D Gingerbread Houses
My vision was to have at least 100 gingerbread houses displayed around our house and about 100 more hanging from the ceiling – a fun gingerbread house village. I made six templates of a variety of house styles, then used the templates to trace the shapes onto kraft cardstock. I then cut out each house and used a bone folding creasing tool and metal ruler to crease the folds for each house shape. Once that was done, I used my white charcoal pencils to draw on the “icing” for each gingerbread house – all of them with a different design. When the houses were all decorated, I then folded along the creases to assemble each house and used a hot glue gun to keep the house shapes together. To some of the houses, we added a length of monofilament fishing line so we could hang the houses from the ceiling. The other houses were left as is to be displayed on a three-tier wood cake stand on the coffee table, on three metal cake stands on the center island, and on a porcelain white cake stand on the dining room table. The overall look was just what I had in mind!
TIP: Every year we hang something from the ceiling for our decor. The first year decorating after we built our house, we used a needle nose pliers to push long pins into the ceiling (my husband bent the heads of each pin first to form sort of a hook). We’ve left those pins in the ceiling ever since. You really cannot even see them unless you look very hard to find them. When it’s time to decorate, we use a flashlight on the ceiling to help us find the pins and then just hang whatever we’re hanging that year.
Large 3D Gingerbread Houses Displayed Around House
A hot glue gun is your best friend when making large 3D gingerbread houses! To make these houses, I took a bunch of used boxes and turned them inside out. I used hot glue to reassemble the boxes so the “good side” (inside) of the box was now on the outside. Using other scraps of cardboard boxes, I cut them into the shapes of rooves and glued them onto the house shapes. Then, using my white chalk markers in a variety of sizes, I drew on the “icing” for each house. Of course, I had to cut a door into the largest house so our cats could have their own gingerbread house.
Some of these houses were displayed in random places around our family room and under the tree. Others were used outside on our front entryway. The houses were all about 18-24 inches tall. The large size really added a lot to the overall look of our decor.
Large Flat Gingerbread House Ornaments
We used our white Christmas tree this year to keep with the monochrome look for our decor. I think the gingerbread houses were much more noticeable on the white tree than they would have been on a green tree.
I used old cardboard boxes to make these ornaments. I used a scissors to cut out house shapes from the cardboard, then used my white chalk markers to draw the “icing” onto the houses. I used brown and white baker’s twine to hang the ornaments on the tree. Each ornament is about 8-10 inches tall, so definitely noticeable on the tree.
Small Flat Gingerbread House Ornaments
These little gingerbread house ornaments were so easy to make. I used kraft cardstock and my white charcoal pencils to make them. I punched a hole in the top of each house and added brown and white baker’s twine for hanging. I used these small ornaments on a potted pine tree outside on our front entryway. They fit the tree very well. I ended up adding a wide white rick rack ribbon to the tree – it looked like gingerbread house “icing” to me. My Mom always used rick rack for her sewing projects and this ribbon reminds me of Mom. TIP: I tried using chalk markers and white paint pens with this kraft cardstock, but the cardstock absorbed the markers so much, that they didn’t provide the bright opaque white I was looking for. I tried a lot of different pencils and found that the white charcoal pencils works the best on this cardstock.
Large Flat Gingerbread House Garland
I used cardboard from a bunch of used boxes and turned it into a garland. I cut out the shapes of houses, then used my chalk markers to draw the gingerbread house designs. I poked holes in the houses with a paper punch and threaded brown and white baker’s twine through the holes and strung the houses together to form the garland. I really like how this turned out!
Gingerbread House Wreath
I’m not a huge fan of traditional round wreaths – they’re just too common. But, I wanted to hang something on our front door, so I made a quick rectangular wreath for our door. It was so easy to make! I used a piece of cardboard from a box and cut out a rectangle shape. I then used kraft cardstock and cut out a bunch of little gingerbread house shapes. I used my white charcoal pencils to draw gingerbread house designs on the cardboard, then taped the houses to the wreath shape. I attached a length of brown and white baker’s twine as a hanger, and the wreath was done. Easy peasy. And – it was perfect for the door.
Gingerbread Trees
I have to say, these trees were so much fun to make! I had seen similar trees for sale at a home decor store, but decided I could make my own. I thought cork sort of looked like gingerbread, so I bought 1/2-inch thick cork tiles and turned them into the gingerbread trees. I drew a pattern on paper, then traced that onto the cork tiles. My husband used his jigsaw and cut out the trees and stands. I used white puffy paint to paint on the icing. I never knew how much I would love puffy paint – it’s my new favorite! When the paint dried, I popped the trees into their bases and displayed them around the house. I really love how they turned out!
Gingerbread Stockings
We drove 2-1/2 hours to pick up this gingerbread-colored fleece so we could make custom stockings. We love living in the country, but sometimes you just have to make that drive to the cities. I drew a stocking shape on paper and used that as my pattern. After the stockings were cut out, they were ready to be sewn. My husband is much more patient at sewing than I am, so he sewed the stockings for me, while I ironed them when they were done. They turned out great!
My son’s girlfriend loves to crochet, so I asked if she would make me a bunch of gingerbread ‘icing” ribbons so I could use them on the stockings. She did a great job – the “icing” was just as I imagined it. I started sewing the icing onto the stockings, but due to a time crunch, I ended up using fabric glue to attach the icing to the stockings. The fabric glue worked great!
We always hang the Christmas stockings in our family room windows. They added just the look I was after for this space.
Gingerbread Snowflake Coasters
I loved working with cork and puffy paint so much (see gingerbread trees above), that I decided to make gingerbread snowflake coasters. I bought a bunch of cork coasters and went to town making snowflakes using puffy paint. So much fun!
Gingerbread Bakery Sign
I spotted a gingerbread bakery sign online that I really liked. But, I wanted something customized for our family. So – I recreated the sign and printed it on my color laser printer on cardstock. I hung this sign on a window in our kitchen – it seemed the perfect place for the sign.
Gingerbread House Gift Wrap and Gift Bags
I used kraft paper (my secret weapon), a variety of kraft boxes, and a variety of sizes of kraft gift bags for all our gift wrapping. I drew gingerbread houses on each and every gift – all different houses. And, to make this even more fun, I drew “Easter Eggs” on many of the packages. No, not literal Easter Eggs – I drew the kind of “Easter Eggs” that are hidden with a sneaky message for my family and friends to spot. Things that had meaning for each person. For example, my Dad used to draw cartoons for me when I was little. He often drew the “Kilroy was here” cartoon for me (I just loved that). So, on packages for my brothers, I drew a few “Kilroy was here” cartoons on their gingerbread houses – in a window, over a roof, on top of a chimney. I knew my brothers would understand the meaning. Another example of what I drew – my youngest son wishes he had his own garage for his trucks. So, I drew him a bunch of gingerbread garages instead of gingerbread houses, and even hid the RAM logo on several of his gingerbread houses. Little things like this just made drawing all these gingerbread houses more fun for me, and I believe my family enjoyed them as well. <3
I also made a Gingerbread House Village Advent Calendar for some of our dear friends. I used a special birdcage wall hanging as the frame, which was also part of the gift – because my friend loves crows and cages. Each bag was filled with a special treat or surprise for our friends.
Gingerbread House Door Mat
I love painting and customizing coco coir door mats, and had planned on turning one into a gingerbread house – but, I was running low on time. I ended up spotting this gingerbread house door mat that was already made and ended up buying it for our entryway. It was the perfect addition to our entryway. Welcome to our Gingerbread House Village!
Miscellaneous Gingerbread House Decor (that I purchased)
- Gingerbread House Candy Jar – I found a clear glass gingerbread house candy jar that was absolutely perfect for our decor! I love that the jar is clear – so not only can you see the contents inside, but it also works well with the monochrome style. I filled this jar with my Mom’s favorite candy that she always bought at Christmas – Angel Candy (aka. sponge candy). A tribute to my Mom.
- Gingerbread Tree Platter – I wanted a special platter to hold cookies and bars. I originally was thinking I’d make a ceramic gingerbread house tray, but after asking friends about clay recommendations, ceramic paint recommendations, and kiln firing recommendations, I decided it would take WAY too long to go through all those steps, and I just didn’t have that much time. So… I spotted this gingerbread tree platter and knew it was the perfect choice!
- Gingerbread Countdown Calendar – I wanted to make my own countdown calendar, but yep. Again, ran out of time. Thank goodness I saw this cute little calendar on clearance at Kohls! I put it on our kitchen windowsill and every day someone in our house turned the cubes to the correct number of days until Christmas. Made me smile.
- Gingerbread Wax Melts – Of course, a nicely decorated home for Christmas really puts you in the holiday mood. But, I think it’s important to make your house SMELL like Christmas, too! I found some gingerbread wax melts that smell heavenly! I put them in a wax melter outside on our front entryway and let it run all day. What a great way to greet guests to our home, and all the delivery people loved the welcoming scent as well. I used a wax melter with wax because this sits outside in the Winter, so the heat keeps the scent nice and strong.
- Gingerbread Room Scents – I also wanted to add the scent of gingerbread throughout our house inside. So, I hacked an AirWick diffuser (see details on my Facebook Page) and added a gingerbread fragrance oil. This scent made our house smell SO good! I also found a gingerbread diffuser scent for our Pura home diffuser that sits inside our service entry. Once people come through the door, it’s the first scent they smell.
Making Gingerbread Diffuser
Gingerbread House Treats and Snacks
- Gingerbread House Cupcake Molds – I’m not a huge fan of hard, crunchy gingerbread cookies, so I made gingerbread cupcakes instead. I used gingerbread house silicone molds to make the cupcakes, and my oh my! The recipe makes the most moist and flavorful gingerbread cupcakes ever!
- Gingerbread Iced Cookies – I love shopping at World Market every year right before Christmas. I always find the most fun treats and snacks. This year, I found a bag of soft and iced gingerbread cookies in various shapes. These little cookies make the perfect holiday treat! These cookies were perfect for the gingerbread tree platter.
- Gingerbread Iced Bars – Another place I like to shop right before Christmas is Trader Joe’s. This year, I found a box of frozen iced gingerbread bars. They are SO tasty!
- Gingerbread Ice Cream – I also found a pint of gingerbread ice cream at Trader Joe’s. Yum!
- Gingerbread Gummy Guys – These gummy gingerbread men were too cute to pass up! I found them at World Market right before Christmas. They definitely have a gingerbread flavor. I added these guys to the gingerbread tree platter.
- Gingerbread Candy Bark – I found a recipe for gingerbread bark and tweeked it to make it my own. I followed the recipe, but then added small bits of dried cranberries and dried cherries to the topping. I think these chewy bits made a huge difference. Another treat for the gingerbread tree platter.
- Gingerbread Caramel Bites – I found a recipe for gingerbread turtle cookies and couldn’t resist. They really turned out great – yet another treat for the gingerbread tree platter.
Sharing With Our Community
Want to hear something cool?! I didn’t want to just recycle all the things I had made, so I offered them on our local Buy Nothing Group. There was a lot of interest, but through a random name picker, I chose someone who is going to use all these pieces to decorate her husband’s office downtown in our local small town, so people of our community will be able to enjoy these pieces. I just love that. <3
Here are some photos of our decor. Hopefully, you’ll find inspiration in these ideas.
