Create memories while making these gingerbread ornaments with your kids. Made with cinnamon salt dough, they not only look like real gingerbread, they smell nice too.

My kids love to make things and too often, I don't give them the opportunity. So I'm glad that there was a day specifically for kids Christmas crafts in our 12 Days of Christmas event.

We decided to make gingerbread man ornaments from cinnamon salt dough. We have a tree with colored lights that we put up in the basement.

It's dedicated to all the homemade ornaments that they've made over the years. It's bright and colorful. It's fun for the kids to dig through the box and find the things they made and the memories attached to them.

These gingerbread men will be a fun addition.

12 Days of Christmas Crafts and Ideas

Day 1 - Poinsettia Wreath
Day 2 - Customized Sharpie Mugs Gift Idea
Day 3 - Days Til Christmas Wall Hanging Sign

Salt Dough Gingerbread Ornaments - Kids Christmas Craft

Supplies Needed for Gingerbread Ornaments

1 batch of cinnamon salt dough - see the end of the post for the recipe
ribbon / twine
buttons
fabric 3D paint
hot glue


 

How to Make Salt Dough Gingerbread Ornaments

Begin by making the cinnamon salt dough. The recipe is at the bottom of the post.

Roll out the dough to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick.

TIP: The thinner the ornaments are, the flatter they stay. I noticed that the thicker they were the more rounded the tops were after baking. 

Using cookie cutters, cut out the gingerbread men. We also did some stars.

Once you have cut out as many as you can, remove the excess pieces and carefully transfer the gingerbread to a greased baking sheet. The dough stuck a little bit to the counter, so I used a flat spatula to help lift them off with out disfiguring them too badly.

Combine all the scrap pieces of dough and roll it out again to make more gingerbread men.

Don't forget to make holes in your men before baking. Once baked they are HARD and it will be too late. I used a toothpick. I poked a hole and then enlarged with a circular motion.

I did some of the holes at the top to hang as ornaments. And some in the arms, to join together in a garland.

TIP: Once they are all on the pan, spray them lightly with cooking spray. The reason for this is to keep the rich color. If you skip this step, the top layer of the ornament will look whitish, dried out and just weird. You don't need much cooking spray, just a light coat.

Then bake them at 250 for two hours. Let cool completely.

Decorating Gingerbread Ornaments

Now comes the fun part! Decorating the gingerbread men.

We gathered up some Christmas buttons and ribbon which we attached with hot glue.

We used 3D paint for some of the details and twine to insert through the hole to hang.

The kids had a blast making each gingerbread man their own.

My Harry Potter obsessed 9 year old made Hermoine sporting a red and gold Gryffindor scarf.

No two are alike {except the ones I did later, because I have no imagination!}

Salt Dough Gingerbread Recipe

Print Recipe

2 c. flour
1 c. salt
2 T. cinnamon
2 t. nutmeg
1 t. cloves
1 c. water.

1. Mix together dry ingredients. Add 1/2 cup of water. Gradually add the remaining water and mix until smooth. {I used my kitchen aid}

2. Roll out dough and cut out shapes. Place on a greased baking sheet.

3. Use a straw or toothpick to make holes.

4. Spray lightly with cooking spray to retain a deep gingerbread color.

5. Bake at 250 for 2 hours. For very thin ornaments check after 1 hour.

Note: If you would like to make ornaments that are not "gingerbread", omit the spices. You can paint them to create colorful ornaments. {See my salt dough Easter Eggs as an example.}

More DIY Ornaments

Wood Burned Ornaments