Welcome to another Wacky Workshops project – make your own gingerbread man and houses.

The houses can be made large enough to use as a clever wrapping solution for Christmas or small enough to hold a tiny battery tea light and hang on the tree.

There are two gingerbread man projects – an ornament made out of recyclables and a recipe for the delicious cookies.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN GINGERBREAD MAN

CARDBOARD ROLL GINGERBREAD MAN

These are super easy so tiny tots can have some fun with them while learning about creative recycling.

MATERIALS

• 2 x cardboard rolls
• Brown paper
• Green or red felt or foam
• Green or red buttons
• Googly eyes
• Markers
• Glue
• Scissors

METHOD

• Cut a cardboard roll in half vertically.
• Spread flat and use one end of the other roll to trace a circle on it.
• Cut out the circle and glue the bottom part of it inside the end of the other roll to form a head.
• Cut the brown paper into strips – two long for the legs and two shorter for the arms.
• Fold the strips accordion style and glue into position on the roll.
• Cut the foam or felt into a bow shape and glue onto the roll, just below the head.
• Glue the buttons onto the front of the roll.
• Glue the googly eyes onto the face and continue decorating with markers.

GINGERBREAD MAN RECIPE

These are easy and delicious and so much fun to decorate. Add a little ‘magic’ and your gingerbread man may come to life like George the Gingerbread Man.

INGREDIENTS

• 125g softened butter
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup golden syrup
• 2 eggs – separate, keep 1 yolk and put the whites aside
• 1 ½ cups plain flour
• 1 tbsp powdered ginger
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1 tsp bicarb of soda

FOR THE ICING

• 2 egg whites
• 2 cups icing sugar, sifted
• 1 x lemon
• Assorted chocolate buttons to decorate

METHOD

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius.
• Cream butter and sugar together.
• Add egg yolk and golden syrup and combine.
• Add flour, ginger, mixed spice and bicarb soda and mix. NOTE: It will look very crumbly but it comes together well.

• Grab a handful of the mix and squeeze together then lay on a sheet of baking paper.
• Cover with another sheet of baking paper and roll out the dough.
• Use a cookie cutter to cut out the shapes. (lots of fun for the kids to do).
• Place the shapes on greased baking trays and bake for 8 – 10 minutes.
• Leave on the trays for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
• Allow to cool completely before decorating.

FOR THE ICING

• Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
• Add sifted icing sugar and a few drops of lemon juice and combine.
• Use the icing to ‘glue’ the chocolate button decorations and to draw lines and features on the shapes.

Try not to eat too many all at once

GINGERBREAD HOUSES

If you make large houses you can leave one side of the roof so it opens up – what a fun way to wrap a child’s gift!

The small ones are so lightweight they can hang on the tree.

LARGE HOUSE MATERIALS

• Thick cardboard – I used an old carton.
• Box cutters/scissors
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Sticky tape
• Paint
• Glitter
• Old Christmas cards
• Scrapbook frames or paddle pop sticks
• Wrapping paper

METHOD

• Measure, mark, and cut out the cardboard using the picture above as a template. NOTE: You can make this any size you want, but for my measurements, the RED numbers are for the larger box. If you are using this for a gift, do NOT cut out the window shapes, but instead, mark them with a pencil.
• Fold the house on the lines indicated in the picture and tape the ends together.
• Cut out another piece of cardboard – 30 cm x 34 cm and fold in half (shorter ends together) for the roof. If you don’t have a large enough piece of cardboard, cut out two pieces – 30 cm x 17 cm each and tape the two longer ends together.
• Tape one-half of the roof to the house, so that the fold is at the peak and so that the other half will lift up.

• Cut another piece of cardboard – 25 cm x 21 ½ cm – for the base, and attach it to the bottom of the house.
• Now that your house is made, have some fun decorating.
• You could wrap the whole thing in Christmas paper or paint it and then use the paddle pop sticks or scrapbook frames to make windows (cut and glue scenes from old Christmas cards for the windows) and doors and add glitter and embellishments.
• ALTERNATIVELY: You could cut out the windows and doors and make lovely stained glass windows using the methods outlined in my post, 3 Easy Ways to Make Stained Glass – Without the Glass.

Have fun being creative.

SMALL HOUSE MATERIALS

• Lightweight cardboard or old Christmas cards
• Scissors/box cutters
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Sticky tape
• Battery tea light candle
• Christmas ribbon (for hanging)

METHOD

•  Follow the directions for the larger house, using the BLACK measurements on the picture template. This is the perfect size for holding a tea light candle.
• Use the template to mark out windows and doors.
• Use box cutters or scissors to cut out the windows and doors so the light will shine through.
• Tape the whole thing together, once again leaving one-half of the roof so it will open (so you can put the candle inside).
• Add Christmas ribbon to the top and hang on your tree.

Please be sure to share these projects.

Check out my post, Finding a Friend – The Adventures of George the Gingerbread Man, for a fun and magical children’s story.

Happy crafting and have a gleeful week, Tamuria.