Gingerbread Men Garland

I’ve been seeing lots of Gingerbread Man garlands on Pinterest this year.   The first time I saw one I knew I wanted to create some to add to our holiday decorations.  Not just for the tree, but to add a touch of homespun old fashioned Christmas cheer in other spots around the house too.   But I wanted my garlands to last forever so I don’t have to remake them each year.  I did see some versions made with salt dough, but we have pets and salt dough ornaments are very dangerous to pets if they ingest them - which around here happens frequently!   The answer?  Makin’s Clay®!  Perfect, permanent Gingerbread Men ready to decorate our home for many years to come!   Since Makin's Clay® is fully dry in 24 hours, there is still time to create some adorable Gingerbread Men gift tags for your gifts too! 

Materials: 

Makin’s Clay® - Terra Cotta - 2 120g packages 

Makin’s® 4 piece Gingerbread Man Cutter Set 

Makin’s® Professional® Tool Set - blade 

Makin’s® Clay Tools 

Makin’s® Cutting Mat 

Toothbush 

Flannel 2" Christmas Ribbon

Instructions: 

Use clay roller to roll 2 packages of Terra Cotta Makin’s Clay® to about 1/8” thick.    This is thick enough to be sturdy and looks more like a real cookie than thinner rolled clay would look.  

Cut 5-6 men with 2nd largest clay cutter.  (I cut 5 because I wanted a shorter garland, and I used the smaller sized cutters to make an ornament, and two clay gift tags.  I had just a tiny bit of remaining clay afterwards.

Tip:  I wanted my gingerbread men to be a bit slimmer than the chubby size of the clay cutters, so I simply gently squeezed the cutter inwards a bit to create a slightly slimmer profile (too bad that won’t work on me!).  You can see the difference between the original shape and my slightly modified shape in this photo.  

To give the gingerbread men a real cookie texture, I used a tip saved on the Makin’s Clay® Tutorials & Techniques Pinterest Board - I used an old toothbrush to pounce against the clay and add a fresh baked texture!

To create the ribbon slots, I used the blade from the Professional® Tool Kit to make two slices about 1/4” apart, then use the opposite end to cut between the two slices as shown. 

If you also make ornaments and/or tags like I did, make a hole in the top center of the head for the ribbon.   

Let the clay dry for 24 hours.  Add the flannel ribbon through 

the slots to create the garland, or tie the ribbon to the ornaments/tags.  

For another great tutorial featuring a similar technique, using oven bake clay - check out this pin on our Tutorial & Techniques blog.