The holidays are a season for twinkling lights and festive decor, but they're also the most wonderful time of the year for sweet and spicy scents. Fill your home with the magical aroma of cinnamon and apples with this scented gingerbread garland that is sure to add wonder and whimsy wherever you hang it.

Gingerbread garland hanging above snowy gingerbread village

Things You’ll Need

  • 3/4 cup applesauce

  • 1 cup ground cinnamon

  • 2 tbsp craft glue

  • Plastic wrap

  • Rolling pin

  • Gingerbread man cookie cutter

  • Drinking straw

  • Parchment paper

  • Puffy paint

  • Ribbon

Gingerbread garland hanging above snowy gingerbread village

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 200° F.

Step 2

In a large bowl, mix the applesauce, cinnamon and craft glue together until it forms a dough.

Mixing applesauce, cinnamon and glue in bowl

Tip

You can omit the craft glue if you like. It just helps to prevent breakage and makes the garland last longer if you'd like to reuse it for future holiday seasons.

Step 3

Form the dough into a ball and place it between two sheets of plastic wrap.

Ball of dough placed between plastic wrap

Step 4

Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness.

Rolling dough out

Step 5

Cut out gingerbread men shapes using a cookie cutter and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Use a drinking straw to cut two holes in the center of each gingerbread man so you can string ribbon through them later.

Cutting holes in gingerbread men for ribbon

Step 6

Bake in the oven for 2.5 hours at 200° F. Allow to cool when done baking.

Gingerbread men cooling on baking sheet

Step 7

Once cool, decorate the gingerbread men with puffy paint. I drew squiggly lines across the arms and legs to create "sweaters" and "pants" on them, and also drew smiley faces on each.

Decorating gingerbread man with puffy paint

Step 8

Allow the puffy paint to dry, and then string ribbon through the holes of the gingerbread men to create a garland. Weave the ribbon from the back, pull it across the front and weave it to the back again.

Threading ribbon through gingerbread men

Hang on a mantel, in a window, or from a tree — this gingerbread garland is sure to cause some glee!

Gingerbread garland

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here