Glittered Gingerbread Christmas Tree Ornaments.
Getting crafty and sharing these cute and easy glittered gingerbread Christmas tree ornaments. With simple craft supplies and a good gingerbread recipe, homemade gingerbread cookies are turned into adorable ornaments for this year’s Christmas tree. Not only are these ornaments extra festive, they’re an easy and fun holiday project to work on during a cold day spent inside.
Did you know that in addition to cooking and styling food, I also love a good craft project? As a kid, I’d spend my weekends either rearranging my bedroom, playing around with clothes, or doing something semi-crafty. For a while, I even had a small jewelry making “business”, where I managed to have my items sold in a local clothing store.
Long story short, I’ve always loved putting things together and making them beautiful. I don’t get to do craft projects very often these days, as I spend all my time making food look and taste good. But with the holidays here, it’s given me an excuse to get back to my crafty side.
I have some really fun posts coming over the next four Sundays before Christmas. I wanted to kick off our Homemade Holidays Series with something to decorate your Christmas tree.
Enter these gingerbread ornaments.
These are so easy to create, so incredibly cute, and all around just really fun…no matter what your age.
Here are the details. First things first, gather up all the supplies you’ll need. I ordered everything via Amazon, since we don’t have any craft stores up here…UPS and FedEx sometimes stop twice.
Here is what you’ll need:
Snowflake Cookie Cutters – this is the cookie cutter set I wish I had. I just used a mix match of star and snowflake cookie cutters. But if you need to buy a set of cookie cutters, I recommend these. They’re perfect for these ornaments.
Jewelry Wire – this super easy to and very bendable. Perfect for these ornaments.
Jingle Bells – I used a more rustic jingle bell, but you can use any jingle bell you love.
Glitter – this is pack of colors, but I ended up just doing gold dusted trees. Again, you do what you like!
Festive Ribbon – I used red and green ribbon from Anthropologie, but Target as really cute options too!
Once you have all your supplies, it’s time to make gingerbread cookies.
I made mine spiced heavily with cinnamon and ginger, so that the house would smell beyond amazing while they baked up. I left out the leavening so that the cookies would not spread at all. These cookies are definitely more for decorating purposes than for eating, but I mean, they still taste good…
The important thing to remember when baking your cookies is to punch a hole in the center of each cookie. Then you can easily thread the cookies through the wire once they’re done baking. I forget to do this for my first batch of cookies. I ended up breaking most of them while trying to punch holes through the center…
And my third batch of cookies…burnt to a crisp. Ooops! No more phone meetings while baking cookies.
When the cookies come out of the oven, sprinkle them with glitter. Then let them cool completely so the cookies can harden before you start to assemble.
Also, I kept my cookie decorations pretty simple, but you can really decorate these as little or as much as you’d like. Totally up to you. Just be sure to decorate the cookies before threading them onto the wire.
OK, so now it’s time to assemble.
I tried to take as many photos of the process as possible. I feel like craft projects are always easier if you have good photos to look at. Plus I’m much more of a visual learner myself.
These are really pretty simple, and once you do the first tree, you’ll get the second one even better. Essentially you’re just layering the gingerbread cookies one by one on the wire. Then twisting the wire to secure. And tying on pretty ribbon to finish them all off.
Promise it’s not too hard, and like I said, do the first one and the second one will be easy.
Asher and I had so much fun making these together. They will definitely be a new tradition for us. Excited to make different ones every year and compare our past designs!
Also, while these will be beautiful on your Christmas tree, they would make for a great gift too!
Hope you all enjoyed today’s post. I know it’s a little different, but let me know what you think! Always appreciate your feedback!
If you make these gingerbread ornaments, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Glittered Gingerbread Christmas Tree Ornaments
With simple craft supplies and a good gingerbread recipe, homemade gingerbread cookies are turned into ornaments for this year's Christmas tree.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup molasses
Supplies
- 6-7 star or snowflake cookies cutters, in multiple sizes, from large to small
- glitter
- jewelry wire + wire cutter
- jingle bells
- ribbon
Instructions
-
1. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl combine the flour, ginger, and cinnamon.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add the molasses and beat until combined. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients until no streaks are showing in the dough. If the dough feels dry, add 1 tablespoon water.
3. Divide the dough in half. On a floured surface, roll the dough out to a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out 5 large snowflakes, then repeat with the remaining sizes (working from large to small to complete the tree). Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets.
4. Using the remaining dough, roll out 30 small balls (about the size of a small marble) and place around the cut snowflakes on the baking sheet.
5. Using a drinking straw or skewer, poke holes into the center of each cookie. Do this with the small balls too. Cover the baking sheets and place them in the freezer to chill for 10-15 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the shaped cookies for 10-12 minutes, until set. Cool on a cookie sheet. Lightly sprinkle the cookies with glitter.
7. Cut 5 (8-inch-long) pieces of wire. Thread 1 jingle bell on the bottom, twisting the wire to secure. Starting with the largest snowflake, thread the snowflakes on the wire working from large to small. In between each snowflake thread a ball to separate the snowflakes. At the top of the tree, make a loop with the wire, twisting the wire to secure (see above photo). Thread the ribbon through the loop. Use ornaments as desired. If stored well, these will keep indefinitely, just be gentle when handling them so the cookies don't break.
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Definitely enjoyed this post! Homemade crafty gifts/projects are so fun (in my opinion); and the simple yet elegant glitter decoration is perfect for these!
Thank you so much Liz! I am so glad you loved this post!
You can purchase edible glitter (via Amazon) if you plan to eat the cookies!
YES! So smart, thank you for sharing Valerie! I hope you try these!
These are so cute. The smell must be wonderful.
Thank you so much Charlotte!
What a great idea! I plan to make these with my granddaughter and use them to decorate the holiday greenery on the fireplace mantle. Oh. What. Fun!
(Five stars for your creative genius!)
Awh that sounds like such a sweet day! I hope it is amazing for you and you both enjoy making these, Kathy! Thank you!
Great job you guys – these turned out fab!!
Rebecca | http://www.peppermintdolly.com
Thank you so much!
I really love these rustic looking snowflakes and stars decorations with the ribbons and bells. I wouldn’t change anything about how you did them except try to use mostly snowflakes since I am partial to them. You came up with some really cute decorations.
Thank you so much Lou! I hope you love making these and they turn out amazing for you!
So beautiful and I love the festive glitter!!
Thank you so much Laura!
these are so so cute!!!
Thank you so much Ruth!
Super cute!
Thank you!
Every year we make a gingerbread house with our granddaughter. This year she decided that she didn’t want to use a kit.
I showed her the tree ornaments and we made a few for the house decoration. The dough was so easy to use that we ended up making the house from it also. We are baking as I type and are making great progress. Thanks for the inspiration.
That is so sweet! I am so glad you make these ornaments, Bonnie! Thank you!
Hello! Can the dough be made in advanced and stored in the fridge for a few days?
Sure! That works great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much!! xTieghan ?
I just tried this and my dough was really powder-y. I added 1 tsp of water, but it still seemed to be falling apart. Any suggestions?
Hey Janel,
Sorry you are having issues with the recipe. Is there anything you adjusted? Please let me know how I can help! xTieghan
Do you have a good gingerbread cookie recipe?
Hey Molly,
Here are some of my fave gingerbread recipes: https://dev.halfbakedharvest.com/?s=gingerbread
Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This was super fun and easy! The house smells of gingerbread, so good. Love this!! I’ll post photo on Instagram and Pinterest Merry Christmas Everyone!
Hey Carolyn,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad you enjoyed! Happy Holidays! xTieghan