DIY Gingerbread House Ornaments to Make this Season

This year, gingerbread Christmas decorations seem to be everywhere!  If you’d like to jump on the trend while getting a little creative this holiday season, here’s an easy craft to try.  Today, I’ll show you how I made some easy DIY gingerbread house ornaments!

*For your convenience, please note that this post contains affiliate links.  If you make a purchase after clicking my links below, I will receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

Easy DIY Gingerbread House Ornaments:

For these gingerbread ornaments, there’s no baking required…

Instead of making real gingerbread houses, these homemade ornaments are made of wood.

Not only were these diy ornaments easy to make, but they were actually a fun project.  In fact, I think they’d be easy enough for kids to try.  This year, get the whole family involved in the Christmas decorations!

DIY Gingerbread House Inspiration:

Simple wood ornaments…

Last year, I found some inexpensive packets of wooden tags at Michael’s craft store.  

At the time, I decided to paint them all white and hang them on one of my Christmas trees.  Since I was decorating with snowflakes and white houses, the ornaments worked with my theme.

If you like to decorate with white houses at Christmas time, here are some more ways I’ve decorated with them over the years.

This year, I took a look at my white house ornaments and decided to add some gingerbread houses!  After all, you can never have enough Christmas ornaments!

Supplies to Make Gingerbread House Ornaments:

• House shaped wood ornaments (or tags) larger version – about 3-4 inches.
• Brown craft paint – Matte acrylic paint
• Paint brush or sponge brush similar sponge brushes
• White puffy paint or fabric paint – similar fabric paint
• Piece of twine, red baker’s twine or thin ribbon (to hang them) similar baker’s twine
• Parchment paper or wax paper to paint them on. 

Instructions for DIY Gingerbread House Ornaments:

First, paint the wood houses with brown paint.

Recently, I picked up a couple larger wood houses at Michaels to add to my mini wooden houses.  Technically, I think they were labeled as wood tags like the smaller ones.  Either way, I painted them all brown with a simple sponge brush.

While painting the houses, I placed them on parchment paper to keep them from sticking to other surfaces.  Even though my acrylic paint was supposed to be washable with soap and water, I didn’t want to take any chances.

Paint the backs of the gingerbread houses for a neater look…

Since the brown paint seeped through the openings on the houses, the reverse sides looked messy.  To fix this, I lightly painted the backs of the houses and placed them all on a clean sheet of parchment paper.

Add a second coat of paint to the front of the gingerbread houses…

From there, I painted the front sides of the wood houses one more time.  Then I let them dry.

Decorate the DIY gingerbread house ornaments with white paint…

Once, the brown paint was dry, I began adding the ‘white icing’…or in this case, the white puffy paint!

Actually, the paint I used was fabric paint.  While shopping, I chose that paint because I liked the small size of the opening which made it easier for decorating.  Plus, the fabric paint looked like real icing.

Let the paint dry and attach string for hanging…

When I bought the larger house ornaments, they came with red ribbon so that made this step easier.  Even though the smaller wood houses came with natural twine, I decided to use red and white baker’s twin instead.  It definitely gave the houses more of Christmas vibe.

Hang the gingerbread houses on your Christmas tree…

Overall, I ended up preferring the larger gingerbread house ornaments.  Besides being easier to paint, I liked the house shape and design better than the smaller ones.  From a distance, the larger gingerbread houses were also more noticeable on the Christmas tree.

Places to Display Your Gingerbread Ornaments:

• Hang them on your Christmas tree.
• Attach them to a Christmas wreath or other holiday decor.
• String them together on a piece of ribbon to create a gingerbread house garland.
• Use the gingerbread houses as gift tags and attach them to your holiday presents.

Hopefully, I’ve inspired you to create your own DIY gingerbread house ornaments!

For more holiday crafts, here are a few projects you might like:

• Last year, I shared my easy DIY paper Christmas trees.
• For another super-easy Christmas DIY project, see how I decorated with wrapping paper!
• If you need more ideas for displaying ornaments, read – 7 Simple Ways to Decorate with Christmas Ornaments.

Will you be decorating with gingerbread houses this year?

Follow along so you don’t miss a post!

Subscribe by email – HERE

Pinterest/ Instagram / Facebook / Twitter