Gingerbread Cookie Ornaments

Project/Craft

Mickey Gingerbread Man Ornament

Decorate your home or Christmas tree with non-edible "gingerbread" cookie ornaments. These are made from a salt dough recipe that looks very much like real gingerbread.

Tools & Materials

For your convenience, we have provided affiliate links to the tools and materials. As an Amazon associate, we earn from qualifying products.

Cookie Templates & Stencils

To begin, you will need to download the cookie templates and stencils. You can use the 8 patterns that we've provided, or make your own. If you have a cutting machine, vector files are included for the stencils.

  • Mickey & Friends Gingerbread Cookie Ornaments TemplatesDownload
    A Disney Experience Original

Tools/Materials

Salt Dough Ingredients

Cook Time: 4+ Hours

Makes: Approximately 6 Ornaments

Assembly Instructions

Prepare the Salt Dough

The cinnamon is what gives the salt dough its gingerbread color and texture. The more that you put in, the darker your dough will be. We don't recommend using more than 4 tablespoons (that's what we used) unless you want REALLY dark ornaments.

If you are buying ground cinnamon specifically for this project, don't waste your money on the good stuff. Buy the cheapest cinnamon that you can find.

You can leave out the cinnamon if you don't want your ornaments to look more like sugar cookie!

In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix well by hand. Then, slowly add water, mixing it in a little at a time. You want to have a firm, non-sticky dough that is similar in consistency to Play-Doh.

To store your dough for later use, wrap it tightly in cling wrap, and store it in the refrigerator.

Prepare the Stencils & Templates

Cookie Templates

Print the cookie templates onto cardstock. We recommend using spray adhesive to mount them onto cardboard or foam board if you plan to keep and use them over and over through the years.

Cut the templates out. These will be your cookie shapes and design/color references.

The stencils are slightly smaller than the cookie templates to account for 5% shrinkage. There are two versions of the stencils available . . .

 

Cookie Stencils

Print the regular stencils onto cardstock, and then cut them out with a craft knife. Details that are easily decorated by hand have been purposely left out.

If you have a cutting machine, vector files for these stencils have been provided to save you from cutting them out by hand.

 

Make Your Own Cookie Stencils

The second set of stencils are for cutting out any details that you think you will need, making your own stencils.

Step 1

Lightly flour a flat surface area. Pull off a piece of dough, and use a rolling pin to roll out a flat sheet roughly 1/4″ thick. Any thicker, and the ornaments will be too heavy to hang on a tree. Thicker ornaments will also take longer to bake.

Cutting Out the Cookie Shapes

Step 2

Use the cookie templates and a craft knife to carefully cut out the cookie shapes.

If you want, now is the time to make a hole in the top of your cookies for the string, ribbon, and/or ornament hook. Use a toothpick, or a pointed object to make a hole approximately 1/2 cm in diameter. Note that the hole will shrink slightly.

For a nicer look, you can use eye pins—which will be used in this tutorial—in lieu of poking holes.

Step 3

Pre-heat the oven to 225° F. Place each cookie onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Make sure that the side that you plan on decorating is face-down.

Use a knife to poke several holes into the back of each cookie to help prevent air pockets from forming.

Step 4

Place the cookie sheet onto the oven's center rack for 1 hour. Then, check to see if the cookies have formed any air pockets. If so, carefully poke them with a knife. Some cookies form air pockets, and some don't.

The cookies will look very pale. They will darken after applying a sealer/varnish.

Step 5

Place the cookies back into the oven to bake for another 2 hours. Then, flip them over. Continue cooking for another hour or until they are dry. Take the cookies out of the oven when they are done, and let them cool off completely.

After the cookies have cooled, if the centers are still soft/flexible, return them to the oven for another 1-2 hours.

Step 6

Trace the Stencil Designs Onto the Cookies

Use the prepared stencils to trace the designs onto the cookies with a pencil. To see the lines better, you may want to use a white colored pencil instead.

Step 7

Decorate the Cookies

Use dimensional fabric paint to decorate the cookies, and let them dry for 24 hours.

Watch out for air bubbles! They can cause the paint to spurt out, ruinning your work.

Holding the bottle upside-down, shake the bottle to force the paint down toward the tip and the air bubbles up. If you do mess up, you can clean the paint away with some isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab or tissue.

Step 8

If you are not using eye pins on your ornaments, skip to Step 10.

Eye Pins

Drilling a Hole

Use a pin vise and a micro drill bit to drill holes into your cookies where you want the eye pins to go. Be very careful and take your time—these cookies are very hard, and micro drill bits can snap if you bend them. There can also be tiny air pockets inside where the drill bit can slip.

Step 9

Gluing the Eye Pin

Test that the eye pins fit into the holes, and cut them to length as needed. Then, apply super glue to the stems of the eye pins and insert them into the cookies.

Step 10

Seal the cookie ornaments with at least 2 coats of non-yellowing gloss sealer/varnish. Gloss sealer/varnish dries hard, helping to protect against scratches and light nicks.

To make the cookie ornaments look realistic, apply 1-2 coats of a matte/flat sealer/varnish. Make sure that the sealer/varnish that you choose is completely flat/dull; some matte sprays have a slightly glossy sheen, which is not what is needed.

We both like and recommend Liquitex matte varnish. It is a flat-finish archival varnish that is non-yellowing, flexible, water-resistant, and helps protect against UV damage. It can be brushed on or sprayed with an airbrush.

When the ornaments are dry, attach ribbon or string through the holes. If you used eye pins, use ornament hooks.

Step 11

Mickey Gingerbread Man Ornament

Your gingerbread cookie ornaments are complete! Hang your ornaments around the house, on a Christmas tree, or decorate a wreath.

What changes did you make? Did you create a wild color scheme? Submit photos of your creation to the Fan Board so that everyone can see!

Both the post author and this website have not received any compensation for writing this post. Both the post author and this website have no material connection to the third-party brands, products, or services that have been mentioned unless otherwise explicitly stated. Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means that if you purchase the item, we will receive a commission. As an Amazon associate, we earn from qualifying products. This is being disclosed in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."