Gingerbread Week: Repurposed Cardboard Gingerbread Wreath

 

Welcome to Day Four of Impromptu Gingerbread Week! This may be my favorite project and it's something anyone can do and without a cutting machine or tools beyond an X-ACTO or other sharp blade, a paint pen, and some puff paint! If you want to get fancier, add in some glitter and embellishments. 

'tis the season for shipping boxes so the main ingredient is definitely on hand! 

Supplies: 

• Cardboard Shipping Box
• Pencil
• Kraft Knife or Sharp Scissors
• Paint Pen
• Puffy Paint
• Misc. Embellishments 

I cut up a box into three different sizes/shapes. You could do them all the same, or each one different...totally up to you. 

Then I just went to town with a paint pen. I also found some chipboard embellishments in my craft hoard, I mean stash, dry-brushed a little with white paint, and added those to some of the pieces. 

I went over top with puff paints and added some dots with acrylic paint. And of course, I couldn't resist adding some rhinestones because...ya know.

I had a wire wreath form from Dollar Tree on hand, and some burlap ribbon in my stash that I thought would be perfect for this, so I wrapped the wreath form with it. 

You could also skip this step and make a wreath form out of more cardboard or other materials. Use what you have!

To construct, I started with one of the tall houses and then alternated the shapes and covered the wreath! 

I didn't want any of the base showing through so spaced the larger pieces and then used the smaller pieces to cover any gaps. 

And DONE! 

Gingerbread Week: Gingerbread House Village

 

Welcome to Day 3 of my Impromptu Gingerbread Week! I had a lot of fun last year with a Dollar Tree Doll House to Gingerbread House transformation, and with Gingerbread design being even bigger this year, it was a given that I'd do more. I also had a couple of Dollar Tree Fairy Cottages I didn't use when I made my Halloween decor, so they became little Gingerbread Cottages!

Supplies:

• Dollar Tree Dollhouses. For this project you need two since each one is only half a house. 
• Ceramic Cottages or Small Houses. I got mine at DT which has Christmas Houses in that would work.
• Rustoleum and Acrylic Paints in Nutmeg and White
• White Acrylic Paint Pen
• Tulip Puff Paints
• Acrylic Paint Pen
• Mod Podge
• Glitter
• Misc. Embellishments

This is the style of DT Dollhouse I used. You can go with just one if you don't want a (no pun intended) full house. I took the roofs off. 

These are the Rustoleum paints I used. 

Spray paint the roofs white (shown here with one coat...I did another since the color was peeking through) and the base of the hose Nutmeg. You can pop out the windows and doors, but I find they're a pain to put back in, so I chose detailing them instead. 

Re-attach the roofs then put both halves together. I used a combination of super glue gel and hot glue and it doesn't matter if it shows through because it will get covered anyway. 

If you're like me, you have a stash of leftover supplies from previous projects so I went through mine and pulled out colors that worked. 

I grabbed two of these strips of adhesive rhinestones and used them to decorate the sides of the house. Again, don't worry about gaps because they'll get covered. Reinforced with some quick-dry glue. 

I used a white acrylic paint pen to highlight the raised areas of the house along with the windows. Then I grabbed some Tulip Puffy Paint in white and added snow!

I did a squiggle across the roof and down the sides of the roofline and sprinkled with some fine glitter. 

Et voila, Gingerbread Manor! Like I did with my Halloween Haunted Mansion, I added two smaller cottages using Dollar Tree Fairy Cottages. 

These are the ones I used. Very Spring looking, right? 

I hit these with the Rustoleum Nutmeg. Already looks totally different. 

I had a couple bare spots so I just went over them with Apple Barrel Nutmeg using a foam spouncer. 

Then, I painted the roofs white, added some to the base, and as with the dollhouse, I accented the raised areas using an acrylic paint pen. As always, I added some bling with some rhinestones and a tree charm to the door. 

To finish, I coated the roofs with Mod Podge and sprinkled on some tinsel glitter. 

I liked the way the tinsel glitter worked with the thatching of the roofs. 

Gingerbread Week Day 1

Gingerbread Week Day 2

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Welcome to Vintage Charm Party #517!

Gingerbread Week: Gingerbread Nutcrackers

 

Welcome to Day 2 of my impromptu Gingerbread Week! It's clearly a theme this year everywhere I go. Today I'm sharing what I did with some plain ceramic Nutcrackers I found on sale at JoAnn (RIP!) after Christmas last year. 

Supplies:

• Ceramic or Wood Nutcrackers
• Multi-Surface Acrylic Paint
• Acrylic Paint Pen
• Puff Paint
• Misc. Embellishments

I found these at JoAnn for 70 or 80% off after last Christmas. This technique could just as easily be done with wood Nutcrackers or thrifted ones. 

At the time, I had yet to find the viral Rustoleum Nutmeg spray paint, nor could I find the exact color I wanted in brush paint so I did what we Makers do and mixed my own! Added some of the Espresso to the Fawn until I was satisfied. 

I covered everything but the edges of the base using a sponge spouncer. 

Then, I grabbed a white acrylic paint pen and just doodled my way around my Nutcrackers! The thing I love about these Gingerbread projects is, there's no one way. No right or wrong. 

For no particular reason, I painted the edges of the bases gold. Then I grabbed some Tulip Puffy Paint and added more detail to my Nutcrackers. 

And, of course...these weren't complete until I added a little bling. My tried and true Creatology Gems (Michaels) for the win! To finish, I added a white pom-pom to the top of their hats. 

Come back tomorrow for another fun Gingerbread Project! 

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Welcome to Vintage Charm Party #517!

Gingerbread Week: Sweet Shoppe Galvanized Metal Houses

 

This week's BFF Open House continues here through tomorrow. 

Gingerbread is so very on trend this holiday season. It's everywhere and on everything. Natch, as a Maker, I had to play! I ended up having so much fun that I decided to do a Gingerbread Week of projects!

I mentioned when I shared my Christmas Card Box that I was incorporating a Sweet Shoppe theme as part of my Christmas Decor, so this is part of that. It won't all come together until after Thanksgiving.  

Supplies:

• Little Houses (I found these Galvanized Metal ones over the Summer when Dollar Tree had them on clearance for $.25!)
• Acrylic Paints 
• Dotting Tools
• Decorative Gems (Creatology, Michaels)
• Mini Gingerbread Figures (Ashland, Michaels)
• Adhesive
• Glitter
• Oversized Bottle Caps

As I mentioned, I picked up these little galvanized metal houses over the Summer when Dollar Tree was clearing out a lot of their galvanized metal pieces. Had no clue what I was going to do with them (story of my life), but for a quarter each? No brainer. You could even make similar from cardboard or use a wood house cutout. Grabbed my Waverly No Prep Paints in Truffle and White and painted the base white and the house Truffle. 

I picked up these cute Gingerbread minis at Michaels (on sale of course!!) and thought they'd be perfect for the idea I didn't know I had. 

I had these oversized bottlecaps in my stash from a previous pickup somewhere and they were the perfect size for the opening in the metal houses. I used JudiKins dimensional glue and some glitter on hand to line the edges of each, and also to glue in the gingerbread pieces. I used E6000 and hot glue to attach the bottlecaps to the metal pieces. 

Then I got out my ball styluses to dot the houses with white paint. You can also do this with paint brushes. 

Attached the Gingerbread Cookie pieces to the top of the house with E6000 glue. Any strong adhesive will work. 

If you've followed me for a minute, you know the requisite "It Don't Mean a Thing, If It Ain't Got That Bling" applies so I grabbed my Creatology Gems from Michaels and added them! I swear, the jar is going to last me for the rest of my life. 

Almost done!

To finish, I used Tulip Dimensional Paint to add some snow atop the bottlecaps. Now, all done!

Stay tuned this week for more Gingerbread ideas!