The Twelve Days of Craft-mas: Day Four

On the fourth day of craft-mas, I made this for my tree…

Gingerbread ornaments!

Victorians loved to put sweets of all kinds - candy, cookies, sugarplums - on their Christmas trees (1). I made some gingerbread-like cookies with salt dough so that they can be used for years to come!

Difficulty: Easy-medium

Time: ~3 hours

NOTE: the cookies will need to bake in the oven for two hours so plan accordingly!

fig 1. Necessary tools

What you will need

• 1 cup of flour

• ½ cup of salt

• 2 tbsp Cinnamon

• 1 tbsp ginger (ground)

• 2 tsp cloves (ground)

• ½ cup water

• Medium mixing bowl

• Baking spatula 

• 2 baking sheets

• Rolling pin

• Cookie cutters of choice 

• Parchment paper

• Ribbon

• Paint and paintbrush (optional)

Part one: making the ornaments

Preheat the oven to 250F

Mix the dry ingredients in the bowl. Feel free to add more or less of any spice

Slowly mix the water into the dry ingredients.

Mix until your dough forms into a dense ball. If it feels too dry or too sticky to work with, add water or flour until it's the desired thickness. 

Line your baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Spread a handful of flour onto a clean surface.

Place your ball of dough on the flour.

Use your rolling pin to roll the dough until it is around ¼” thick. If your rolling pin is sticking to the dough, sprinkle more flour on it. 

Use your cookie cutters to form your shapes.

Remove the excess dough and set aside.

Using the end of a paint brush or another sharp tool, pierce holes into the tops of the cookies (or wherever you wish to hang them from.)

(note: I only remembered this step when my cookies were already in the oven, which is why they are already on the sheet and slightly baked in this picture. Thankfully I still got to them in time!)

Use your spatula to scoop the cookies off of the table and onto the parchment paper baking sheets.

You don’t need to worry about placing them too far apart from each other as they will not grow in the oven.

Roll out the excess dough with your rolling pin and continue to cut out cookies. Repeat this until you run out of dough. 

Place the cookie sheets in the oven and let them bake for two hours. 

Part two: Decorating the ornaments

Once the two hours are up, remove your cookies from the oven and let them cool. 

Once they’ve cooled off, you can paint them, glue fun craft things onto them, or simply hang them as is.

Cut a 4-6” long piece of ribbon and poke it through the hole.

Tie the ribbon on top, and now you have your ornament!

What I enjoyed

My favourite part of this craft was the warm gingerbread smell coming from the oven for the two hours that the cookies were baking! They were also super fun to decorate. I decided to use some as gift-wrapping decor as well, that way my family members can each have their own to keep.

What i found difficult

Ironically, the warm gingerbread smell made me wish that the cookies were edible rather than ornamental! If you have the time and skill, I would suggest making regular gingerbread cookies as well, as you’re sure to work up a craving with this one. 

How did your gingerbread salt-dough cookies turn out? If you’d like to show them off, send us a picture on Instagram or Facebook @dalnavertmuseum !

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Sources

1. Anonymous. “Home Art and Home Comfort: Christmas Tree Ornaments”, Demorest's Family Magazine, Vol. 27, No. 2, December 1890, p. 106.