Today, we create a Gingerbread man
For me, seeing a gingerbread man is something that makes me think about winter and Christmas instantly. I love all the different varieties of these little fellas, you can throw in your own creativity to make your own and that's exactly what we're doing today. I decided this Gingerbread man was in need of eyes, a scarf, and some buttons on the belly only, as it's a very small ornament, I didn't want to overdo it by giving him a mouth and some extra decoration on the hands and legs. You can of course choose to add whatever you like, let the creativity flow!
What do you need?
- Brown felt (how much is depending on the size of your pattern, mine is small)
- A gingerbread man pattern (draw one or find one online)
- Pencil
- White thread
- A needle
- Cotton wool
- Tool to press the cotton wool into the arms and legs (optional)
- A small strip of red felt (scarf)
- Two googly eyes
- About 5 cm ribbon
- Two tiny white rounds of felt (you can also use buttons)
- Scissors
- Glue (I ended up using a glue gun)
Step by step tutorial
Cut out the gingerbread man pattern (you can pick one to your liking online, so many choices in different sizes) and place it on the brown felt. Use a pencil to draw round the pattern and now cut out the pattern twice. You now have both sides of your gingerbread man ornament ready!
You can start stitching them together now, I used a white thread as it matches the gingerbread man decoration on cookies. Don't forget to stitch the ribbon on top of the head so that you have an ornament with hanger.
Take a few pieces of cotton to fill up the tiny arms and legs before you fill up the rest of the ornament. I found it easier to use a dotting tool so that I could presse the cotton wool into the narrow parts as well.
Now we need to cut a small strip of red felt (you can also use another color or ribbon if you prefer). I had to guess the size and cut it a bit smaller later when I glued it, so just hold it next to your gingerbread man to see what size it should be approximately.
Now fold it as in picture 4 shown above before you add a bit of glue in the middle parts to keep the felt strip in place.
Now measure it to see if you like the size, cut the ends as shown in picture 2 above. Add a tiny part in the middle to make it look like a scarf and glue it to the gingerbread man. I used a glue gun as it seemed the best way to keep it in place. Now also add two tiny white rounds of felt on the belly and glue the googly eyes to the gingerbread's man head.
You're done! This is your own little gingerbread man!
I hope you enjoyed this 4th part of "Crafting 4 Christmas". Please leave a comment below if tried this tutorial.
Previous parts of "Crafting 4 Christmas"
Part 1: Christmas tree from cardboard
Part 2: Felt Christmas tree ornament
Part 3: Christmas Card from cardboard and foam