Free Christmas craft projects. Gingerbread ornaments project.

Free Christmas Craft Projects - Gingerbread Ornaments

What you need: 1 gingerbread cookie cutter; Gingerbread dough and frosting recipes below; food coloring; plastic baggie; small paint brushes; needle.

Gingerbread Dough Recipe:

1 cup shortening; 1 cup sugar; 2/3 cup boiling water; 1 tbs. instant coffee; 2/3 cup molasses; 5 cups cake flour; 1/2 tsp. baking soda; 2 tsp. powdered ginger; 1 tsp. cinnamon. Makes about 3 dozen.

Icing Recipe: 2 egg whites; 2 cups powdered sugar; 1 tsp. vanilla; 2 tbs. water.

What to do:

1. Cream the sugar and shortening for gingerbread dough thoroughly. Add instant coffee to boiling water. Mix hot coffee with molasses and add all to creamed mixture. Sift the dry ingredients together and add gradually to the liquid mixture. Let dough stand at room temperature for 1 hour (do not chill).

2. Roll out dough 1/8" thick on well-floured pastry board. Flour the cardboard patterns and place on surface of rolled-out dough.

4.Cut out gingerbread with the cookie cutters. With spatula, lift the cutout cookies onto cookie sheet. Poke hole in top of cookie with straw for ribbon to hang. Bake cookies for 12 minutes at 350°.

5. Mix the ingredients for icing above, slowly, with an electric mixer, adding the water as you mix.

6. With wider brush, cover the back surface of each cookie with frosting and allow frosting to harden. Clean brush and then frost the front surface of cookie in areas to be decorated, such as caps, jackets, skirts, etc. For eyes, let frosting drip from brush to the surface of cookies. Let frosting dry and harden.

7. Decorate freehand by working out clothing designs on tracing paper to fit cookie shapes, place tracing on cookie, then with needle, poke holes along design lines through tracing and into cookie to mark on cookie.

8. To paint cookies, place drops of food color onto plate for palette. Mix all colors together to get a dark or black color; outline eyes with this dark color. Use red for cheeks and gently paint on cookie. With fine brush decorate with lines and motifs freehand. When dry and hard, thread yarn through hole at top of cookie; knot yarn ends to make hangers for tree.

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