Make Gingerbread Paper Hanging Decorations
By ColorWillow
Make a pair of small gingerbread panels for a festive display. Keep each picture as a rectangle: there is no need to cut around fingers, legs or the little stars.
Print the project sheets
Choose the paper size loaded in your printer. Print at actual size (100%) so the pieces match the measurements in this guide.
What you will need
- The gingerbread hanging panels craft sheet in A4 or US Letter
- Colored pencils or crayons, a ruler and a glue stick
- Thin card and child-appropriate scissors with adult help
- Removable tape suitable for the display surface
Print the two picture panels
Print the matching craft sheet at 100% or Actual size, then check the 50 mm line with a ruler. Each outside panel rectangle measures 8 by 12 cm. The whole gingerbread picture is reduced to fit without cropping.
Color before cutting
Color the gingerbread character, its large star and the two little stars while the sheet is flat. Choose any colors you like. These are paper pictures, not cookies or food.
Keep the outside rectangles
Ask an adult to help cut only the two dashed outside rectangles. Glue each picture onto thin card and trim the backing after it dries. Keep the small stars and the spaces between the arms and body inside the panel.
Fold the short paper tabs
Cut the two marked strips with adult help. Each strip is 2 by 6 cm. Fold one strip in half across its length to make a short tab 2 by 3 cm. Tape the two free ends together onto the back of a panel’s top edge, leaving the folded top visible above it. Repeat for the other panel.
Ask an adult to put them up
An adult can tape the tabs onto a suitable wall or display board using removable tape. Put the decorations away from heat, candles, windows with cords, cots and sleeping spaces. Use the short paper tabs rather than long hanging strings.
Change the display
Arrange the panels side by side or on separate spots. When it is time to take them down, an adult removes the tape. You can keep the flat pictures to use again without adding a loop around anyone’s neck.