Gingerbread jumping jack decoration

I know it’s November but we got our Christmas decorations out of the loft at the weekend. I wanted to go through the boxes and have a sort out before the children start rifling through them, demanding we put up every Christmas decoration we own.

I took out all our Christmassy craft supplies as the children want to start making Christmas crafts too. We love gingerbread and gingerbread crafts so today we’re going to share our gingerbread jumping jack decorations. They are a really fun craft, can be decorated however you like, and look great hung on the tree or door.

Equipment needed to make a gingerbread jumping jack decoration:
different coloured card
split pins
scissors
gingerbread man cookie cutter
embroidery thread

How to make a gingerbread jumping jack decoration:

First draw your gingerbread person shape, we used a large gingerbread cookie cutter and carefully drew around it with pencil. You need to make an extra pair of arms and legs as these are the parts that will ‘jump’.

I helped the children cut out their gingerbread people, then marked lines where we needed to cut the arms and legs off.

Your gingerbread person should look like this with a small overlapping area where you can attach the arms and legs with split pins.

Now comes the fun part where you can decorate your gingerbread person. Little Sis opted for a smiley face and buttons but you can decorate any way you like. Why not add real buttons and ribbon for a scarf? Or cover your figure with bright Christmassy papers.

When she had finished I lined up the extra arms and legs and attached them to the body with the split pins.

To make your gingerbread person jump you need to make small holes at the top of each arm and leg piece. You may find it easier to do this before you attach them to the body.

Thread a short piece of the embroidery thread through the two arm holes and knot. Do the same with the two leg pieces. With a third length of embroidery thread, attach it to the loop between the arms and again at the legs, leaving a long length to pull. When you pull the thread the arms and legs should jump!

These make sweet handmade decorations and please let me know if you try them at home.

Today I’m taking part in the 30 Days of Homemade Kid Ornaments organised by The Resourceful Mama. Pop on over to see what everyone else has been making.