DIY Felt Gingerbread Ornaments

I created these whimsical felt gingerbread people for our first holiday edition of ZEST. With some basic sewing skills, they're pretty easy to put together!

What you'll need ~

Scissors
Needle
Glue gun
Freezer paper
Permanent marker
Brown, red & green felt

White, red & black embroidery thread
Polyester fiberfill stuffing
Small buttons
Template (download here)
Ribbon
Rick rack

How to make them ~

Print out our downloadable template and take a piece of freezer paper and trace the gingerbread shapes onto the paper side (not the shiny side) with a marker.

Cut the shapes out of the freezer paper. For each ornament you're making, you'll need two.

To easily cut them out of the felt, place your freezer paper cut-outs shiny side down on the brown felt, turn an iron on low heat and iron the paper for a few seconds. The freezer paper stencil should be sticking to the felt, so you can cut out the shape with sharp scissors, peel off the paper stencil and repeat as necessary.

Start by decorating the front of each ornament. Choose small buttons and sew them on to the front piece with white embroidery thread (separated into a section of 3 strands).

Take your black embroidery thread and use French knots to create the eyes. Stitch a smiling mouth with the red embroidery thread.

Next, embellish with the rick rack and ribbon bows. Affix these with your hot glue gun. For our gingerbread gal, we used pinking shears to cut an apron from green felt. A little square of red felt glued on top makes a pocket in the apron.

Create a loop of ribbon for your ornament hanger and hot glue it to the back of the gingerbread person (right in the center of the head).

Now you're ready to sew the back pieces on and stuff the ornaments!

For a rustic look, we like to use a blanket stitch with white embroidery thread. As you sew the two halves together, add the stuffing. Once each ornament is completely stuffed, finish off your blanket stitching. Hang from the tree and enjoy!

--- This project was created by Erika Pitera, the managing editor and art director here at ZEST