Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Gingerbread Men & Christmas Star Ornaments

My home was filled with a wonderful aroma today.  Oh – it smelled so good in here that I could have bottled the scent up and sold tons of it.  I wish you all could have been here.  I decided to make myself some gingerbread men along with a few star ornaments and they turned out real cute.  They smell great as well.  I received the recipe from my Mom’s friend Sara.  I must say that Sara is one talented gal.  She has her own shop right next to her home and her shop is always jam packed with the cutest things and the most beautiful dried herbs and flowers.  She definitely has a knack for that stuff.  Anyway, I wanted to share some pictures with all of you of my gingerbread tucks as well as my star ornaments that I made.  I thought that the gingerbread men would be awfully cute tucked into a box with some pine and I even tried it out tonight and boy oh boy – it looks cute!!

First of all – I wanted to introduce you to Sara’s blog.  You can find Sara’s blog at Sara’s Herbs and Everlasting.  She plans on sharing lots of great craft ideas and she will probably be showing you more and more of her shop.  I am sure she will even get more pictures of her shop and dried herbs up there too so be keeping an eye out for those.  If you are ever in the area then be sure to stop by and see Sara & Sam.  Sara is definitely the sweetest gal I have met.  She has been a great friend to my Mom and I know for a fact that my Mom will miss her very much!  Thank you Sara for always being such a wonderful friend to my Mom.  We love you dearly!

Well, let’s take a look at those gingerbread men – ok?  I tried a couple gingerbread women, but I decided I didn’t like them as well so you will probably one see about 4 of them.  I love the stars too.  I thought they would look great on a Christmas tree, but let’s not rush the holidays (lol).

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Here are some pictures with the pine….. don’t they look too cute tucked in with the Christmas pine?

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I also made these for Cameron…… I thought that with the small amount of dough that I had left, that I would make him some fake chocolate chip cookies.  Don’t they look so real?  The hard thing was explaining to him that they weren’t real, but for decoration ONLY!

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Well, alot of you have questioned me about the recipe and as much as I would like to keep it a secret…… it is only fun sharing it with my good friends to they not only get to experience the fun of making them, but you also get to smell that wonderful aroma that I was talking about.  So, here is the recipe….

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Gingerbread Men Decorations

-1/2 cup shortening

-1/2 cup brown sugar

-3/4 cup dark molasses

-1/2 cup white (Elmer’s glue)

-3/4 cup water

-2 tablespoons cinnamon

Mix ingredients together then gradually add 3 cups of flour and mix.  Add 2 more cups of flour and mix well until everything is completely mixed.  I was use a mixer, but with the last cup of flour, had to end up using my hands to really get everything mixed well.

-Cut out into shapes and bake at 275 degrees for 2 hours.

-Use whole all spice for eyes, place those on before you bake them, but be aware that you might have to really push them down into the dough to get them to stick.  If they come lose then just use a drop of Elmer’s glue to get them to stick.  It will dry clear.

**These are not edible**  Have fun!!

19 comments:

Kris ~ Simply Prim said...

Those turned out pretty cute, Lisa!
I still have mine that I made several years ago. I used a recipe from an old Country Sampler magazine and then dipped them in melted paraffin to preserve them (which evidently worked because I still have them 9 years later!).

Take care,
~Kris~

TJ said...

Oh I wish I coulda smelled them baking ! They look really great in the pine. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Prim Huggs n Blessins
TJ

Anonymous said...

Oh Lisa those are so so cute. Thanks for sharing the recipe, I will have to try it

Tammy Smith
primjunkbug@yahoo.com

Heather said...

Great Job! I'm gonna have to make these just for the pleasant aroma...can't wait!

Patti said...

Thank you for sharing the recipe. I can imagine how wonderful they make the house smell when they are baking.

Patti

•♦•©The Olde Weeping Cedar •♦• said...

Your gingies and stars turn out GREAT, Lisa! The little cookies do look real!

Lee Hill Primitives said...

Beautiful Lisa, they are so cute. Thanks for sharing!

A Bit of Colour said...

I make something sorta similar, but I have painted mine & dipped them in wax , a dusting of spices on them & they are preserved & smell yummy! I will add your recipe to my prim recipes. Thanks!

Susannah said...

Lisa ... I will be saving that recipe. Thank you for sharing. Your Mom's friend sounds like a joy to know. Do they do mail order?

Friends
Susannah

Full Cup Blessings said...

They look great Lisa!! I will be making these. I think they will be great additions to Christmas Packages. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Blessings,
Linda

Carmen S. said...

Those are too cute Lisa! I love them with the pine, very old timey looking, and the chocolate chip ones do look very real! What did Cameron think of a cookie he couldn't eat?? LOL!

Linda* ~ Josephine’s Daughter said...

Hi Lisa...Sara is indeed one sweet and talented lady!
I'm going to try her recipe.
Yours look so cute!
Linda*

Craftyperson said...

They turned out really cute...I make these every year for Christmas and they do make the house smell so good...Thanks for the recipe...

..Trena...

simple~needs said...

thanks for the recipe , but even more, thank you for sharing the link to sara's blog!! she was in mercantile gatherings a while back . i couldnt find the place at all when we were looking for it over the summer.lol i am only about 30-40 minutes from new philly. we will definitely be stopping there soon!!

CHER said...

Thank you for inspiring me!!!

My Colonial Home said...

I love your gingerbread men....I'm not a fan of girl gingers - they were meant to be 'men' from the get go for some reason....lol

I love how you have displayed them too and THANK YOU for the recipe!

Karen

Anne said...

Too cute..made some last year..rolled them into "snakes", then twisted them around for cinnabuns....drizzled melted wax or white paint mixed with glue and whola...fun isn't it?
Anne

Linda - Behind My Red Door said...

Those remind me of the ones I made last year. I can't wait to take them out again! Thanks for the link to Sara's blog!

Birgit said...

sniff, sniff... Oh! They do smell good! :)
They're all so adorable too and I just love that you made little chocolate chip cookies for Cameron. I'm sure he'd get quite a surprise if he tried to bite into one.
Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Hugs to you~ Birgit