Gingerbread Village from Scrap Wood

I’m so excited to share this fun holiday craft! Iron Orchid Designs is having a contest to create a gingerbread house using their products. I tried to make just one, I swear, but somehow I ended up with a whole village instead.

I’ve got lots of scrap wood from various projects on my cottage, and I ordered a pack of garden stakes because the points looked perfect to make peaked roofs. I cut all the pieces with Marc’s chop saw.

I made some paint in a gingerbread color by mixing red, olive green, and black. I gave everything two coats.

Does anyone else love those tiny jam jars they use in hotels in Europe? Here we just get little plastic cups for individual servings, but they have tiny jars that are only an inch and a half tall. I always bring a couple home. Perfect for mixing a tiny bit of paint in a metallic gingerbread color (rose gold, copper, and dark brown).

I used some Iron Orchid Design stamps to add some details to my houses.

I love the new holiday moulds from Iron Orchid Designs. I used three sizes of the trees and almost every snowflake they had. Their clay is my very favorite. Its so easy to work with, and the results are beautiful.

The trees were glued to the triangles, and I folded the snowflakes around the rooflines of the houses.

I painted each roof white, being sure to get down in the crevices of the snowflakes.

I used a metallic gold Sharpie to draw windows, because I wanted it to look like the lights were on.

A white Sharpie paint pen made all the difference when I outlined the windows and added panes. I also drew the doors in white.

I’ve got enough pieces for a couple of villages. Next Christmas my cottage will be done and I can put some there and give some to my mom as well.

They really look like gingerbread, with beautiful white icing. Almost good enough to eat!

What a fun project! I just love the ideas the Iron Orchid Design ladies come up with. I can’t wait to see the other entries in this fabulous contest.