I am onboard with the gingerbread trend. Gingerbread has so many possibilities for creativity, plus it’s a yummy food – what’s not to like?
I had been looking for a wooden, buildable gingerbread house since last year. The closest ready-made options I found were the Everwood Friends holiday blocks and Guidecraft notch blocks. However, I’m in Canada and both options with shipping and exchange were out of my budget. Then I saw a fantastic idea on instagram from Moore to Love in Kinder; she made gingerbread blocks using inexpensive wooden blocks from Dollarama. They looked so cute, that I thought it was worth a try.
I found that they were time consuming, but did indeed turn out adorable. Worth the effort I think. Here’s how I made them.
Step 1: Buy Blocks
I purchased two sets of wooden blocks from Dollarama. Each set was $4.
Step 2: Sand Blocks (optional)
I chose to give the blocks a quick sand first, since they are very cheap blocks and I wanted them to have a better feel. I also wanted to slightly round the corners so they weren’t so sharp. The wood in these sets is very soft, so the sanding didn’t require much muscle. Once sanded, I gave the blocks a quick wipe with a damp rag to remove any excess sawdust.
Step 3: Mix paint
To get a gingerbread colour I liked, I mixed Cinnamon Brown (from Dollarama) and Raw Sienna (from Michaels), but you could use any combination of browns, reds and yellows to get the colour you like. My paints were in matte, which I think does help create the gingerbread look.
Step 4: Paint the blocks
There is lots of room for personal preference in this step as well. I choose to paint 2 sides of each block and left a thin border of wood around each. I just free-handed it, but you could tape the blocks in the areas you don’t want paint, or paint the whole block. I do not have the steadiest hand, but the free-hand was fairly easy and I got better at it as I went. I found I needed two coats on each side to cover the blocks evenly. After painting, I let the paint dry well before proceeding to the next step.
Step 5: Paint wooden cylinders
I covered the cylinders with a coat of white paint, let it dry and then added some candy cane and peppermint details with bright red paint and a thin brush. Since my hand isn’t the steadiest, I found the straight lines difficult, so I tried a few other designs.
Step 6: Add white gingerbread details
This was really the fun part. I was a bit nervous to make marks on the blocks I had put so much time into, but once I got going I found it was easier than I thought. I used a white acrylic paint pen (also from Dollarama). Here is where you can let your imagination run.
Step 7: Cover with Mod Podge (optional)
I haven’t done this step yet, because I didn’t have any matte Mod Podge on-hand and I wanted to keep the matte look. However, I may still do it to protect the blocks. It’s probably a good idea to seal in all your hard work.
So that’s it. Like I said, it doesn’t require a high skill level, but it did take me a few days of work. The good thing is once they are done, they will last for years of play.
