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Every December my kitchen smells like molasses and ginger, and some years a few of those cookies never make it to the cookie jar. They end up on the tree. A gingerbread Christmas tree is warm and homey, it looks good with farmhouse decor, and so much of it can be made at the kitchen table with flour, felt and twine.
Here are 25 gingerbread Christmas tree ideas from 20 bloggers and designers. There are whole themed trees for the kitchen and the living room, gingerbread ornaments and garlands you can make with the kids, and a few cookie trees you can actually eat. Each one links to the person who made it, with their supplies and steps. If you want to bake along, start with our gingerbread recipe or our gingerbread house recipe.
Whole gingerbread themed Christmas trees
1. Neutral gingerbread tree in cream and caramel
SaveCredit: Decorators Warehouse
Decorators Warehouse took gingerbread in a softer direction with creamy whites, soft tans and warm caramel tones instead of the usual red. The ribbon is a mix of cream satin and gingerbread gingham, draped in loose waves.
The topper is built from champagne jeweled stems, caramel colored sprays and a few frosted cookie picks. It is a good choice if your kitchen is white or wood and you want gingerbread without the candy shop look.
2. Frosted gingerbread house ornaments with gingham bows
SaveCredit: Decorators Warehouse
Up close, the same tree is full of gingerbread house ornaments piped with white icing lines, so they look like cookies straight off the cooling rack.
Tucking them right next to big caramel gingham bows is what makes it work. If you only buy one set of gingerbread ornaments this year, make it the little houses.
3. Red and white gingerbread kitchen tree
SaveCredit: Decorators Warehouse
For a classic look, Decorators Warehouse dressed a slim tree in a kitchen corner with gingerbread house ornaments, cookies and milk ribbon, caramel gingham ribbon and red and white candy accents.
Their tip is to decorate in layers. Ribbon goes on first for movement, then sprays and picks for texture, and the ornaments last. A slim tree fits a breakfast nook without taking any counter space.
4. Tabletop gingerbread tree in a basket
SaveCredit: Tatertots and Jello
Tatertots and Jello tucked a little gingerbread tree into her dish cabinet as part of a hot cocoa station. It sits in a basket wrapped with a red and white dish towel, with a felt ball garland and a red and white stocking garland.
Her ornaments are store bought gingerbread shapes she decorated with paint instead of icing, using a cake decorating bag and the smallest tip for smooth lines. A coat of clear resin paint keeps them from year to year.
5. Kids gingerbread tree with a gingerbread house topper
SaveCredit: Lia Griffith
Lia Griffith made a whole tree for the kids, and the best part is the topper. It is a little felt gingerbread house sitting right on the top branch instead of a star.
The branches are filled with gingerbread people, red and white candy canes, white pom poms and tassels. It is cheerful and low stakes, so the kids can hang everything themselves.
6. Home Sweet Home tree with popcorn and candy canes
SaveCredit: A Thoughtful Place
A Thoughtful Place based this tree on the one her parents made for their kitchen, with gingerbread men, strung popcorn and sweet treats. She baked her own gingerbread cookies to hang and plans to keep them from year to year.
Every person in the family strung at least one strand of popcorn, and oversized candy canes give it a fun, whimsical scale. The topper is three giant painted lollipops her children made.
7. Farmhouse baking tree with a gingerbread girl
SaveCredit: Savvy Saving Couple
Savvy Saving Couple built a baking themed tree around a red gingham ruffle garland that reminded her of her grandmother’s apron. Gingerbread girl ornaments, iced cookie ornaments and little rolling pins hang all over it.
This one is so easy to copy from a homestead kitchen. Tie a few real wooden spoons and mini cookie cutters on with baker’s twine and you are most of the way there.
8. Natural tree hung with real gingerbread cookies
SaveCredit: Inspired by Charm
Inspired by Charm decorated a small 4 foot tree in her dining room with nothing but her own baked gingerbread cookie ornaments, pinecones, red ornaments and a little white ribbon.
The cookies are cut into snowflakes, reindeer and stars and piped with white icing. She says they smell wonderful on the tree, and I believe it.
Gingerbread ornaments and garlands you can make
9. Paper gingerbread garland on baker’s twine
SaveCredit: Lia Griffith
Lia Griffith strung flat gingerbread people cut from kraft colored paper onto red and white baker’s twine, with tiny white dots for buttons.
Paper garland costs almost nothing and you can cut a dozen while the coffee brews. Hang candy canes between the loops so it looks full.
10. Iced gingerbread snowflake cookie ornament
SaveCredit: Inspired by Charm
If you want just one cookie ornament to start with, make Inspired by Charm’s snowflake. A plain gingerbread circle gets a piped white snowflake, then hangs from a white ribbon.
Bake ornament cookies a little thicker and a little longer than eating cookies so they stay firm on the branch.
11. Felt gingerbread man with a knit scarf
SaveCredit: XoXo Bella
XoXo Bella’s felt gingerbread man has button eyes, a stitched smile and a tiny red scarf. One ornament takes a piece of light brown felt about 5 by 3½ inches, and she shares a free printable pattern.
Felt ones never break and never get eaten by the dog. Make a whole family in different scarf colors.
12. Felt gingerbread garland with pink bows
SaveCredit: Me and My Inklings
Me and My Inklings cut gingerbread men from thick felt in a color called Copper Canyon, outlined them with white puffy paint and tied pink ric rac bows around their necks.
She likes felt because it is easy to cut, does not fray and holds its shape on a garland. Swap the pink for red if that suits your tree better.
13. Gingerbread garland with dried oranges and wood beads
SaveCredit: Clean and Scentsible
Clean and Scentsible strung felt gingerbread men on twine with dried orange slices and wood beads between them. You can cut your own from her template or buy pre cut felt gingerbread men.
This one feels the most homestead to me. Dry your own orange slices low in the oven a week ahead and the whole garland costs a few dollars.
14. Felt gingerbread letter garland
SaveCredit: A Girl and a Glue Gun
A Girl and a Glue Gun traced letters onto brown felt, cut them out and added icing designs with white puffy paint. Hers spells MERRY BRIGHT, hung on twine.
Spell out your family name or JOY and drape it across the front of the tree.
15. Gingerbread clay ornaments with the kids
SaveCredit: The Imagination Tree
The Imagination Tree makes a gingerbread clay from 1 cup of plain flour, salt, ground ginger, allspice and cinnamon, with up to ¾ cup of warm water added slowly.
Cut gingerbread people and hearts, draw on the icing once they are dry and hang them on purple ribbon. Write the year on a heart and you have a keepsake.
16. Scented gingerbread salt dough ornaments
SaveCredit: Supergolden Bakes
Supergolden Bakes adds ground cinnamon, ginger, cloves, molasses and gingerbread fragrance oil to her salt dough so the ornaments smell like a bakery.
She cuts trees, stars, snowflakes and hearts and pipes them with white. These are for decoration only, not for eating, so keep an eye on little ones.
17. No bake terracotta clay gingerbread ornaments
SaveCredit: Craving Some Creativity
Craving Some Creativity uses air dry terracotta clay because it is close to gingerbread in color, dries without cracking or curling and needs no baking.
Her trick is the scent. The clay is porous, so it soaks up a fragrance oil and makes the room smell like gingerbread. She cut snowflakes and deer and piped on white details.
18. Cinnamon salt dough ornaments with dried oranges
SaveCredit: Cottage On Bunker Hill
Cottage On Bunker Hill makes a gingerbread salt dough with ¼ cup of cinnamon, cuts it with regular cookie cutters and bakes it at 250° for about 2 hours, turning them after an hour.
On the tree she mixes them with dried orange slices and cinnamon sticks. It is the coziest farmhouse version on this list.
19. Gingerbread house ornaments from salt dough
SaveCredit: The Merry Thought
The Merry Thought cut little houses, trees, mittens and wreaths from gingerbread salt dough and piped them with white, just like the ornaments her mom made when she was young.
The house shapes look the most like real gingerbread. Her family almost tried to eat one, so label them if you have hungry visitors.
20. Wooden gingerbread man pull string ornament
SaveCredit: The Crafty Blog Stalker
The Crafty Blog Stalker made a wooden gingerbread man whose arms and legs move when you pull the string, cut with a laser cutter and painted.
No laser cutter? Wooden gingerbread cutouts from the craft store take paint and a white paint pen just as well.
21. Gingerbread man Christmas crackers
SaveCredit: Craftberry Bush
Craftberry Bush rolled brown construction paper into Christmas crackers, cut little triangles along the folds and painted on gingerbread faces and icing with puff paint. Fill them with small toys or candy.
Tuck a few into the tree branches as fillers, then pass them out at Christmas dinner.
22. No bake wooden gingerbread houses under the tree
SaveCredit: Cottage On Bunker Hill
Cottage On Bunker Hill painted plain wooden houses gingerbread brown, mixing a little plaster of Paris into the paint for a cookie texture, then added white icing trim and glitter.
Line a few around the tree skirt with bottle brush trees and the whole tree looks like a gingerbread village.
Gingerbread cookie trees you can eat
23. Gingerbread star cookie tree
SaveCredit: SugarHero
SugarHero cuts gingerbread stars in graduated sizes, two of each, then stacks them with royal icing and a gold sugar edge. Her tree stands about 14 inches tall with a star on top.
Use a firm gingerbread dough so the stars do not crumble when you stack them. It makes a beautiful centerpiece next to the real tree.
24. Mini chocolate gingerbread star trees
SaveCredit: Bake at 350
Bake at 350 makes little cookie trees from dark gingerbread stars flavored with clementine, outlined and dotted with white icing and topped with a white iced star.
They are small enough to make one for every place setting, or to box up as a gift for the neighbors.
25. Homestead style gingerbread tree two ways
SaveCredit: Homestead Lady
Homestead Lady shows two ways to make an edible gingerbread tree. Stack stars from a graduated star cookie cutter set with royal icing or marshmallow fluff, or cut two long gingerbread triangles and lean them together into a standing tree.
She decorates hers with dye free candy and sprinkles, which is a nice idea if you are trying to keep food coloring out of the house.
How to decorate a gingerbread Christmas tree
Pick your palette first. Gingerbread looks classic with red and white candy accents, softer with cream, caramel and gingham, or rustic with dried oranges, pinecones and twine.
Start with ribbon. Gingham, plaid or plain cream ribbon tucked in loose loops fills the tree and gives the cookies something to sit against.
Mix bought and handmade. A set of gingerbread house ornaments plus a batch of salt dough or felt gingerbread men looks fuller than either one alone.
Hang real cookies high. If you use baked gingerbread, keep it out of reach of dogs and toddlers, and bake it a little longer so it dries hard.
Finish the top and the bottom. A gingerbread house topper, a big gingham bow or giant lollipops up top, and wooden gingerbread houses or a basket at the base make the theme feel complete.
Gingerbread Christmas tree FAQ
What goes on a gingerbread Christmas tree? Gingerbread men and house ornaments, candy canes, peppermints, gingham or plaid ribbon, cookie picks and white garland are the classics. Dried oranges, cinnamon sticks and popcorn garland give it a homemade farmhouse feel.
Can you hang real gingerbread cookies on a tree? Yes. Roll the dough a little thicker, poke the hanging hole before baking, and bake a few minutes longer so the cookies dry hard. They will keep for the season but are not good to eat after weeks on the tree.
How do you make gingerbread ornaments last for years? Use salt dough, air dry clay or felt instead of real cookies. Painted ornaments can be sealed with a clear coat, and salt dough should be baked low and slow until completely dry, then stored in a dry box.
What colors go with a gingerbread tree? Red and white is the classic choice. Cream, caramel and tan feel soft and modern, and pink works well for a sweeter look.
Is a gingerbread tree only for the kitchen? Not at all. A full size gingerbread tree works in the living room, and a small tabletop one is perfect on a hutch, a coffee bar or a kids room dresser.
