Make Gingerbread Trees this year for the Christmas.

Turn making gingerbread into an activity with your kids, no matter what age they are.

Let’s make a gingerbread tree. It really doesn’t matter how old your children are, making gingerbread houses is a holiday favorite. My daughter is grown but I invited her over to do  a gingerbread tree, and she arrived with all the little extras including matching aprons for us both.

Making Gingerbread trees with my daughter

Everyone knows that wine and gingerbread are a great pairing and it can enhance your creativity. Let’s make a gingerbread tree.

Gingerbread tree cookie dough

Gingerbread cookie dough squares

First of all I start out by cheating. The best gingerbread is a Publix pre-made cookie dough. It comes in little squares, but if you lay it out on a floured surface, you can roll it into one flat sheet. ( A little tip I learned after the fact is that if you roll it out between to layers of waxed parchment it’s  fool proof.

Making Ginger bread trees with my daughter

We chose to download a star template for our tree, but Wilton has a great set of star cookie cutters, if you want this to be a little easier. For a 10 inch tree cut two of each size. For a 14 inch tree cut 3 of each size.

Bake, let cool and now it really gets fun. Take graham crackers and break into 8 pieces. Starting with the large size begin to layer using Wilton Ready to decorate icing as the glue. (A second tip too late, is that you can separate each layer with small squares of graham crackers in between the cookies. This separates the cookies and will straighten out the tree.)

adding frosting to gingerbread tree

Adding sprinkles to gingerbread tree

We were a little skeptical looking at the result. It looked like  a misfit tree with a crooked trunk but we were committed so just kept forging ahead. Using cookie icing, drizzle snow over the top and add cookie sprinkles to make the snow glisten. Fondant bows and leaves with gumdrops and candy dots it’s complete.  Using the icing, make dots to secure your decorations  to the tree. Amazing what you can hide with a little frosting.

Finished gingerbread tree

Enjoy the holiday with your kids no matter what their age. It’s all about creating beyond the packages. Make a memory you will treasure forever. This night with my daughter for Christmas 2015, will be my favorite memory.

For more watch my segment on Fox 4 Morning Blend Decorating on a Dime.