How To Upcycle Packaging Into A Gingerbread Garland

Repurpose Your Christmas Packaging Into A Gingerbread Garland

It’s shameful the number of cardboard boxes that arrive at our house in the build-up to Christmas! I try to ease my guilt over this mountain of cardboard by repurposing some of it into Christmas decorations like with this gingerbread garland.
 
 
Last year I made some rather fun DIY Christmas decorations of penguins and snowmen from the cardboard packaging. This year I decided to up the ante this year with the repurposed Christmas gingerbread garland by adding lights.
 
 
One of my favourite parts of Christmas decorations are all the lights! They make the home seem so warm and cozy on those dark cold winter nights. I love to use the copper string lights as they give a warm glow and are so versitile. I’ve used them in the past to make a giant led deer Christmas decoration and create some Christmas bottle lights.
 
 
This is a really simple green Christmas craft the only real cost is for the lights. The gingerbread garland has a lovely rustic Scandi feel about it.
 
 

 
 
 
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What you need to make an upcycled gingerbread garland

• Scrap kraft cardboard – I used the packaging from some Amazon deliviers.

 
 

 
 
 

• Gingerbread house templates – draw your own or download mine here.

 
 

 
 
 

• Craft knife and cutting mat

 

• Black pen, white paint and brush

 

• Copper String lights

 

• Twine and small wooden pegs

How to make an upcycled gingerbread garland

1. The first thing to do is to either draw freehand or print out the gingerbread house template. Then cut out each gingerbread house design. With a craft knife, cut out any windows that you would like the lights to shine through.

 
 

 
 
 

2. Next place the gingerbread house template onto the cardboard packaging you are going to upcycle. Draw around the template with a black sharpie, remembering to mark the windows to be cut. Then cut out the gingerbread garland shapes.

 
 

 
 

 
 
 

3. Next paint the trimmings on the houses in white paint. Use the original template as a guide.

 
 

 
 

Adding the lights to the gingerbread garland

 

 
 

4. Using a hot glue gun, glue the copper string lights to the back of each the cardboard gingerbread house. Make sure that you glue the lights in a position so that they shine through the cut windows. Leave a gap on the copper string lights of about 10cm between each gingerbread house.

 
 

 
 

5. Finally, hang your gingerbred garland by pegging each house to a line of Christmas twine

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
If you like this post you may want to check out these other upcycled Kraft Christmas posts.
Fun DIY Christmas Decorations Penguins
Homemade Advent Calendar From Kraft Paper
How To Make Repurposed Map Decorations