common ground : Wood Block Christmas Gingerbread Houses

It seems like each year there's a new trend in Christmas decor, and the Gingerbread theme is popping up everywhere. I love Gingerbread houses and Gingerbread Men/Women/People cookies as they are so traditional and geared toward the "kid" in us. I think most of us at one time or another attempted a Gingerbread House or cookies. The fun is in the creative process. Also nice if it turns out cute and actually stays in one piece!!

I have a childlike obsession with miniature "houses" and shared my small collections last week. Paper Putz houses; large and small, ceramic houses, wood houses, and Christmas Villages... they are all adorable and collection worthy for me. The last couple of years I've been intrigued with "wood block" houses painted in primitive styles. Finding scrap wood pieces and painting them with teensy windows and doors has me fascinated.

My husband doesn't have a "shop' area here at this house, so I don't have any wood scraps. I found these cute little houses at Michaels and thought that maybe I could give them the Gingerbread treatment for some cute little accents and Christmas token for family gals. They were pretty well sanded so I just started painting. It took about 4 coats of acrylic craft paint to get a solid look. I used a foam brush and it was super easy.

The blocks dried quickly and I just started having fun with a few gingerbread icing doodle designs. I used the paint pens above that I also purchased at Michaels. You can check out my Pinterest Board: Christmas Gingerbread Houses for some fun ideas on decorating them. I tried not to be too uptight with perfection but to enjoy freehand decorating them. (I surely cannot do perfect anymore.)

I could have bought several different color pens, but really just like the simplicity of the brown Gingerbread color and the white. One other color, maybe red, would be a fun accent color.

And thinking about using them on a tablescape...It would be fun to use them as placecards.

I added the little decorated houses to the Holiday Cupbard Christmas display as they coordinated with the neutrals and copper accents that I am using this Season. Here are a couple of pics and I'll share the full Holiday Cupboard next week.

The little wooden houses would be fun painted and decorated in so many ways. Neutrals and traditional Christmas colors would be perfect. And this is a fun inexpensive way to let the kiddos join in on the creative process. Be sure and Pin these post pics so you can have fun with the kids and have a small gift for friends and family.