Hey friends! Today we’re crafting the cutest little gingerbread man shelf sitter, full of color, detail, and charm. This project does take a few steps, but once you get going, it’s so relaxing and so much fun. Let me walk you through how I painted and assembled mine!

Supplies You’ll Need

These are the supplies I used for my project. Feel free to choose your own favorite paint colors to suite your unique style!

Gingerbread Man wood cutout set
Acrylic paint:
- Vintage white
- Red
- White
- Territorial beige
- Golden Sunset
- Olive green paint
- Pink (or blush) for cheeks
- Purple, red, green, white paint (for sprinkles)
Black Sharpie Paint Effect marker
White Sharpie Paint Effect marker
Posca marker (pink)
Wide painter’s tape (optional for holding down the smaller pieces together while painting)
Super fine detail paintbrush
Pencil-tip fine paintbrush
Small thicker paintbrush
Sponge for painting
Sanding block (extra fine)
Hot glue gun + glue sticks
Mod Podge spray
Fine glitter
Sharpie extra fine marker for deeper engraving lines

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Paint the Small White Pieces of your Gingerbread Man Kit

Place all the tiny pieces you want white onto a strip of painter’s tape (so they don’t roll or disappear off your work table). Using a paint sponge, paint the pieces Vintage White to coat them evenly. Set aside to dry.

Step 2: Paint the Peppermint Lollipop & Other Red Pieces

Using a super fine pointed brush, edge the peppermint swirl with red.
Then fill in the red sections with a slightly thicker paintbrush if you’d like to paint the sections a little quicker.

While you still have the red paint out:

Paint the top half of the gingerbread hat
Paint the lollipop stick

Let everything dry thoroughly.

Step 3: Add the White Sections on the Peppermint

Use the same edging method as before:

Outline the white sections with a tiny brush
Fill them in using a slightly larger brush

Once dry, use the back of a paintbrush to dot a little circle in the center of the peppermint.

Step 4: Paint the Gingerbread Man

Mix Territorial Beige + a touch of Golden Sunset until you get the perfect warm gingerbread color.

Use your sponge to apply the paint evenly across:

Main gingerbread body
Hands
Heart

⚠️ Be careful near the engraved hat line — you don’t want to paint over the hat area.

Let dry, then lightly sand everything.

Step 5: Outline & Color the Cookie

Using a Posca marker, trace all the cookie engraving lines.
Fill the cookie in with the soft pink color from the marker.

Let dry, then sand lightly for a rustic look.

Step 6: Paint the Green Accents

Use olive green paint for:

The gingerbread hat
The bottom part of the scarf

Let dry, then sand again for that perfect distressed finish.

Step 7: Add the Face + Detail

Use a black Sharpie Paint marker to fill in the eyes.
Add blush to the cheeks. Use your white marker to add little highlight dots inside the eyes and on the cheeks.

Add three white dots in the center of each cheek for a cute, soft detail.

Step 8: Assemble the Hat & Scarf

Sand all the pieces a little to give it that cute rustic look if you like. Glue the white circle for the tip of the hat into place.
Next, glue the red hat rim to your gingerbread man, and the other small white pieces right where the engravings show you.

Step 9: Assemble the Lollipop

Give the peppermint a quick sand, then glue it down.
Glue the gingerbread hand on top holding the lollipop.

Add the cookie where the engraving shows.

Step 10: Add Buttons & Icing Squiggles

Use your black marker to draw on tiny buttons.

Glue the icing pieces into place — make sure you test fit them first! Each squiggly piece is shaped slightly differently

Step 11: Add Sprinkles to the Cookie

Use a fine detail brush to add line sprinkles in different colors. I chose: Red, Green, Purple, and White

Then you can use the back of your paintbrush to add dot sprinkles. So cute!

Step 12: Add Optional Highlights on your Gingerbread Man

To add a few extra details, I used my white paint marker do draw some additional highlight lines and dots.
Then I followed some of the engraved lines with a Sharpie extra-fine marker to help them stand out.

Step 13: Add Glitter to the Peppermint

Spray the peppermint with Mod Podge and sprinkle glitter on top.
Once dry, seal with another coat of Mod Podge to seal in any loose glitter.

Step 14: Assemble the Base (Optional Leaner)

Glue the two slotted base pieces together.
Attach them to the back of your gingerbread man.
Slide the final slotted piece in so it supports everything.

Finished Gingerbread Man!

This little guy turned out SO cute — colorful, sparkly, and full of personality.
You can display him as a leaner, add him to a shelf, or gift him to a friend who loves gingerbread décor.

Let me know what you think — Are you ready to give this Gingerbread Man DIY Kit a try? Let me know in the comments! Happy crafting friends!

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