It's December - let the holidays begin! Have you started decorating yet? I had a plan to make a gingerbread cookie garland for our kitchen and bought all the ingredients to bake them. But all that changed during a trip to the dollar store.

I stumbled upon a felt garland that reminded me of gingerbread cookies, realizing it just saved me some baking time. No twisting my arm! In my shopping cart it went to turn into a faux gingerbread reindeer garland to hang in our kitchen instead.

Upcycled Dollar Store Gingerbread Christmas Garland

I also found a pine cone garland during that shopping trip. The wheels started turning and I headed over to the food aisle to pick up some cinnamon sticks too. I figured I could combine the two garlands, embellish them with cinnamon sticks to make the gingerbread garland even more kitcheny (is that a word?).

The motivation for sharing the garland is to show you another option for getting the look of gingerbread without the baking mess. It's a super easy and budget-friendly DIY idea for a kitchen Christmas garland!

What You'll Need To Make It

Pictured below are the felt reindeer and pine cone garlands that I found at the dollar store for under $5.

To make the felt reindeer look like gingerbread cookies, I used 3D fabric paint to pipe faux white icing. 

This post contains affiliate links so you can see what products I used or recommend for this project. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from any qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!

Supply List

Felt Reindeer Garland (dollar store)
Snow Pine Cone Garland (dollar store)
Scribbles Shiny White 3D Fabric Paint
6 x 6-inch Christmas Stencils (optional)
Cinnamon Sticks
Red & White Bakers Twine
Hot Glue Gun

Here's How I Made It

Initially, I tried using a white paint pen for the icing but of course, it looked too flat. Michael's to the rescue where I found the white Scribbles 3D fabric paint.

I'll be the first to admit that my piping skills need some work! Imperfect or not, I decided to share the garland anyway in hopes it may provide inspiration for making a faux or real gingerbread Christmas garland.

The most time-consuming part of making this garland is waiting for the 3D paint to dry.

Faux Piped Icing On Felt Gingerbread

The Scribbles 3D Fabric Paint in a shiny white color worked well to pipe faux icing around each felt gingerbread reindeer and the sleigh. However, I quickly learned how imperative it is to follow the directions on the paint label for even piping.

I also used a couple of small Christmas stencils (link in the supply list) to embellish the sleigh with faux white icing.

I had just enough 3D fabric paint in the tube to pipe all eight reindeer and the sleigh. If you are a baker and no stranger to piping icing, you'll do a much better job than I did. This was my first attempt, as you can probably tell.

Embellishing Pine Cone Garland

While the paint was drying I took small cinnamon sticks and tied them with red & white baker's twine beside each pine cone on the other garland. I removed the red berries from the garland and reattached them to the top of the cinnamon sticks.

Combining Felt And Pine Cone Garlands Together

Next, I joined the felt and pine cone garlands together. I found the center of both garlands and simply set the felt garland on top of the pine cone garland so the pine cones went in between each reindeer.

Then I ran a bead of hot glue on the back of each reindeer as well as the sleigh and attached the twine from the pine cone garland (as pictured above). That's all there was to it - can't get any easier than that!

If you prefer a simple old-fashioned Christmas decorating style, then here are a couple of ideas for making both a faux sugar-dipped cranberry garland and a dried orange garland.

Thanks for stopping by the Interior Frugalista today! I hope you were inspired by this faux gingerbread reindeer garland idea. These adorable felt elf shoe gift card holders are another easy dollar store felt craft idea for the holidays. They add a personal touch to the infamous gift card giving.

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