How amazing is this Christmas/winter wall display created by Alicia Arnold?! While this probably won't be on the agenda for this year, we certainly think it deserves a place in the inspiration folder for next year! (Perhaps you can get together with your neighbor in the hallway and create it together!)

Check out these close-ups!

Gingerbread Village Wall Display

We haven't created a display like this on our own, but here's how we would go about it;

• Create gingerbread house background. Paper the entire display space, including above and around the doors with brown bulletin board paper, then use long strips of white bulletin board (the bottom edge shaped with scissors into a scallop) across the top. This creates the basis of the gingerbread house! As Alicia did, you can add snowflake, gumdrop, or other accents to make it more visually appealing!
• Decorate the door(s). Cover the entire door with green or red paper. (If you're working with your neighbor to create the display, it works out to make one of each!) Once fully papered, add decorative elements made from scraps of bulletin board paper.
  • Cut a medium-sized square "window" from yellow bulletin board paper, using scraps of white paper to create the window grid as well as an "awning" that mimics the scalloped edge on the roof.
  • Draw or trace a large gingerbread man/woman onto brown bulletin board paper, using white paper to create the "icing details" and colored paper to mimic candy buttons and faces.
  • Cut Christmas bulb shapes from assorted colors of construction paper, stringing the bulbs onto yarn or ribbon and using it to create a welcome message for the door. A simple "WELCOME!" or "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" works. The original design includes the message, "WELCOME TO THE GINGERBREAD VILLAGE!"
  • Finally, frame the door(s) with candy canes! Be sure to measure your door, then draw several large candy cane shapes onto white bulletin board paper. Create the alternating red/white stripes by coloring in the appropriate sections on each cutout with red markers or craft paint. Cut the shapes out and arrange them around the door. [NOTE: The shapes will overlap!]
• Create the reindeer stable. Cut a large rectangle of gray bulletin board paper (about two-thirds the size of the wall display you're creating) and adhere it to the display so that its bottom edge runs along the floor. Next, cut a rectangle of red bulletin board paper - the same length as the gray piece, but is only half as wide. Add this piece to the bottom half of the gray rectangle, creating the base for the stable opening and doors. Use long strips of white bulletin board paper to frame the entire gray/red rectangle, then add the stable door detailing - i.e. a long strip of white paper along the top and sides of each "door" as well as an "X" in the middle of each. {See the photo below for a visual of what we're describing!}



• Create and label the reindeer. The last piece of the gingerbread village is to create the reindeer. Freehand or find a template online, creating the reindeer heads from brown construction paper and their antlers from black or tan paper. (To add a bit more visual interest, Alicia created the antlers from paper of fun colors!) Create the eyes and noses from paper as well - being sure to create only one red nose and the rest black! Arrange the reindeer cutouts in a row behind the stable doors and create miniature name plaques from paper or simply use a marker to write their names onto the stable doors.

Yes, this display will certainly take some time and effort, but it's so worth it! Don't you think?