A Gingerbread Manger Scene

When  our sons were growing up we had an annual tradition, with another family, of decorating and assembling a gingerbread manger scene. Our friends had the cookie cutout kit that included cutouts for: a stable, Joseph and Mary, Baby Jesus in the manger, kings and camels and other animals. It was a fun activity for the whole family. Then, the five kids grew up and went their different ways.

When my friend moved from her home of 30+ years the gingerbread manger scene resurfaced. And she made the gingerbread manger scene with her grandchildren.

The first step…creating the stable from gingerbread…”glued” together with royal frosting ahead of time.

I asked her to outline the pieces of the set for me so I could try to recreate it with two of my grandchildren who were coming to stay with us for the holidays. I made the gingerbread dough and “royal” frosting (the glue) and cut out the stable pieces. Gary assembled the stable ahead of time to let it set.

Second step: After baking, we all helped decorate the manger scene cookies.

Then I cut out the paper figures my friend had given me, and placed them on the gingerbread dough and tried to cut around the outline. It was not easy, and when I pulled the paper up from the dough, some of it stuck to the paper. The pieces were a bit mangled, but then… Mary and Joseph were probably a little mangled when they finally got to the stable. I persevered, and continued cutting around the paper patterns.

Third step: Pasting the figures to the stable with the royal frosting.

The figures turned out ok – although I reduced the numbers to one king and one camel (not three), and two animals (not several… ) I baked them ahead of time so all that was left to do was decorate and assemble.

The finish: A very creative gingerbread manger scene.

We had a lot of fun creating our masterpiece, that depicted the wonderful story of Jesus’ birth.

10 thoughts on “A Gingerbread Manger Scene”

  1. You are quite the wonderful grandma repeating the memorable events from your sons lives with your grandchildren. They will always treasure the memories you and Gary are making with them. Isn’t grandparenting fun!?! Happy new year!

    1. Thanks Vicki. Yes, grandparenting is fun and we are trying to make some good memories!

      And speaking of memories, on Christmas we watched the 1991 version of the Christmas story starring Jessica, Michael and Tim! What fun!

  3. I love this, Valerie. I bet Zoey and Ezra will be talking about this for quite some time. I’ve never made a gingerbread house and am not interested in doing so. But maybe I could convince Randy to tackle a stable. I wonder if you can purchase a set of Nativity cookie cutters???If not, someone should create a set.

    1. Thanks Audrey.

      I think a key to making any gingerbread structures is assembling it ahead of time to make it set and firm.

      I just checked Amazon and yes, there are some cutters to purchase.

  5. How fun Valerie😃🥰 the stable turned out nice and special since it was handmade by you and your family❤️
    Happy new year to you🔮🎉 Lisa and I are in Miami so we will celebrate new years here in a park tonight😃

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