Chocolate Gingerbread Men

When I saw this post, I knew what I was going to decorate my tree with.  They were just too adorable to pass up.  But I started getting my ingredients together and took a closer look at the recipe.  1 cup of cinnamon!?!  I don't have enough!  So I looked in my pantry and found a GIANT container, full of cocoa powder.  Perfect!  Same color without having to go to the store!  Granted, it wouldn't give the same smell, but with all the Scentsies all over my house, what difference would it make?

So I whipped up their recipe, substituting cocoa powder for the cinnamon.  When that came out too dark, I made a batch of white salt dough and mixed them together.

I may not have the cinnamon smell, but my house sure smelt like brownies while they were baking.  Yum!

Yes, they look pale and sad now, but once you seal them, they darken up nicely.

 Add some puff paint for eyes, buttons, and ric rac, but they still needed something...

 Ah!  Much better!  Aren't they adorable?

 String up the Gingers and give a good hose down with top coat.

 (Maybe shed a tear or two for the casualties on the garage floor) Let them dry and admire your work.

 Then let your kids decorate the tree...

 ...and do a little rearranging once the munchkins go to bed.

Did you know that Sharpie markers run when you spray them with sealer?

I didn't.

But Hubby did.

Maybe I should have waited until he was home to spray them...

Oh well!  Their still cute!

Now I just have to go shopping find a fun topper!