Hello, nice to see you again.
Welcome to another sweet blog post where we'll talk all about these tiny and super cute Christmas gingerbread cupcakes with little gingerbread man biscuits on top! The only downside is that you don't get to eat them. You'll have to bake real ones too!
A few months ago I took to Instagram and asked you what tutorials you wanted to see in the November and December issues of Dolls House & Miniature Scene magazine. I had chosen several ideas but I wasn't quite done deciding exactly which ones you may have wanted to see. But you have spoken and for the November issue the most voted of all projects were the gingerbread man cupcakes.
If you've never read the magazine before and followed my tutorials on there, included are all the written step by step instructions as well as photographs for you to easily follow along. Provided is also a list of tools and materials (you'll find it below too).
The magazine is available both in print (they ship worldwide) and digital copies, so you can enjoy reading it on your favourite device (and zoom in!) and in your favourite place. The magazine is available here:
What else is in this issue?
The festive season is upon us! It’s time to begin taking your dolls houses and miniature scenes from autumn to winter and into Christmas.
They have a copious amount of projects for you to try your hand at, more so than a usual issue, so let them guide you on your festive journey! First up, my gingerbread men on page 6 will make a cute addition to your kitchen, for a more vintage Christmas styling they have some toys you can make using a free cut out sheet on page 19, then on page 28 you must try the vintage Santa Claus to complete your scene.
Also, this issue takes a look at some inspiring finds in the mini world both old and new; be transported back to the era of Prohibition in the USA with the Speakeasy, as Sadie Brown investigates these fabulously made in miniature by Mary Broaddus, then leap forward in time to their Instagram Identities feature starring skater-style and urban graffiti miniature creations by Nathan Ross – they certainly have something for all tastes!
All this and more, including top tips, fascinating features, competitions and reviews - happy festive mini making!
Get digital copies to read on your favourite device with bonus features, or printed copies delivered to your door here:
Let's chat a little about the tutorial...
These are really tiny cupcakes and the gingerbread men are tiny...I don't think you'll be able to find a tiny gingerbread man cutter for this project, meaning you will have to make a gingerbread man yourself, make what is called a "master", bake it and make a mould of it. That it what I did, but because I had made this mould last year (or the previous one), I couldn't photograph the step. It's fairly simple though.
Before I used my own gingerbread man mould, I tried making a batch of gingerbread man biscuits using a dolls house cutter I had (it was a gift when I first started with polymer clay and I don't think I'd used them more than a handful of times) to see if they would look proportionate with my cupcakes. This cutter is more for display than to be used as a cutter hence the very rounded edge. However, the biscuits ended up being too big for my cupcakes, so I used my own mould, which in my humble opinion look way cuter.
Another thing I wanted to mention is that, when you make your master shape and then the mould, even if you texture the master to look like a biscuit, always add texture after taking the biscuits out of the mold because a lot of it is always lost. Being so tiny, you'll need a toothbrush with fine and soft bristles and you want to apply texture with a very light hand so as not to ruin the shape.
To make the frosting for these cupcakes I used cold porcelain, which is a mix of cornflour, PVA Glue, paint and baby oil and there are many recipes out there that may vary slightly, with similar results. If you'd like to try using cold porcelain, I’d suggest experimenting with different combinations until you feel confident to work with it as the result is one of the most rewarding indeed.
Previous tutorials you might like:
If you'd like to learn more about polymer clay or if you'd like to relax with a clay project this weekend:
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Thank you so much for reading and I'll catch you next time with the December tutorial that ties in really well with this one (so get your gingerbread man biscuits ready!) and that I know you're going to love. See you then!
Lots of love,
Mai