Welcome to the first out of eight diy posts this blogmas.

In case you haven't read my blogmas announcement, every weekday I'll be altenating between a recipe and a diy post. On Friday we had my oreo brownie with peppermint frosting, and today we are going to be making a lot of gingerbread.

You thought today was meant to be diy day? Well, it is. Instead of using your usual spiced dough, we will be using felt.

This is the perfect diy if you're completely new to sewing. There is no complicated techniques here. (If you're a sewing expert, feel free to throw your own spin on things). If you want to get into the festive fun, this is an activity you can do while watching a Christmas movie, and eating your body weight in chocolate. You'll also be able to bring out your gingerbread every year. You could even make a new set each year and just see your little gingerbread family grow.

The main fabric we are using today is felt. Felt is one of my favourite crafting fabric. It's so versatile, and great to be used at any crafting level. Unlike woven fabrics, felt doesn't fray, so you don't need to be concerned about the edges fraying.

Talking of felt, Minerva Crafts were kind enough to send me my supplies for this diy! If you're looking for anything to feed your crafting desires, you need to check them out. Their online store is filled with absolutely everything you'd need including craft making, knitting patterns and yarns, fabrics, and all the haberdashery pieces you could ever imagine. The felt I used was the plain acrylic felt fabric micro roll* which is such a great quality of sturdy felt, perfect for this diy. I have stuck to the traditional ginger colour, but feel free to find the felt that best suits you.

I'm not going to lie, making these gingerbreads slightly felt like I was a member of the Build A Bear team... there is a lot of stuffing and dressing involved. I enjoyed every single minute though. I started off with the intentions of making just the large sizes of a gingerbread couple, but I made a smaller size to trial out my template (you'll get the free printable too), and they were too adorable not to make more of.

I ended up making 4 different sizes. The smallest ones are fashioning a red bow tie, or red hair bow, and are decorated using a sewing machine decorative setting for the icing, and hand sewn facial features. These are the perfect size for Christmas tree decorations, or decorating your presents. The next size is slightly bigger, so you're able to do a little more, including a few cute buttons, a gingham skirt, and gingham scarf. I also experimented with using sequins instead of the traditional buttons... he definitely ended up looking very festive.

The next two have been made in the exact same way, just in two different sizes. The eyes, cheeks, and icing details have all been made from felt, plus, they're all fashioning an outfit! I honestly think I had way too much fun making the outfits for each of the gingerbread. How adorable is the dungarees set though? I also made a larger set of scarves, and a tiny little apron which has felt pockets and ties up at the back.

Making clothes is something I've been doing for years, but something that small, to that body shape was a whole new experience. The way I started off was laying a piece of paper over the printed template and tracing the shape of the outfit I wanted, making sure it was a little bigger so it will fit comfortably around my very plumped gingerbread.

When sewing your gingerbread together, you can decide on which stitch you're going to use. I explain and show examples during the tutorial. You can make them any size you like. The minis will be taking pride on my Christmas tree, and the two biggest ones have made a new home on my bed. If you're just like me and love making gifts, these would make for great presents, or if you know someone who loves crafts, you can print off the downloadable, and include the fabrics for them to make themselves. Activity packs are always my favourite things to receive and do on Christmas. I have spoken far too much, so let's begin.

I had so much fun making these, and I hope the amount of effort reflects from this post. Let me know in the comments below if you're into festive crafts, and what's your favourite thing to make. If you decide to make these felt gingerbread, please share your photos, I'd love to see what you've created. Don't forget to check the advent calendar to see what's coming up for the rest of the week.

*These product were sent to me by Minerva Crafts. You can read my full disclaimer policy here.