Gingerbread Cookies and Thoughtful Christmas Wrapping
Megan Hobby-Kauffman
Artist, maker, and professional joy-bringer. From my North Carolina studio, Mayhen Press, I whip up colorful, story-filled designs that make everyday life a little brighter (and a lot more fun).
This time of year is a flurry…of activities, excitement, should-dos and want-tos. I love the festive fun so much that I tend to try and do everything. But, I am learning that in trying to do everything, I’m doing much of it half-hearted. Sometimes I get so busy that I forget to be present.
“Slow down,” I tell myself. But the speed picks up again the minute I let my guard down.
This year I am doing my best to do less and only do my favorites. So far that has meant not making a mad rush to get our tree the day after Thanksgiving, leaving lots of decorations in the Christmas storage box and only bringing out our favorites and baking cookies as gifts for friends and neighbors.
That last one took me a couple of days to complete, as I was juggling a fussy baby and a sick child, but it was such a nice feeling to make something for someone else to enjoy and bring a little holiday cheer! I made Finnish gingerbread cookies based off of
this recipe
.
I love simple, old-fashioned bakes and these gingerbread cookies are the best of both of those things! Not too sweet and perfectly and uniquely spiced. I received the sweetest thank you email from one of my son's teachers who said that, even though she was trying to stay off sweets, she had already had three the first day!
I had to tweak a few things since I am in the US and didn’t have access to the syrup called for in the recipe. I found it easiest to use a stand mixer to make these and had lots of fun trying out pressing designs into the dough with the bottom of a glass and a vintage Springerle rolling pin.
I’ve made a recipe card for you to print off if you’d like to try making these.
Download Recipe Card Here!
The final touch to make a special gift was to box these up in folded origami boxes made out of the Mayhen Press Pinecone Panels and Buds and Stars wrapping sheets. I was able to tuck in an Ornament Christmas card carrying festive wishes and I loved how the cards went so well with the patterns on the paper. If you’d like to make your own boxes like this to gift cookies or other gifts in, I have created a tutorial for folding them here or you can scroll to the bottom of this post to find the tutorial video.
I would love to see how your cookies and folded boxes turn out! Tag @mayhenpress on Instagram to share what you’ve made.
Merry Christmas!
