How to Make a Gingerbread Man Costume, Plus Candy Cane, Nutcracker and Gnome Looks

To make a gingerbread man costume, start with a one-piece brown base, add a white icing line at the cuffs and ankles, and finish with three big buttons down the front. A ready-made onesie skips the sewing: our Adult Gingerbread Man Onesie Costume is hooded, in five unisex sizes from Small to XXL, and the Kids Gingerbread Onesie Costume runs from 3-4 years to Large.

Among the top family-friendly gingerbread, candy cane, nutcracker and garden gnome costume searches that showed our U.S. site between September 29 and November 2, 2026, about two in three were for gingerbread, and about four in ten of those asked for a onesie, jumpsuit or suit. All four looks below are in our Christmas costumes range, and our best Christmas costumes guide picks across December.

How do you make a gingerbread man costume?

A gingerbread man costume needs four things: a brown one-piece base, a white icing line, big buttons and a face. The story goes back at least to May 1875, when an American children's magazine, St. Nicholas, printed "The Gingerbread Boy", according to a University of Pittsburgh folktale collection.

1. Pick the base. A brown onesie or jumpsuit keeps the cookie outline in one piece; a top and pants split it at the waist.
2. Draw the icing. Run white rickrack or puffy fabric paint in a wavy line around the wrists, ankles and hood edge.
3. Add the buttons. Three down the chest, in red and green. Felt circles, stitched or glued, are the no-sew version.
4. Finish the face. Two dots of blush on the cheeks; skip face paint if you will be eating or wearing the hood up.

Tracing the wearer onto brown felt and sewing two flat panels takes a day and looks flat in photos. We would start with a onesie: no sewing, and it moves when you do.

The kids gingerbread onesie, zip front

The Kids Gingerbread Onesie Costume is a one-piece brown jumpsuit with a center front zip, which makes it easy to put on and take off; open the zip fully before your child steps in. It is 100% polyester with a loose fit, in 3-4 years, Small (4-6), Medium (7-9) and Large (10-12).

The Adult Gingerbread Man Onesie Costume is cut roomy, so size down if you are between sizes. A girl who would rather wear a dress can take the Girls Little Miss Gingerbread Costume: a printed dress with striped puff sleeves and a green bow apron, plus a gingerbread headband, in 4-6 to 12-14 years.

How do you put together a candy cane costume?

A candy cane costume is red and white stripes from shoulders to ankles, with a tall pointed hat for height. Diagonal stripes beat horizontal ones, because they wrap the body the way they wrap the candy. The candy cane's origin stories are mostly legend, CBS News reports, but a Georgia candy maker was turning them out in the 1920s, and a machine invented by his brother-in-law took output from thousands to millions a day.

The candy cane set, head to toe

The Men's Candy Cane Costume is four pieces: a red-and-white striped top, matching pants, a bow tie and a tall pointed hat, nothing to hunt down before an office party. It is 100% polyester in Medium, Large and XL; the hat is one size. For a cold night, its product page suggests a plain white long-sleeve top underneath. A partner can match with a Christmas Holly Headband: a candy-cane-striped band, a glittery holly sprig and jingle bells.

How do you make a nutcracker soldier costume?

A nutcracker soldier costume is a tall hat and fringed epaulettes over a fitted red or blue jacket, with a black belt, plain pants and boots. The hat and epaulettes carry it, so a set of the two over your own jacket is enough. The uniform comes from the ballet, which first played in St. Petersburg, Russia, around Christmas 1892 (NPR), based on an 1816 German story (Library of Congress).

At large American dance companies, Nutcracker ticket revenue rose from just over $57 million to well over $84 million between 2022 and 2024, with attendance up 18%, according to Dance/USA figures reported by NPR. That is a lot of families in a theater lobby, where a toy soldier hat fits right in.

Pin the epaulettes to a fitted jacket or top, not loose fabric, so they sit level; each set's epaulettes attach with two pins.

The adult toy soldier hat, for a parade group

The Adult Nutcracker Toy Soldier Hat is blue and red with gold trim strips and a button accent, on a lightweight cardboard frame, and stands about 5 inches tall. It adjusts to about 58cm and comes singly or in packs of 2, 4, 6 or 12, enough for a marching band, an office team or a family parade group. Add a pair of Red Ringmaster Epaulettes to a navy jacket and the soldier is done.

The girls nutcracker costume, hat included

The Girls Nutcracker Costume is a red jacket-style romper with gold braiding and decorative buttons, an attached full red tulle skirt and a matching tall black soldier hat. It comes in five sizes, from Toddler (3-4 years) to X-Large (12-14 years), so a toddler and a big sister can wear the same costume. For a grown man who wants the full uniform in one box, our Men's Nutcracker Costume adds a white beard and black mustache to the red jacket, belt and tall hat.

What goes into a garden gnome couple costume?

A garden gnome couple costume shares one piece, the tall red pointed hat: his adds a beard, vest and belt, hers a laced dress and striped socks. Lamport Hall in England says it populated its rockery with gnomes around 1874 and calls them the world's first garden gnomes (Lamport Hall); the gnome itself has several claimed inventors, one of them the founder of a shop in Thuringia, Germany, in 1874 (Modern Farmer). Both of our gnome costumes joined our range in 2026.

His gnome: seven pieces

The Men's Garden Gnome Costume is seven pieces: pointed hat, beard, top, vest, belt, pants and shoe covers, which go over your own shoes. It is 100% polyester in Medium, Large, XL and XXL. Add a walking stick if you want a prop.

Her gnome: the laced dress and striped socks

The Women's Garden Gnome Costume is a tall red pointed hat, a dress with a bodice-style front panel, decorative lacing, patterned sleeves and an apron section, and striped socks, in 100% polyester, Small through XXL. A basket finishes it. For a flirtier gnome, see our sexy gnome costume guide.

Which look suits which holiday event?

Match the look to how long the event runs and how much you will move: a onesie for a long evening, a hat for a parade, the gnome pair for a couples party. National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day falls on Friday, December 18, 2026 (timeanddate.com), and a full costume stands out when the rest of the office turns up in sweaters.

How do you stay warm in a costume at an outdoor parade?

Layer thin thermals under the costume, not a coat over it, because a coat hides the whole look. The onesies have a loose, roomy cut, and the candy cane product page suggests a long-sleeve top underneath; try the size on over your base layer. For an evening parade, borrow the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's Halloween costume advice: pick bright colors, add reflective tape that glows in car headlights, and look for a "Flame Resistant" label. Brown gingerbread and a navy soldier jacket are hard to see on a dark street, so run the tape across the back of the shoulders.

Which of these looks pair up for couples and families?

Four pairings work, each built on a shared color or hat:

• Gingerbread and candy cane: the adult gingerbread onesie beside the candy cane set, brown against red-and-white stripes.
• The gnome couple: his and hers, matched by the red pointed hat.
• A gingerbread family: the adult onesie, the kids onesie, and the Little Miss Gingerbread dress for a sister who wants a skirt.
• A nutcracker family: the toy soldier hat for a grown-up, the girls nutcracker costume, and the kids hat-and-gold-epaulettes set over a red sweater for a younger child.

Elves for your gingerbread crew are in our kids elf costumes guide, and Santa, snowmen and the rest of the cast are in our Christmas character costumes list. Kids' sizes sit in our kids Christmas costumes range.

How do you wash and store these costumes?

Hand wash the onesies, the candy cane set and the girls nutcracker romper, then air dry them. Air dry the gnome costumes away from heat. The toy soldier hat and the hat-and-epaulette sets are spot clean only: unpin the epaulettes and wipe with a damp cloth. Store the soldier hats and the men's gnome hat flat, the women's gnome hat upright, and the candy cane hat upright or stuffed with tissue, so each keeps its shape. Every costume goes through over 30 measurement checks. All of our kids' products are safety tested by accredited labs.

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