Mr. Gingerbread Man and his many stories live on! Hahaha! During November and December, whenever I shared about this adorable Kate Spade Gingerbread House bag, the emails, pictures, stories, and comments I received from BNOTP readers, friends, and my daughter-in-law were the best! This fun bag stole the show and was always the topic of conversation everywhere it traveled. I could write a blog post doing nothing but sharing your stories and my own about what it was like to wear this bag during the holidays. Never has a bag garnered so much attention and stolen the hearts of so many!
But today, our story is all about the owner of the house, Mr. Gingerbread Man himself! Elena, who received the bag, cardholder, and Mr. Gingerbread for Christmas, made a few changes to Mr. Gingerbread that are not for the faint of heart! She gave him a serious makeover!
Before we get into the makeover, I have to share my initial confusion about this little guy. When I first saw him in the Kate Spade store, I thought he was adorable! I almost bought him, but he is a super puffy little guy. As a key chain, I knew he would be hard to get in and out of the bag. Plus, he would take up a lot of space inside the bag, leaving little room for much else. I’m not sure why he was designed to be so chunky, but since I knew he wouldn’t work well inside the bag, I sadly left him behind. Then I started hearing stories from you guys about the bag and how cute Mr. Gingerbread Man was worn as a bag charm on the outside of the bag. Duh! I had never thought of doing that! Because he is so adorable and I loved the idea of having the complete set, I drove back to the store a few days later to purchase him.
While I was in the store, I was talking to the manager who had helped me during my initial visit, and she said she had wondered why I kept referring to him as a keychain because he’s actually a bag charm. Umm, that started me wondering why I had thought he was a keychain. Once back home, I looked him up on the Kate Spade website and immediately understood—it’s because he is a keychain! LOL I tend to be a literal person. If you tell me something’s a keychain, I believe you and conduct myself accordingly. Ha! Honestly, I think the confusion comes from the fact that he’s so big and puffy that everyone buying him has decided that he must be a bag charm. He does look like one!
Once I was back home and tried him on the bag, I became worried that his metal ring would scratch the metal top part of the bag if I wore him as a bag charm. I’m obsessive about taking care of my handbags—I love to keep them looking brand new for as long as possible. At one point, I tried wrapping clear silicone tape around the keychain part of the ring to see if that would protect the metal part of the bag, but the tape was super obvious and looked tacky.
Fortunately, Mr. Gingerbread looked great on several of my other winter bags, so I decided to wear him on those.
My daughter-in-law was thinking of doing the same until my grandsons told her that Mr. Gingerbread Man belonged with his house. Ha! After that, she started wearing him on the bag and he truly is adorable paired with his house.
Okay, on to Elena’s Gingerbread Man makeover! As you can in this side view of Mr. Gingerbread Man, he is a puffy little guy! He is thick! I wonder why Kate Spade didn’t make him into a coin purse. He looks like he should hold something, doesn’t he?
Elena wasn’t too keen on how puffy Mr. Gingerbread looked on her bag. After a bit of deliberation, she decided to trim him down a bit. Elena wrote, “I don’t know how you felt about the credit card case and key chain, but I felt like they were the opposite of what they should have been! The key chain was WAY too fat! It reminded me of the floating key chains we had for boat keys, and the credit card holder could have been a little bigger to hold a bit more!”
Elena said, “I went a little insane and actually cut the key chain in half, removed the stuffing and side leather, and my son used contact cement to glue the two sides together!” If you have this Kate Spade Gingerbread Man Keychain/BagCharm and you’ve been wondering what’s inside, now you know!
Elena pulled out the stuffing and began the process of removing the little strip of leather on both sides.
It appears the leather sides were just glued in place. It looks like they were easy to remove.
One side done, now for the other side.
Once Elena had removed the leather sides from both sides of Mr. Gingerbread, he was ready to be put back together.
Elena’s son used contact cement to glue Mr. Gingerbread back together. I don’t think I’ve ever used that type of glue before. I noticed it says, “permanent bond on contact” on the side of the can, so I guess that means it dries almost immediately.
Elena said, “OMG, it came out AMAZING! Exactly like it should have been in the first place!”
Elena said, “I am SO happy with the way it turned out. Of course, it could have been ruined, but my husband has re-upholstery experience and my son does amazing modeling work, so I knew they could help make it work!”
Here’s how Elena’s Gingerbread Man charm looks from the side now—definitely a whole lot skinnier.
I wanted to share this Gingerbread Man Keychain/Charm makeover in case you have this piece and have been wishing it was a bit skinnier. Also, I thought it was so interesting seeing what was inside! I’m okay with my charm as it is—I kinda like his puffy self. But I think it’s amazing that Elena was brave enough to take on this makeover. Not sure I would have had the nerve to try it, but it turned out great!
See you tomorrow for Tablescape Thursday!
I purchased the bag in November & took it on our annual Mother-Daughter trip to New York in early December. It was a hit & conversation piece everywhere we went. I too purchased the card holder & key chain but never really felt comfortable with the key chain on the bag. I too worried about it damaging the purse. Enjoy this very unique bag!
How did it look from the side? I would be worried that half of him might fall off even with the contact cement.
Gingerman must of made new year’s resolution to lose weight:) Looks great.
GO Elena!! That’s a brilliant makeover! Mr Gingerbread Man looks great in both his forms, but kudos for doing what you wanted. It’s fabulous, and must make you so happy every time you see him! Also love the picture of your darling family, Susan. It’s fun to see how Mr GM looks in the wild! Thanks for sharing, and see you tomorrow!
Elena did a great job! Your family are adorable!
I have to tell you… I showed my husband the gingerbread purse and he told me I needed that. (I am a lover of all things gingerbread and decorate my kitchen with all my finds at Christmas). I laughed and said “No one needs a gingerbread house purse. Maybe I will save up for it next year. “ Well he surprised me by ordering it for me. I was shocked. This was totally a splurge and totally unlike him. I absolutely loved carrying it. It was quite the conversation starter. I am a pre-k teacher assistant and my students also were enchanted by it!
Oh that is sooooo sweet of him! ♥♥♥
So much better! Not sure I would have had the courage. Smart lady!
Mr. Gingerbread man looks like he ATE his house! Haha. What a chubbo! Elena was so brave for putting him on a diet (liposuction?). Haha. The ‘surgery’ came out very well.
I think it’s so cute that your grandsons told their mom Mr. Gingerbread man needed to stay with his house, lol. Although, in your case, he looks really cute with that other bag, too.
Just getting over being sick. We had a ton of snow here and everything came to a standstill. All in all, it was a good time to be sick as I had to hunker down anyway. We’re supposed to get more tomorrow!
Thanks for sharing that cute story, Susan. You too, Elena!
Wow, I would have never guessed Mr. Gingerbread Man was so thick! He definitely would have made a great coin purse. Elena was a brave soul for sure. Thankfully she had her guys to help make it a successful “weight” loss. LOL The purse looks good on your DIL and I agree with the boys. LOL I wonder if those long clear spirals that help make your rings fit tighter would work to put on the key ring or maybe the ring could be replaced with something else that wouldn’t scratch the purse handles. No matter where he hangs, he looks adorable fat or thin! LOL Hugs, Brenda
I love my gingerbread house bag and the gingerbread keychain is attached to my bag as well! I got so many comments & compliments wherever I went. My only issue…is the crossbody strap! It attaches to the bag…but the holders were always in the way when I went to close the bag …annoyed the heck out of me…so I didn’t use it with the strap. I prefer a crossbody over carrying it…but such is life. Anyone else have that problem?
I think it looks great either way. I am good with crafts so I may have tried to make it a coin holder, somehow stuff the arms and legs so coins wouldn’t get stuck, maybe use some of the original stufing. Just enough room for some coins.
What a fun post over this gingerbread man! I would never have been brave enough to skinny him down but he looks cute either way!
Susan, that was so interesting about Mr. Gingerbread Man and making him “as he should have been.” I love the idea he’d have been a coin purse. Anyway, Elena was very brave and it came out perfectly, didn’t it??
As a floral designer, those flowers would have fooled me unless i saw them in person. A lot of people donate floral vases to thrift shops after the flowers die. I like those really heavy florist vases. You know that next year, the Gingerbread Man will be flat because of complaints. I would be tempted to glue some felt on the back like I do on wreaths to prevent scratching, but purist would never do that. Susan, use the purse and turn him into a zipper pull on coats and sweaters. Your grandsons have gotten so big !
Stay warm.