Gingerbread Men Garland - an edible Christmas decoration

This year is going way too fast... When I arrived in Australia in October I thought I had a lot of time before Christmas but now it seems like the last two months just passed in a blur...

I'm mostly giving away home-made gifts this year, when I found this cute idea in the current Donna Hay magazine I thought it's worth giving it a go since I had never made gingerbread before and they worked out reallly well! 

Gingerbread Men Garland

125g unsalted butter
1/2 cup (90g) brown sugar
2/3 cup (230g) golden syrup
2 1/2 cups (375g) plain flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F). Place the butter and sugar in an electric mixer and beat for 8-10 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until pale and creamy.
Add the golden syrup, flour, ginger and baking soda and beat until the mixture just comes together to frm a smooth dough. Roll the dough out between two sheets of non-stick baking paper t 4mm thick and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Using a small gingerbread man cookie cutter, cut out shapes and place on baking trays lined with baking paper.
Now the recipe calls for using the tip of a 6mm-round nozzle to cut out two holes from each gingerbread man, however I found that the holes were closing up again in the oven and I simply cut out the holes straight after they came out of the oven, worked fine for me.
Bake cookies for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown.
Once the little men have cooled completely, thread them onto a ribbon and tie the ends.

We are only going to put our christmas tree up on the 23rd, but I will definitely use them to decorate the tree.