A favorite holiday activity for many families is building a gingerbread house. Whether you decide to build a gingerbread house from scratch or purchase a store bought one, either way the experience is still a fun way to get the family together and express your creativity. Building the ultimate gingerbread house for the holidays can be tricky though, here are some tips to help construct the best one yet!
- Decide on Homemade or Store-Bought
Store-bought gingerbread house kits can be much easier and less hassle since all of the pieces that you will need come together in the kit. However, with store-bought gingerbread house kits there is always a chance that the pieces could be broken inside or taste pretty stale. There are plenty of pre-designed options to choose from in the pre-made kits. Here are just a few of our favorites to purchase.
- Hasbro Candy Land Gingerbread House Kit
- Wilton Build it Yourself Mini Village Gingerbread Decorating Kit
- Disney Gingerbread House Kit
- Gingerbread Reindeer & Sleigh Kit
If you decide to bake your gingerbread house from scratch, make sure to bake extra pieces in case there are a few that break.
- Get Organized
Once you decide on homemade or store-bought, purchase the kit or the ingredients to make the gingerbread house. Make sure you have enough frosting for the “glue” of the foundation and enough candy for all of your decorating needs. Popular candies to include on a gingerbread house are gumdrops, peppermints, candy canes, sprinkles, m&m’s, kisses, marshmallows, and more! You can get really creative with this part.
- Build your Foundation
Next, build your gingerbread house foundation. Make sure to use enough thick layers of frosting to help hold together the pieces of the house. Before decorating make sure to allow enough time for the icing to dry so your house is completely stable before touching it to decorate the rest.
- Decorate and Enjoy
Now it’s time for the fun part…decorating! Use your extra frosting and candies to create a holiday masterpiece with your family and friends. Then once you are finished, you can keep on display for the holidays for a décor piece or you can deconstruct it for a yummy treat!