“Its a marshmallow world.”

The year before last, my beloved gingerbread house that I made my senior year in high school in Sister Santa’s (I swear, that was really her name) art class finally bit the dust. Despite shellacking it and coating it in non-water soluble polyurethane, it finally just succumbed to moisture and fell apart. But it lasted almost 8 years so I can’t complain.

So last year I decided to make a new one. I followed Sr. Santa’s lead and made the actual house out of brown corrugated cardboard (thanks to Gingerbread Lane and the help of her website) and used a glue gun to put it together, then decorated it with canned Betty Crocker frosting (because of the high sugar content and how hard it gets when it dries) and miscellaneous candy and cookies. I cut a hole in the back piece and covered the windows on the insides with waxed paper, and then use a small set of white Christmas lights to light it by putting them through the hole in the back. Its beautiful, fun and not as complicated as you may think. And now I am here to tell you exactly how to do it yourself!

This is a super-fun project for people of any age. Because you use cardboard, you don’t have to worry about using uneven gingerbread that will fall apart easily, yet when decorated it looks just the same. You don’t have to make it this size, you can enlarge it or reduce it to your needs. This is for a basic house- feel free to add a chimney (like I did) or whatever else you can think of!

Cut two square ‘A’ pieces; 8″ x 8″

Cut two triangular ‘B’ pieces; 4″ high x 8″ wide

Cut two rectangular ‘C’ pieces; 12″ x 8″

Cut two rectangular ‘D’ pieces; 12″ x 6″

Once the pieces are cut out, cut out windows and draw a door. Make as many or as few as you like. Save the cut out pieces to use as shutters. If you want to light your house, be sure to cut a decent sized hole on the back ‘A’ piece.

Glue the four base pieces (‘B’ and ‘C’) together. Once dry and sturdy, glue on the two ‘B’ pieces. Then add the final two ‘D’ pieces. Now you’re ready to decorate!

I used Ginger Snaps for shingles on the roof, Twizzler bites for bricks on the chimney and front of roof, green Life Savers for Christmas wreaths on the windows, starlight mints as trim, and wintergreen Life Savers on the front of the house and graham crackers on the sides for shingles. I used two candy canes on either side of the front of the house and M&M’s for shutters and the walkway. Spearmint leaves make cute landscaping, and if you wish to make a tree for the front of your house, use a sugar cone. Put it upside down, and use frosting to attach spearmint leaves to it all the way around it. Then use red hots as “lights” if you like. I used white puffy paint to make lines on the windows and make “drips” on the windows as well.

Now you’re ready to display your house! If you want to keep it year after year, make sure to follow these tips:

1. Spray with a NON water soluble polyurethane spray outdoors or in a well-ventilated area. I spray it once, let it dry and then spray it again. Do not over-saturate it though, because the candy will run or “melt.”
2. Store in a plastic garbage bag tied tightly and THEN in a box thats sealed.
3. Place in an area that isn’t too humid (if possible) and where it won’t get knocked over easily.

If you use these steps, your house will last a long time. Of course, every year minor repairs will most likely need to be made. And some candies do crack (see my M&M’s in the above picture) or fade a little, just by their natures.

There are so many possibilities, and so many things you can do. Check out this website and this website for ideas and inspiration. You can make it simple, or make it crazy complex. Its up to you.

For edible holiday recipes and ideas, check out my cupcake/foodie blog, Cupcake Rehab.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 9:05 pm and is filed under Crafts, Fun projects, Holidays, How-to's. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Tags: Gingerbread house