Guest Post: DIY Gingerbread Houses
Everyone who knows the story of Hansel and Gretel is doubtlessly aware of the appeal of gingerbread houses! My kids always loved the story, and came home for the holidays especially excited to build their own gingerbread houses. Apparently, some fellow students from their adventure boarding school were gingerbread house experts, and gave my own kids some helpful tips for creating top of the line gingerbread houses of their own.
With the holiday season rapidly approaching, now is the perfect time to spend quality time with your family by creating your own festive themed gingerbread house. Follow these quick and simple instructions to create the perfect gingerbread house for your own family. You can thank my kids for their insight later!
1) To save on cooking time, buy sheets of pre-made gingerbread. These can usually be bought from your local supermarket or at arts and crafts stores. Cut the sheets into the desired outline of the house using scissors or a knife. You can be as creative as you want here with this part; remember that it’s your house and it can be designed according to your desires.
2) Once you have cut all the walls, base and roof for your gingerbread house, you may want to cut out some squares on the side of the house to form windows. This makes for a nice touch, and makes it look a little more realistic. Before putting the house together, make sure to leave some interesting things inside.
3) Next step is putting the house together. You can use icing to glue the house together, which you can either make yourself or buy from the grocery store. Simply paste the icing along where you want the parts to stick together and then put your walls and roof into place. Voila, by now you will have the structure of your holiday gingerbread house up and running.
4) To finish off your gingerbread creation, decorate the walls and roof with icing and candy. Any kind of candy can be used, but hard candy usually looks the best. Glue the pieces of candy onto the house using icing, and use any left over icing to create patterns that look like snow. This is usually the part kids love the most, so be imaginative and remember to have fun!
Now that your gingerbread house is complete, display it somewhere prominent and where people can really admire it. Be sure to take a snapshot of you and your kids with your homemade gingerbread house. This is a family project you will want to remember! Happy Holidays!
This is a great choice as an adventure boarding school downtime activity or something to enjoy with the whole family at home.
