12 Days of Christmas Ideas – Day 9

I really do enjoy the build up to Christmas, and for the last few years as part of the build up we have included the decorating of gingerbread houses. It really is a fun activity for the whole family. Over the last few years we have kept it all rather low-key, but this year the plan is to go all out. However you decide to approach it, here’s a few hints we have learned along the way that will hopefully help you with yours.

While you can actually buy complete kits for making a Gingerbread house these days, if you’d rather approach it from scratch here’s a list of things you’ll need:

• Gingerbread house pieces
• Icing to glue the house together and stick on the decorations
• Decorations i.e lollies etc.
• A plate to decorate the house on
• A knife or scissors or both

 

The Gingerbread House Pieces

Most recipes for gingerbread men will work for making gingerbread houses.

You’ll either need to create your on pattern or you can buy actual cutters from most supermarkets. I find that the cutters you can buy make rather large houses. This is fine if 3-4 people are all working on one house, but if you opt to have one house each like we do, well let’s just say, that’s a lot of gingerbread! I decided to design my own pattern and so far it seems that each year the design has got a little smaller. When you are doing one house each, you want to find the right balance between enough space to decorate creatively without having too much space that the kids loose interest before they are done.

Another thing you need to do when baking the house walls, is double check you have all the pieces – one year I came to the assembling of the houses only to find I was one piece short – arrgh!

The Icing

This is something that I have struggled with a little. They say that royal icing is best. This is made with egg whites or an egg white powder that can be purchased at cake decorating stores. It is quite a fast drying icing that sets real hard – two things you are after when you are trying to get the walls to hold together. I have also had some success with just mixing icing sugar and water, but you do have to get the consistency just right – usually quite thick.

I have also taken to using sewing pins (having sterilised them in boiling water first) to hold the pieces in place while they dry.

 

The Decorations

The most obvious thing here is the need for lollies. Smaller lollies are best but you can also cut larger lollies down to the size you want. A pair of sterilised scissors works best for cutting jellies and marshmallows, but you’ll need a knife and chopping board for harder lollies like candy canes. Our favourite lollies for decorating are M&Ms, mini jellybeans, marshmallows, candy canes and chocolate drops/buttons.

While lollies seem like the most obvious choice you can use lots of other things too. For example you can use cake sprinkles like 100s & 1000s, pretzels, small chocolate biscuits, dried fruit, nuts and even some breakfast cereals work well too.

The Plate

Don’t forget about the plate you’re building it on. It does need to be fairly sturdy as the houses do have a bit of weight to them. We tried paper plates one year – not the best idea. Another option are cake boards – you can find these at most dollar stores these days. Size-wise, it’s a good idea for them to have a reasonable space available around the house so you can create gardens etc. too.

A Few Last Notes

I find when decorating gingerbread houses with kids it’s a good idea to have aprons of some description for them to wear. Also do whatever you can to limit their need to get out of their chairs and walk around – this definitely contains the mess. Lastly I make sure they each have either a drink of water or milk – my theory it that it helps to dilute the amount of sugar they eat during the process.

If you have any further questions about creating your own gingerbread house, I’m happy to try and answer them. Just use the comments section below. Happy creating,

 

 

 

 

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