{"id":1734,"date":"2015-12-01T22:35:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-01T09:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/?p=1734"},"modified":"2016-03-21T20:43:42","modified_gmt":"2016-03-21T07:43:42","slug":"handy-hints-for-hosting-a-gingerbread-house-decorating-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/handy-hints-for-hosting-a-gingerbread-house-decorating-party\/","title":{"rendered":"Handy Hints for Hosting a Gingerbread House Decorating Party"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em><strong>12 Days of Christmas Ideas &#8211; Day 9<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h5>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1740\" src=\"http:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/GHP-Header.jpg\" alt=\"Gingerbread House Decorating Party Title Image\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/GHP-Header.jpg 1800w, https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/GHP-Header-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/GHP-Header-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/div>\n<p>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\u00a0a fun activity for the whole family. Over the last few years we have kept it all rather low-key, but this\u00a0year the plan is to go all out. However you decide to approach it, here&#8217;s a few hints we have learned along the way that will hopefully help you with yours.<\/p>\n<p>While you can actually buy complete kits for making a Gingerbread house these days, if you&#8217;d rather approach it from scratch\u00a0here&#8217;s\u00a0a list of things you&#8217;ll need:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Gingerbread house pieces<\/li>\n<li>Icing to glue the house together and stick on the decorations<\/li>\n<li>Decorations i.e lollies etc.<\/li>\n<li>A plate to decorate the house on<\/li>\n<li>A knife or scissors or both<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The Gingerbread House Pieces<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p>Most recipes for gingerbread men will work for\u00a0making gingerbread houses.<\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;ll either need to create your on pattern or you can buy\u00a0actual cutters from most supermarkets. I find that the cutters you can buy make rather large houses.\u00a0This is fine if 3-4 people are all working on one house, but if you\u00a0opt to have one house each like we do,\u00a0well let&#8217;s just say, that&#8217;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\u00a0smaller. When you are doing one house each, you want to find the right balance between enough space\u00a0to decorate creatively without having too much space that the kids loose interest before they are done.<\/p>\n<p>Another thing you need to do when baking the house walls, is double check you have all the pieces &#8211; one year\u00a0I came to the assembling of the houses only to find I was one piece short &#8211; arrgh!<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<div id=\"attachment_1735\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1735\" class=\"wp-image-1735\" src=\"http:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dscf2059.jpg\" alt=\"Gingerbread Houses\" width=\"600\" height=\"236\" srcset=\"https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dscf2059.jpg 4288w, https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dscf2059-300x118.jpg 300w, https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dscf2059-1024x403.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1735\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Can you spot the roof piece that is made of cardboard?<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h5><\/h5>\n<h5><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The Icing<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n<p>This is something that I have struggled with a little. They say that <a href=\"http:\/\/kidsactivitiesblog.com\/8621\/gingerbread-house-glue\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">royal icing <\/a>is best. This is made with egg whites or an egg white powder\u00a0that can be purchased at cake decorating stores. It\u00a0is quite a fast drying icing that sets real\u00a0hard &#8211;\u00a0two 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 &#8211; usually quite thick.<\/p>\n<p>I have also taken to using sewing pins (having sterilised them in boiling water first) to hold the pieces in place while they dry.<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<div id=\"attachment_1736\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1736\" class=\"wp-image-1736\" src=\"http:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dscf3334.jpg\" alt=\"Gingerbread house disaster\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dscf3334.jpg 2576w, https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dscf3334-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dscf3334-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1736\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">As you can see this was one of our failed attempts &#8211; but it still tasted great!<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The Decorations<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p>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&#8217;ll need a knife and chopping board for harder lollies like candy canes. Our favourite lollies for decorating\u00a0are M&amp;Ms, mini jellybeans, marshmallows, candy canes and chocolate drops\/buttons.<\/p>\n<p>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 &amp; 1000s, pretzels, small chocolate biscuits, dried fruit, nuts and even some breakfast cereals work well too.<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<div id=\"attachment_1737\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1737\" class=\"wp-image-1737\" src=\"http:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dscf3343.jpg\" alt=\"Finished gingerbread house\" width=\"600\" height=\"508\" srcset=\"https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dscf3343.jpg 3674w, https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dscf3343-300x254.jpg 300w, https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/dscf3343-1024x867.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1737\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Love the pretzel fence.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h5><\/h5>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The Plate<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p>Don&#8217;t forget about the\u00a0plate you&#8217;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 &#8211; not the best idea. Another option are cake boards &#8211; you can find these at most dollar stores these days. Size-wise, it&#8217;s\u00a0a good idea for them to have a reasonable space available around the house so you can create gardens etc. too.<\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>A Few Last Notes<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p>I find when decorating gingerbread houses with kids it&#8217;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 &#8211; this definitely\u00a0contains the mess. Lastly I make sure they each have either a drink of water or milk\u00a0&#8211; my theory it that it helps to dilute the amount of sugar they eat during the process.<\/p>\n<p>If you have any further questions about creating your own gingerbread house, I&#8217;m happy to try and answer them. Just use the comments section below.\u00a0Happy creating,<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-663 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Sign-off-300x118.png\" alt=\"Sign off\" width=\"300\" height=\"118\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 2015 As You Wish\u00a0Events\u00a0Ltd.\u00a0 Want to use this article\u00a0in your E-newsletter, blog, or website? You can as long as you include this complete statement:\u00a0Auckland, New Zealand \u2013 Event Planner &amp; Designer Nadine Crozier publishes the \u2018As You Wish Events\u2019 blog filled with secrets, tips and\u00a0how-tos for planning your fabulous event. Get your exclusive inspiration, tips and tricks at <a title=\"As You Wish Events Ltd\" href=\"http:\/\/www.asyouwish.co.nz\/\" target=\"_blank\"><u><span style=\"color: #a66ae2;\">http:\/\/www.asyouwish.co.nz<\/span><\/u><\/a>.\u00a0 As You Wish Events is an\u00a0event planning and design company based in Auckland, serving the Auckland region and certain areas of Northland.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>12 Days of Christmas Ideas &#8211; 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\u00a0a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,26,31,30,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crafts-and-things","category-fabulous-food","category-parties-for-adults","category-parties-for-kids","category-planning-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1734"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1749,"href":"https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1734\/revisions\/1749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asyouwish.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}