Make a Tasty Gingerbread House

There are endless options for decorating gingerbread houses during the holiday season, making it a great activity for your family or as a party theme. Check out these ideas for gingerbread houses that will create festive and delicious holiday decorations to display. Here are some tips for how to decorate a gingerbread house.

To get started, you’ll need to know how to make a gingerbread house. Head to the grocery store to pick up a gingerbread house kit or make the pieces from scratch with this gingerbread recipe. Once your walls and roof are assembled, it’s decorate gingerbread house time! All sorts of candies can be used as decorations for gingerbread houses. Transform mini candy canes into fences, tower gumdrops to make trees, lay M&Ms as roof tiles, and square pretzels as windowpanes. You can even “paint” the walls of your house with colored frosting. These are great supplies if you are making a classic gingerbread house, but there are also specific themed designs to try.

• Snowy Day: If your gingerbread house is going to be a part of a winter wonderland scene, white icing looks just like hanging icicles and a light dusting of confectioners’ sugar will mimic a fresh snowfall. Use frosted-wheat cereal to give the roof a rustic look and tie a small bundle of cinnamon sticks together with twine to make a mini woodpile.

• Peppermint Wonderland: Use only red and white peppermint candies to decorate your stripey gingerbread house. Use long swizzle sticks to make a door frame and stack round mints to make a chimney. Peppermint bark works well as a covering for the roof. You can also crush hard peppermint candies to form a “gravel” path leading up to your house.

• Colorful Candy Cottage: Construct a basic gingerbread house and then add on edible accents such as pastel wafer-candy roof tiles, gummy ring wreaths, a lollipop topiary, and holiday bows cut out of chewing gum. If your house has cut-out windows, you can also make window panes that appear to be glowing by pouring caramel syrup into the spaces and letting it harden.

More ideas for decorations for a gingerbread house are jelly beans, marshmallows, chocolate, shredded coconut, and fondant. Making gingerbread houses is a beloved holiday tradition and will encourage kids and adults to use their imaginations. See what kind of creations you can mix up and have fun while you’re doing it! Make it a group activity and invite friends over to join you with one of our FREE Christmas party invitations!