I have a confession – I don’t do gingerbread houses. I’ve done them in the past, but I’ve found an easy and cheap way to do “Gingerbread” houses for our kids (and their friends) every holiday season, and the secret is this…
Graham Crackers & Hot Glue.
No, I’m not joking.
As long as you tell the parents and kiddos participating in the decorating fun that the house is inedible (aka: the house is made with hot glue), you’re a-ok to take this shortcut. And believe me – it’s a shortcut you want to take!
Here’s how I do it.
The first thing to note is that I assemble the houses without the help of my children. It’s just too much work to include them in this part and let’s face it – they are far more interested in decorating the houses (and eating the candy!). So for our family, it’s easiest when I prep the houses and set up the assortment of candy, and then they get to decorate away.
Here are the supplies I use for our annual “Gingerbread” Houses:
- Box of Graham Crackers (you’ll need four graham crackers for each house)
- Box of Sugar Cones (for trees)
- Cake Circles
- Candy for decorating
- Ingredients for Royal Icing
- Piping Bags for icing (optional)
To start assembling your house, grab your supplies.
Use hot glue to form a square base. I just free-form the crackers together, and it works perfectly!
Next, using a serrated knife, slowly cut a graham cracker into a triangle. Pay close attention to sawing super softly so it doesn’t shatter, but it works- I promise! 
Then assemble the roof like in the photo below.
Next, add the final graham cracker sections to the top with glue and glue the sugar cone to the cake circle.
Now you’re ready to make up a batch (or 2) of Royal Icing and set out an assortment of candies.
Finally, it’s time for the decorating fun to begin!
Every year I find decorating these houses strangely therapeutic for me, and my kids love it!
Want to add to the holiday fun? Consider allowing your kids to invite a few friends over to decorate a “gingerbread” house. We host a party annually for our kid’s friends and it has quickly become a favorite tradition of ours.
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