I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas weekend!
We were busy having fun…and now we’re pretty worn out. Even the kids! :)
One tradition that we do every year is gingerbread houses. It is SO much work for me and I always contemplate doing away with it the next year, but then my husband reminds me how much my kids look forward to it and how much they love it. And…he’s right.
It’s no wonder why really. They get to eat as much candy as they want while they decorate their houses however they want. And then they get to munch on it for days afterward {which I think is gross but…I don’t say anything}. What’s not to like from a kid perspective?
My oldest, Owen, requested that I make a garage for his house next year. I’m hoping that by typing about it on my blog will help me remember. :)
I help wherever they let me. My three year old pretty much let me take over his house, but not without a few of his own touches. And I love it. I love that it looks crazy and messy and nonsensical.
I love even more the looks of pride and glee on my kids’ faces when they’re done and I’ve allowed the houses to be displayed prominently in the middle of our dining room table.
So I guess it’s worth it.
Still…there are some things that I learn every year to make the whole process easier…
* This year we did candy windows. I used this tutorial for it. The tutorial includes super detailed instructions for every step in making gingerbread houses. I used their recipe which worked pretty good. I still have another that I used years ago that I think works better but for some reason I keep using a new recipe every year. Who knows why. It’s probably like my shopping habit. Do you ever see something at one store but then go to 10 different others to make sure that one is the best price/quality? I do. :)
* We used Alison’s instructions for royal icing and sugar glue. She also has a great gingerbread house tutorial on her site Oopsey Daisy. I just love love the sugar glue though. I burned it black this year but it worked great. You just burn sugar and use it to assemble your houses. It cools and hardens very quickly.
*Candy tips:
-Instead of buying bags and bags of candy, we go to the bulk candy bins at the grocery store and buy a handful each candy we think we’ll use. That way there is less candy waste and less money spent on candy.
– Save your Halloween candy. I did not do this, this year, but you can bet I will next year. I instead saved all the candy Owen brought home from school from all the fun holiday stuff they did and brought it out for this activity.
Those wood logs stacked outside of the door of this house? Unwrapped tootsie rolls! :)
– Think outside candy. Pretzels, Chex cereal, ice cream cones, and other things that you probably already have on hand make great gingerbread house decorations.
* Making the gingerbread.
– Make or find a paper template to cut all of your pieces out with. The first gingerbread tutorial from The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie mentions cutting the gingerbread out, baking it, then using the template to re-cut the pieces after they’re baked. I highly recommend this as well. Evenly cut pieces make for a better looking house.
– I also waited until after the ginger bread was baked to cut out the doors and windows.
– Make the gingerbread the day before and let it dry out on your counter top. It spreads the work over two days so it seems less overwhelming, and the stiffer cookie pieces build a sturdier house.
– Make sure you use royal icing. See Oopsey Daisy for a super easy recipe. We’ve had a few houses die from using the canned stuff.
I dish a little bit of frosting out into a small bowl for the kids to dig into and for spreading. I then put some in a freezer ziploc bag and snip a tip off the bottom for piping…which I make mostly just a mom job. The rest I keep in a large bowl with a moist, clean towel over the top. This keeps it from hardening and drying out until you are ready for more.
– And last. My best tip is to assemble the houses by yourself beforehand {that sugar glue is HOT – I have a burned finger to prove it}, set out the candy and decorations, and have everything ready to go before you call the kids over. That way, you can just sit back, turn up the Christmas music, and enjoy the moment.
…and try not to think about the mess you’ll have to clean up for an hour afterward. :)
Nice job Kiddos! Good tips too. We have yet to make ours.
http://www.thegirlieblog.com
You are far braver than I. Our is a 3 1/2-year-old girl who is in a dinosaur and robot phase and enjoys things crushing. Yet she is so sweet with the kitties.
Even though I don't know if I'll be able to bring myself to go in for the entire process, I really want to make some of those adorable little candy windows. Awesome!
they look so cute! it was really fun to make gingerbread houses when I was a kid
I love the idea of the sugar glue and pre-assembling the houses. We may just have to try it again next year. We have sort of an every-other-year-or-so gingerbread tradition. You make it look easy!
Same thing at this house. I make them annually and kind of wonder why in the process, but the kid happiness wins out in the end. Might look into those candy windows next year. One thing I do to make things easier is I use an A frame cabin for a template – much easier to balance while assembling :)
-Stefanie
2ndChanceCreations.etsy.com
Oh and demo with the hammer is the best!! :)
-Stefanie
2ndChanceCreations.etsy.com
Those houses look so wonderful… Thank you for this inspirational post! I´d love to do something similar with my two boys (4 and 5,5 years old)… I´m sure they would enjoy it just like yours!
What a beautiful fun mess!
I have an annual gingerbread house party for my kids, grandkids and their friends. It began as a cub scout project when my now 30-something son was in cub scouts. I now make over 20 homemade gingerbread houses every year and also use the melted sugar for glue. The only thing is that it gets VERY HOT and can cause serious burns if it gets on your skin. Recommend that you do NOT use this glue with