Decorating the House

Once you have the walls assembled, the roof goes on. This again requires two people, to hold in place until the icing starts hardening. Otherwise, the roof pieces may start slipping off.

After the roof icing had hardened, we started adding the dormers, and putting on the roof tiles. We used Big Red Gum, cut into pieces, for the red roof on this house. There were two advantages to using the gum. One was that it was lighter than using cookie tiles or large candy pieces. And second was that the gum gave off a really great cinnamon aroma, even after a few days.

We also started by decorating the base of the house. We used broken brown Necco wafers and white royal icing. For the fireplace, we used pieces of cut red licorice and icing. The shutters on the windows were made with brown sugar wafer cookies. We cut them to size, then split them down the center (where the filing is), so they were thinner.

The tree in the front yard was made by using 3 waffle cones and icing. We trimmed the bottom one, so it would sit straight.

The rest of the house was decorated with candy canes for the front porch, white icing and gold & silver balls. After most of the house was decorated, then we put down a layer of white "snow" icing over the foil.

How was it built?

We decided to design and make our own "from scratch" design this year. First we looked through some books for inspiration, then starting sketching some ideas. When we decided the look and size we wanted, we started sketching it out on large sheets of tracing paper. All sides had to be planned out, including a top view. Then we measured and sketched each piece that we would need to bake, and made sure they would fit on our cookie sheets. The large wall in the back had to be split into two pieces, since it was too large.

We kept the originals, and made copies of the outlines, in case we wanted to use them again. The tracings we used get cut up, and ultimately thrown away. Every little piece has to be thought of at this time, so that you can make sure all the pieces are baked and ready to assemble at once.

With this house, we decided we wanted it higher, so we made a foundation of rice krispie treats. The only problem we had with that, was that they were too fresh. We should have baked them at least a day ahead, so they would harden a bit. As it was, the weight of the house squished the rice krispie treats a little.

We usually use a large piece of foam core or gatorboard for the base and cover it with a layer of foil. It needs to be large enough for a yard around the house, and strong enough to support the weight of the house. We made a batch of royal icing and colored it brown to match the gingerbread, since we had som cracks we were going to have to patch. The used different colored icing for the decorative part later. It takes at least two people to assemble a house, especially one this size. As one person holds two pieces in place, the other pipes the icing along all the sides, from the inside, to secure the parts. Once the main walls are in place, it's important to let it sit for at least a hour or so, so that the icing can harden. If you put the roof on too soon, it will collapse.

Gingerbread Homes

Building a gingerbread house has become a tradition in our house every holiday season. We put aside a whole weekend every year to accomplish this feat. And every year it seems to get bigger and more complicated. At left is our 2007 house.

If you've never tried it, start out small. It's important to get a good recipe and make sure you have all the tools necessary. Some essentials are parchment paper, rolling pin, at least two large cookie sheets, a kitchen with enough counter space to spread out while working, and double ovens aren't necessary, but really speed up the baking part.

My kids love hunting for candy to decorate the house. We go to specialty candy stores, cake decorating stores and the grocery store to find a good variety of decorative candies.