christmas gingerbread house

Do you ever find yourself sniffing your walls and wishing they were made of gingerbread?   I refuse to believe I am the only person who has seriously thought about becoming a witch just to get to live in a candy house.  But, until my back ordered broom and cauldron arrive in the mail, I will have to satisfy my confectionary blue-print dreams with this giant gingerbread house, perfect for letting you get lost in a day dream of sugar glass windows, candy cane posts and gum drop accents. 

At Christmas time I like to imagine tiny worlds filled with little animals who are busy decorating for their little wood land Christmas.  The Brambly Hedge books tap into my dream world this time of year, and I like to think this version of a gingerbread house could be filled with a little mouse family, busily stirring Christmas puddings and folding adorable mouse size calico fabric clothes.   If you have any little people in your life the Brambly Hedge Collection Book is packed with charming tales of the cutest little mice, kind of like a gentle Downton Abby of the animal world, and would make a great year round gift for anyone who loves to be read to and who loves looking at detailed pictures of bucolic mouse life.  Ok, side note and procrastinating over, time to get cracking on my gingerbread house tips!

My quick gingerbread tips, that haven’t already been covered in more “gory” detail here (see what I did there? lol) are below. My template is here, and my check list is here. The template prints on normal paper, but some parts you will need to add length to, the checklist tells you what to cut and tape where, as do the template pieces.

Plan a few days for this- one to bake, one to ice/ decorate, one to glue and add more “snow”! 

1. If you do use sugar glass or crushed hard candy for windows, bake the pieces 5 minutes before adding the candy- this will prevent crumbs in your windows. Also, pile that candy/ sugar glass on- as it melts it kind of settles and thins- you want nice thick windows to hold up the weight of your building.
2. Micro-plane (grate) all edges you will be connecting- in a few seconds you can get super flat sides that are super easy to connect.
3. Decorate the pieces flat, let dry over night before assembly. Royal icing is drippy enough to not apply it at a 90 degree angle to your building walls! Let them dry overnight.
4. if using royal icing as glue, use mugs to hold up the sides while they dry- or use sugar syrup for faster drying times- then you can just use your hands for about 20 seconds and be done!  You just spoon it along the edges. It is hot, don’t let kids do it, but it is my favorite method.
5. If you do use sugar syrup, dye some blue for a cute pond near your home! Do this at the start, by the end of gluing your sugar syrup will get way too dark
6. Less is more (and I’m definitely a more is more kind of girl!) but if you want the hygge feel that is cozy, and comforting, stick with one color of frosting and candy. Fun, crazy gingerbread houses are awesome, too, but an easy way to make a great looking house is to stick with just white frosting details. 
7. Cut your candy up! Smush it! Sculpt it! Any mistakes are easily eaten up before anyone needs to know!
8. Upside down ice cream sugar cones make great pine trees.
9. Marshmallows make great snow men.
10. Cereal is an awesome decorating tool because it can add a lot of texture, color and design without weighing your house down! Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Frosted mini wheats are great roofing ideas, but Lucky Charms and Trix can add really sweet details and color to your house!  Rice Crispies with luster dust make sweet string lights.
11. details like piles of firewood (pretzel rods) or topiaries (gum drops on toothpicks) are fun and add a lot of personality!
12. Have fun, eat your mistakes and put on good music while you decorate!