Decorating a gingerbread house is a family tradition in many households, but you can make this festive activity as simple or as elaborate as you like. Gingerbread house decorations are fun for all ages and help you get into the holiday spirit with plenty of sweet treats to enjoy while you make them!
Instead of settling for the most basic pre-made gingerbread house in a box from the grocery store, here are some creative gingerbread house ideas to inspire your edible holiday creation.
Log Cabin Gingerbread House
There’s nothing cozier or more romantic than cuddling up in an authentic log cabin on a cold winter day. You can create this sense of coziness with your gingerbread house decorations by making a log cabin out of delicious ingredients. Pretzels are great for making a gingerbread house look like a log cabin, as well as shredded wheat cereal and candy rocks to add texture and character to your cabin.
Farm-Style Gingerbread House
There is something wonderfully nostalgic about being on a farm at Christmas, so you might also consider making your gingerbread house look like a quaint barn. One idea is to use red frosting for the barn’s exterior with graham crackers for the barn door and windows and pretzels for the fence to keep the animals inside. Think animal-shaped cookies or DIY creations, like sheep made from clusters of marshmallows!
Unique Colors for a Whimsical Touch
Who says that you have to stick to traditional red and green for your gingerbread house? Another one of our gingerbread house ideas is to play around with color to make your creation really unique and reflect your personality. Use gingerbread house frosting in different shades of your favorite color, or make a brightly colored gingerbread house with all the colors of the rainbow.
Go Salty Instead of Sweet
Many people stock up on lots of sweet candy when they start looking at gingerbread house ideas, but you can take a different approach to keep the sugar content down and add some more savory options. Rather than candy, use nuts and seeds as your gingerbread house decorations and get an extra boost of protein and omega-3s with each bite. It’s also fun to add pretzels and dried fruit to gingerbread houses when you want to skip the excess sugar.
Gingerbread Castle
If you are particularly crafty and looking to go “all out” with your gingerbread house creation, consider making a gingerbread castle! Nothing says “magic” and fantasy” quite like a castle, and you can celebrate this spirit of wonder with your gingerbread house decorations. You can make stained-glass windows for your castle out of sugar, corn syrup, and other ingredients heated on the stove. Also, you can build various shapes out of cardboard first to get the structures right for your cookie shapes.
Gingerbread Tipi
For a unique twist on the standard gingerbread house, you can make a tipi out of gingerbread cookies as well. Tipi gingerbread houses are minimalistic and manageable, even for amateur decorators. You’ll just need six tent side pieces of gingerbread, and one of those pieces should have a door opening. Then, use basic geometric shapes, such as circles, squiggles, and dots for your gingerbread house frosting.
Need Help with Your Gingerbread House Ideas?
But no matter which of these decorating designs you choose, there’s no denying that making a gingerbread house takes considerable time and effort. If you won’t have an opportunity to do this activity with your kids this year, consider enlisting the help of a nanny who is crafty, skilled, and lots of fun.
Household Staffing International can help you find the perfect nanny for your family, so contact us today to start your search!