Best Way to Preserve a Completed Ginger Bread House Forever

I dear crafting, particularly for the holidays! Making simple crafts is a great way to spend fourth dimension with your kids.

Larn From My Mistakes - I Had to Larn the Hard Manner

Tonight I helped my granddaughter put together and decorate a pre-fab gingerbread Christmas village. What a freakin' pain in the... oh, oops I mean what a wonderful memory we will share.

Maybe there are some really crafty people out there that this Christmas project would be a sure-fire for, but I'chiliad not one of them. If you oasis't done this before and are thinking virtually building a gingerbread village, let me give you a few tips to smooth the manner. Perhaps you tin can larn something from my mistakes.

Tips for Avoiding Gingerbread Disaster

• If you are building gingerbread houses with kids nether nearly 12, you lot'll be better off if you put the houses together yourself beginning. They won't be able to assist and information technology tin can be very frustrating for them. The decorating is really the fun part anyway.

• The box says the gingerbread houses need to sit for an hour later on assembly before yous decorate them, I would say this is the bare minimum. I would recommend leaving them for at to the lowest degree 3 hours before you make whatever attempt at decorating them.

• Do not attempt to motility the gingerbread houses immediately afterwards assembly, they tend to come up apart if you move them likewise soon. Choose a cool identify where the finished houses tin sit down safely for a while until the icing sets.

• If you lot are edifice from a gingerbread hamlet kit with more than one house, like I did, cutting the pieces of ane house out, and then assemble information technology before cutting up the next one. Some of the pieces look pretty similar and you don't want them to go mixed up.

• If yous have a pastry bag, that will brand putting the gingerbread pieces together somewhat easier, those plastic icing bags that come up in the kits really don't work very well.

• Don't expect your gingerbread village to look like the motion-picture show on the box. Although, if you follow these tips it will probably come up out looking considerably better than mine did.

Using box to agree pieces together

Sherry Hewins

The roof tends to slide off the house.

Sherry Hewins

That A-frame thing was looking pretty adept until information technology brutal apart on me. I'll probably try to gear up these up a little more, we were pretty over it by this fourth dimension.

Sherry Hewins

If this helps fifty-fifty ane person exist more successful with assembling their gingerbread hamlet, my job is washed. I'm posting pictures of the results, but I really wish I had taken one of the colossal mess we made.

Oh well, enjoy the holidays and don't let the grinch go you!

More Gingerbread Follies

This is a hilarious video. I especially similar her use of a soda tin can to proceed the roof from sliding off. Yet, I don't think information technology's actually "incommunicable," equally ItsJillStrif on YouTube says, to make a dandy looking gingerbread firm. It just takes do and patience.

Read More than From Holidappy

A Squeamish Gingerbread Hamlet

This is a loftier speed video of edifice a gingerbread village with a more than positive effect. It's the aforementioned kit I used; I'm guessing that Jarrod Davis from YouTube has done this before.

He was much neater during the procedure than we were, we had a huge mess to contend with when we were washed (at most midnight). I noticed in the video that the kids were present, simply did not really participate in the process.

© 2022 Sherry Hewins

Dolores Monet from East Coast, United States on October 24, 2017:

Hullo Sherry - I love the title of this one so had to read information technology. The video was great! We used to make bootleg gingerbread houses. I'd brand up the gingerbread ahead of time and we sort of duplicated our ain home. It turned out then well no one would eat any of the candy and information technology sat around for months information technology was just that cute. We fabricated ane where everything was perfect merely afterwards anybody wandered off the whole thing complanate sending tons of candy and goo all over the kitchen.

Liz Elias from Oakley, CA on June 17, 2017:

At one time, my female parent had a mold pan for a gingerbread house. It made an actual, solid block, simply would non be edible, as in order for it to stand up up, stay together and non crumble, the directions chosen for calculation a considerable corporeality of actress flour to the gingerbread mix. It was a snap-together mold, and even with the thickened batter, it did leak some, and fabricated a mess in the oven!

LOL! At least information technology did not accept to be assembled; just frosted and decorated.

On the whole, though, I remember such elaborate creations are all-time left to professional pastry chefs! ;-)

I did, however, think up a couple of possible solutions, based on my feel with a very dissimilar hobby, and my somewhat sketchy knowledge of cake decorating, based on both my daughters having taken the 'Wilton' classes.

1) Accept a tip from the hobby modeler's toolkit, and utilize 't-pins' to concord all the bits together until the icing dries.

two) Effort frosting the roof commencement, while it is laying flat, then get together to the walls, and use those t-pins to hold information technology until dry.

3) Use 'purple icing' instead of regular, (even if thickened). Use it for both the frosting and the "glue." That is the stuff that gets Difficult at room temperature.

It'due south what you're getting when you lot purchase those pre-made messages and numbers that are "edible" in the cake decorating section. (Aye--edible if you want to break a tooth!)

It'southward not hard to make; you just need some meringue powder, powdered saccharide, and very picayune liquid...and beat the holy cr** out of it with a mixer for about 5 minutes. It will likewise keep for a couple of weeks or more in an closed container WITH a layer of plastic wrap over the top, and touching the entire surface of the icing.

Accept fun if you try it again!

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on Dec sixteen, 2016:

That sounds like a pretty intricate project, and not cheap either. Tasty though.

Shauna 50 Bowling from Primal Florida on Dec thirteen, 2016:

I definitely do not take the patience for a project like this. More ability to you for trying, Sherry!

This weekend on The Kitchen they built a completely edible holiday log cabin. They started with a huge block of cream cheese, and so added bread sticks as the logs, lattice type pretzels for windows, rye crisps for the roof tiles, pepperoni for the shingles, a small cake of cheese equally the chimney and used canned cheese to agree each piece together. It was actually pretty when they were done and it looked easy to do.

teaches12345 on December 10, 2016:

I have tried making them before but they did not plough out like the picture on the box. I may just give information technology another effort some fourth dimension. Yous posted such a creative and enjoyable topic post.

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on December 03, 2016:

Blond Logic - At least nosotros had fun.

Mary Wickison from Brazil on December 03, 2016:

It was something I always wanted to make, but never did. I didn't even know they fabricated kits.

I may give it a laissez passer now.

In the first video when she panned to the house, I couldn't stop laughing, I remember we have all had a disaster and tried to make the best of information technology.

In the 2nd i, you're right, the kids didn't assistance much so what kind of memories is that making.

Sorry yours didn't turn out, only information technology sounds like you're in good company.

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on Dec 03, 2016:

Adele - that'due south great advice!

Sharkeye11- It sounds similar that plastic canvas one would last longer, and the gingerbread draws ants.

Mills P - I don't think we will be eating it. It will exist pretty dusty past Christmas. Nosotros ate some of the candy though.

Pat Mills from East Chicago, Indiana on December 03, 2016:

I hope that the house at least tasted good.

Jayme Kinsey from Oklahoma on December 02, 2016:

This made me smile, Sherry...simply not at you. I am just sympathizing from a distance. I remember one yr we attempted the gingerbread house kit (and we were teens at the time!) Information technology turned out to be such a messy disaster that we gave upwards and made a 3-D gingerbread house from plastic canvas instead. It was a Really elaborate plastic canvas pattern that involved making tons of tiny parts...and it was style less frustrating than the gingerbread kit! (Information technology did take longer though.)

SO, my heartfelt condolences on your crafting adventure. All the same, those did turn out rather cute, and I'thousand certain in a couple of years this will become a fond memory to share. :)

Adele Jeunette on December 02, 2016:

I "congenital" one from a kit. As I remember, I glued some boxes of Jello to the inside to get the affair to stand up. I think my piece of communication would be--forget nigh making it edible and do what you have to so the thing will hold together.

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Source: https://holidappy.com/holidays/How-to-Avoid-Gingerbread-Disater

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