Simply Gingerbread Houses

Growing up in Michigan, we had a neighbor who would deliver the most fantastic holiday gift a neighbor could give. Early December- every December- she would drop off a bag filled with all the fixings for a beautiful gingerbread house. The hard gingerbread walls were molded with little windows and shutters, the roof with rows of shingles. She must have spent hours filling batches of gingerbread in those wall and roof molds, but I just loved building candy creations with frosting, red hot candies and gumdrops.

Although I’m no longer living next to that crafty neighbor, I still love the look of a cozy gingerbread house! My girls and I have come up with a no-fail faux-gingerbread house construction method that’s a little less time-consuming than breaking out the baking molds. Take an afternoon with your children- or yourself!- and make your own North Pole abode with pretty nature trimmings.

Materials
Boxes
Craft Glue
Graham Crackers
Leaves, cedar bark, berries, moss, twigs
Glitter, feathers, pine cones

Get started
1.  Build your house’s frame by stacking 3 empty boxes on top of one another.
2.  Cover the exterior surface by gluing on graham crackers.
3.  Build the roof by flattening an empty box, then folding it in half, creating a peak. Attach the 2 ends to the side of your building.
4.  Cover the roof by gluing leaves, feathers, or cedar over the entire surface.
5.  Glue a small pine cone on top for the chimney.
6.  Glue small berries in the shape of a door. For the door’s wreath, glue a pinch of moss to the center and embellish with a feather.
7.  Frame out the windows using glitter and sticks, then glue white feathers inside the windows.
8.  Glue thin twigs to frame the seams of the house, and layer moss at the base as shrubbery.
9.  Stand a few large pine cones beside your house to act as a little forest.