ProudGrandma Posted December 22, 2010 Share Posted December 22, 2010 Who has done one of these? We got one as a gift and we are failing miserably with it...any tips before I totally just trash the whole thing??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoyfulMama Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 Last year we had a kit with premixed icing. This year we had to mix the frosting. If you mix your own frosting, it needs to be thick -like toothpaste. In any case... you need to let the "frame" harden. You can use canned goods to support the sides while it sets, if needed. Then you can put the roof on - and again, let it harden. THEN you can have fun decorating! Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 We do them every year. It helps me work on releasing my perfectionistic tendencies. I always think they are horrible and the kids see them as beautiful art work. I don't think you can trash it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarlaB Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 Use toothpicks in the roof (if an "A-frame") until it hardens, otherwise it will likely slide down/off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkInTheBlue Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 Use a pretty good amount of frosting to "glue" everything in the beginning. You'll have to be really, really patient during this stage. Getting the roof to stay might mean actually standing there and holding it for about 10 minutes. After you get it all glued with icing...leave it alone! :) Don't touch it for at least an hour. Someone stay nearby to noticed is something is sliding. If you'll get it soundly assembled and glued, you'll have a great time with it. This is about our 5th year with one (actually it's a gingerbread train this year) and I remember the beginning being SO frustrating that I nearly gave up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susann Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 Well, if you're not eating it-and does anyone actually eat them??? I highly recommend a hot glue gun to glue the pieces together. I help hot glue the pieces together then the kiddos use the icing to decorate. We do them the day after Thanksgiving to kick off the Christmas season and they don't hit the trash until mid way thru January. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 Well, if you're not eating it-and does anyone actually eat them??? I highly recommend a hot glue gun to glue the pieces together. I help hot glue the pieces together then the kiddos use the icing to decorate. We do them the day after Thanksgiving to kick off the Christmas season and they don't hit the trash until mid way thru January. :001_huh:You don't eat them? They are yummy.:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 Who has done one of these? We got one as a gift and we are failing miserably with it...any tips before I totally just trash the whole thing??? We do at least one every holiday season. My tip is to build it and let it dry over night before you decorate. And if you are letting kids decorate, prepare for a mess! :D It helps to have zero expectations about what the end product will look like. My kids LOVE doing this. It's very fun! Enjoy! P.S. We don't eat them. Usually they usually "decorate" our dining room for a couple weeks and happily disappear. Although I suspect my youngest picks bits off now and again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 The ones in the kits? They don't look edible to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 LOL! I hope no visitors try to take a nibble..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkInTheBlue Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 Oh yes! We usually make them a few days before Christmas and tear them up within a couple of days eating them. We don't eat nearly as much of it as we claim we are going to while we are making it. Too sweet :) Also, sometimes we replace the generic candies often in the boxes with candies of our own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 I just had a Children's Christmas Party yesterday and we decorated gingerbread houses with 15 small children. I did make the parts from scratch, as well as the icing. An assistant and I assembled the houses on Monday and the kids decorated them on Tuesday. I think they really needed that time to dry. I'm not sure of the quality of the materials in those kits, but we had no problems and if I could figure out how to post pictures, I'd show you them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 I'm making a house from scratch tonight to decorate tomorrow. DH wanted to go to bed and quit helping so I used a glue gun instead of boiled sugar or icing to hold it together. I'll still let the kids eat it- I'll just tell them to avoid the seams! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jentancalann Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 In the past we've made our own with graham crackers and bought the kit to make your own. However, this year, I made it even easier on myself and bought a pre-built one for dd6. She was thrilled to just decorate it and it was very stress free. My poor neighbor (who is VERY food/candy artistic) was almost in tears putting some together today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwg Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 I used a glue gun this year also :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2jjka Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 Oh man... I literally spent HOURS today trying to get mine to stay together (We got the mini-village with 5 cottages! :glare:) I wish I would have read about the glue gun sooner! At least they turned out cute.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrixieB Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 This year I bought a pre-assembled kit from Costco. The house was already put together. Dd used the super-adhesive frosting pouch to assemble the tree and decorate. She added the included candy and ta-da! Nearly-instant gingerbread house! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LidiyaDawn Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 The ones in the kits? They don't look edible to me! I've never seen one that wasn't - they're all cookie/icing/candy. :) The kids do one every year. It's always a mess, falling down, whatever - they don't care, they're just having fun with it. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenpatty Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 LOL, yes, we eat them. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 For those of you who had trouble making it stick together, did you use Royal Icing? It's easy to make with meringue powder, powdered sugar and water. It makes a wonderful thick, gluey frosting that dried hard in about 15-20 minutes. I just propped the walls up for a few minutes with cans of soup and it worked great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted December 23, 2010 Author Share Posted December 23, 2010 we are finally able to have the walls stand by themselves...but I think I will use the glue gun to attatch the roof. I can't seem to allow my kids to eat all of that candy...espcecially after it has been handled and rehandled by germy fingers...it's my OCD kicking in...but the house will be cute... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaissezFaire Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 We don't eat them so we hot glue them together. That way they are super sturdy and it holds fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvenice Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 We have done these homemade and with kits. For little kids, I found that you can use those cute little house cartons that Whoppers come in (always at Wal-Mart) with gingerbread or with graham crackers. It gives them a foundation and a treat. Also, get some peppermint sticks (the soft big ones that are straight) to glue to the sides of the building like pillars. It helps hold the seams together and support the roof. Golden Grahams dipped in chocolate on the ends (for glue) make a beautiful and yummy shingled roof. Just have fun and get messy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle in AL Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 Well, I've tried everything known to man and have to successfully build one of these either. We've used the kit icing, let sit for hrs and the walls came tumbling down. We tried making our own frosting last yr, a special recipe especially for this purpose. It was thick. I let them dry for 24 hrs before decorating. Again, the roofs and walls came tumbling down. I ended up hot gluing them, which wasn't even to successful since the hot glue didn't stick to well to the floury outside of the gingerbread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalphs Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 Thank you for posting this because I remembered I forgot to wrap ours! I have purchased kits from TJ Max, the Willy Wonka Kit from Burlington Coat Factory and the Wilton Kit at our local grocery store. Dh and Dd like the Willy Wonka kit best of all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkacademy Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 Oh man... I literally spent HOURS today trying to get mine to stay together (We got the mini-village with 5 cottages! :glare:) I wish I would have read about the glue gun sooner! At least they turned out cute.... That is what I bought we did it last night..very disapointed! Two of the houses or whatever the pieces would not fit together, there was huge gaps so the icing didn't even touch to keep it together. There is also not enough candy to make those things look like the picture at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 We use the frosting in the kit to stick the whole thing together (the frosting in our kits have been VERY sticky and hard) then I make some buttercream to decorate it with because I can't get the kit frosting out of the bag (soooo hard). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celticmom Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 My mother has made homemade ginger bread houses for years and she holds them together with straight pins for sewing together with icing. This does not impact the edbility of the house as long as an adult carefully dissassembles it and removes the pins before children try to eat it. She also places cardboard underneath the roof to help support it. However hers are significantly larger than most of the kits on the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntPol Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 You have to use cans for support until it dries (Usually overnight). You can speed up drying process by using hair dryer on COLD and high. If the icing is too hard to use, make your own Royal Icing. My recipe: 3 tbsp meringue powder and 6 tbsp water -mix until frothy Then add 3 cups of powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp cream of tartar and mix in mixer for 5-7 minutes. If they don't fit together- use a bit of extra icing. Icing hides many flaws. You can go beyond the candy in the kit and use just about any hard candy, colored cereal or frosted mini-wheats, sprinkles, marshmallows, pretzels, cookie bits, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaMa2005 Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 Well, if you're not eating it-and does anyone actually eat them??? I highly recommend a hot glue gun to glue the pieces together. I help hot glue the pieces together then the kiddos use the icing to decorate. We do them the day after Thanksgiving to kick off the Christmas season and they don't hit the trash until mid way thru January. :iagree: Makes the decorating so much more fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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