Sometimes, just sometimes life hands over a project that is usually hard and makes it so simple you have to do it.  Allow me to start by saying I have been making gingerbread house every year since me and my fiance got together. Initially (over 11 years ago) I had started by doing the whole thing from scratch, but for some reason one of the walls wouldn’t fit perfectly or it would crack. Then a few years later I found a kit where all the pieces came in the box, and you could assemble the house when you got home with a little help from some royal icing. This year I was strolling around Walmart buying some supplies for some posts among other things, and saw a mountain of gingerbread houses for sale. These were no ordinary gingerbread houses….. these were pre-assembled for you. I quickly threw an arm full of boxes in the cart and said to my fiance…. we have to make a few  gingerbread houses now. Then I tilted my head to the candy isle to go find some supplies to further decorate my house. YES, the box comes with candy and royal icing in it, but I wanted to get a little more fancy with it. Can I just say WALMART has the BEST candy isle EVER! I love all the holiday candy they carry. Among the chocolates and chewy fruit candies I found a cute peppermint candy tree (It was only $1.50, I don’t know why I didn’t buy more) … I knew it was going to look fabulous in front of my gingerbread house.

Tips for making a gingerbread house:

• Construct on a plate or dish that the house will live on. That way you can move it around during the holidays to fit your needs.
• I like to use cereal (frosted mini wheats) as the roof.
• Break to candy canes together to form a heart, then place them on a piece of wax paper and bake for 3 minutes at 350 degrees fahrenheit. Then peel the hearts off and use them as you wish. I used mine as a huge window this year.
• If you make several you can give them away as centerpieces for the holidays. Or take it with you to a holiday party as a gift for the host.
• I sometimes put a round mirror in the front of the house to create an illusion of a  frozen patch of water.
• I cover the plate in shredded coconut to make it look like a snow covered ground.
• Cut pieces of candy to fit the length of the roof or walls.
• Choose a color theme and buy the kind of candy that will help accomplish the look you want.

Here is a little instagram of my finished gingerbread house: