From Dollhouse to Gingerbread House

 

I originally picked these up to make a Haunted House but with my knee accident...Gingerbread House instead! 

Supplies:

• Plastic Dollhouse (Dollar Tree)
• White Glue
• Acrylic Craft Paint
• Puff Paint
• Waverly Chalk Paint (See NOTE)

This was the style of house I found and bought two since the can hook together to make them 3D. You could use just one to make a facade. I know there was another style but I've been unable to find anymore of these in the bajillion Dollar Trees I've scouted! 

NOTE: I just knew I had an all surface / no pimer required paint on hand. Didn't. So if you don't, this is what I did. But I would STRONGLY recommend using that kind and as you'll see later, there's one that works GREAT! 

My solution was to cover the houses with a coat of white glue to give the paint I did have something to adhere to. After that was dry, I used a white acrylic paint as a base coat. 

I then chose my "gingerbread" colors. I thought I'd use both shown here but ended up doing just the "Brownstone" Glitter paint.

I really like how the glitter catches the light. I ended up doing two coats on each half. 

Since I knew I was going to join the two halves, it bugged me that you'd be able to see the pink through the windows. When I went to get the Puff Paint at Walmart, I found they had 2oz bottles of Waverly Chalk No Prep Paint so I got a one in brown. Lemme tell you...I love this stuff and will be getting more! I used that on the inside to cover the pink.

Your imagination is once again your guide. I wanted a classic simple brown and white but you could go wild with Puff Paint colors. As mentioned, I found the Puff Paint at Walmart. Also, while each half has hinges that imply they snap together it's "meh" on that so I used hot glue to make sure they were really held together. 

I got White and Diamond. If you get the Diamond, use it over the white after it's dried unless you want a fairly transparent look. I then just freehanded designs with squiggles and dots because snow's not perfect right? Just follow your instincts. I let each side dry overnight so I wouldn't smudge. 

When I put this out, I'll scatter some epsom salt around the house and add a few bottlebrush trees. 

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Christmas Bucket List: Gingerbread House From Scratch

Something that's been on my Christmas Bucket List forever has been to make a gingerbread house from scratch. Why? Who knows. That's how I roll ( pun intended). 

I've had fun decorating the pre-made kits before but I just had this need to make one from start to finish. It was MUCH easier than I thought. If you can bake a cookie, you can bake a gingerbread house. 

Supplies: 

• Template
• Gingerbread Cookie Dough
• Royal Icing
• Piping Bags / Tips
• Whatever you want to use to decorate your house. I used candy wafers. 

I started by finding a template. I used the one found here: 

https://tikkido.com/node/906

And of course you need dough. I used this recipe which I doubled  :

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gingerbread-house-recipe-1963254

Here's how it went: 

I followed the recipe instructions and used a heavy hand on the spices. The dough was crumbly at first but quickly creamed up . 

Roll out your dough ( I don't know why it looks so dark in this picture) and then cut your pieces using the template. I rolled out thick pieces  for sturdy construction!

Bake per recipe and don't worry about flaws in your dough because that's what icing's for!

After all my pieces were baked, I let them cool for several hours. I made my royal icing ( per directions on meringue powder container) very thick. I wanted it to be able to support the front/back and sides and I could always thin it with a little water. Success! It stood up from the first two corners. 

I went around the sides inside and out with a good amount of icing. I also decided that I wanted to decorate the roof before I put it on. I planned on letting the pieces sit overnight so that the house would be very solid once I put the roof on. 

I decided to keep things simple since I was still unsure whether this was all going to come together. I did a diamond pattern with the icing, and I'd baked buttons from scrap dough which I topped with candy melts as shown. 

The roof pieces went on and the whole thing didn't cave in! Happy dance ensued ( away from the gingerbread house so I didn't accidentally smash it). 

While looking for ideas for my house, I saw that some bakers made little gingerbread vignettes. With some dough leftover, I thought I'd give this a shot as well so my house has a tree next to it. 

Place a glob of royal icing on your base, let set until firm but not hard, and then stand your tree up. I'm thinking next year I may do a few of these in lieu of a house. Or in addition to. OK let's be honest...definitely in addition to. 

I also made a door and a doormat and using more of the cookie buttons made a couple of wreaths. I used royal icing to attach which is what I also used to attach the candy melt decorations. 

All those years of being too intimidated to try this? Gone. So glad I did it. You never know until you try right?