Inspiration and Ideas on how to decorate your Christmas gingerbread house using baking tools and techniques.

Ginger's Breadboys Gingerbread House Kit provides a variety of options to decorate your Gingerbread House.

Creativity and imagination are yours to explore. We’ve given you a few tools in the kit to help you along the way; here's how to use them all along with helpful hints and suggestions for how to decorate a gingerbread house. Yes, you really can do-it-yourself!

To make the gingerbread design from our illustration, view the steps here.

Gingerbread House Dough Cutter Shapes

• use your dough cutter shapes for cutouts or impressions. Impressions provide guidelines for icing later.
• make round, square or diamond-shaped windows.
• use the square cutter and cut in half to make window shutters
• use the larger round cutter as an impression for a wreath
• use the small round cutter for path pavers or roof shingles. Roof requires 96 shingles (8 rows across x 6 down = 48) x 2 roof panels = 96)

If you'd rather work from a paper gingerbread house template, see our Gingerbread House Template Digital Download.

Dough Impression Stamps/Embossers

Your gingerbread house kit comes with two dough embossers. Press down to make the design on the dough.

• Use the blue cobblestone dough impression stamp on the side/wall panels to create that stone cottage effect.
• Use the pink diamond dough impression stamp to create a design on the roof panels. You can use the impression as a guide for icing later.
• Liberally dust the dough impression stamp with either flour or powdered sugar before pressing into dough so that it won’t stick.
• Do not press the dough impression stamp all the way through the dough as it will weaken the panel.

How to Make Gingerbread House Windows | Glass-effect Windows 

Cut out the dough for your windows on your side panel. Break a piece of the hard candy and place the pieces inside the opening before baking. The candy will melt during baking forming a pane of 'glass.' Voila! Create a colorful glass window for your gingerbread house.

Tools to Decorate and Build a Gingerbread House | Builder's Toolkit

To construct and decorate your gingerbread house with Royal Icing, we've included four (4) decorating tubes, two (2) pastry bags with couplers and green food coloring in our Builder's Toolkit. We've also included meringue powder for the mortar (royal icing recipe with meringue powder) to hold your house together. It dries hard and fast. And we have a great recipe for Royal Icing to decorate. The options for decorating are endless.

• Pipe a bead along the sides and ends of the panels using tube #7 for constructing your gingerbread house.
• Outline your windows with decorating tube #4
• Use the basket weave decorating tube #48 with either green or white icing to pipe shutters for your windows
• Use the #30 decorating tube to create 'rosettes' that are perfect for planting a gum drop, creating a border or wreath, or simply a splash of color
• To create a bush, ball up some aluminum foil and cover it in green rosettes

Dusting

Dust your creation with either granulated or powdered sugar, coconut flake, or big sugar crystals (called sanding sugar) for that snow-kissed or ice-kissed look.

• Before dusting with granulated sugar, wet a pastry brush with water and lightly brush the roof and other areas to be dusted so that the granulated sugar will stick.
• To dust with powdered sugar, use a sifter or metal strainer and lightly tap the sides to shake powdered sugar over the house.

How to Make Gingerbread House Window Shutters

• use the square cutter and cut out a piece of dough. cut in half to make window shutters
• use the basket weave decorating tube with either green or white icing to pipe shutters for your windows

Gingerbread House Path Ideas | Front Walkway/Path

• Use Red Hots as pebbles in a white icing background to create a path.
• Create cookie pavers with the small round cutter.

Helpful Hints:

• Before dusting with granulated sugar, wet a pastry brush with water and lightly brush the roof and other areas to be dusted so that the granulated sugar will stick.
• To dust with powdered sugar, use a sifter or metal strainer and lightly tap the sides to shake powdered sugar over house.
• If your peppermint stick is broken, use a touch of Royal Icing to ‘glue’ it together before affixing to the corners of the gingerbread house.
• Decorate the sides and the end panels prior to putting the house together. Then allow to dry completely before assembling the house.
• Decorate roof after house has been constructed
• Use the pink diamond dough impression stamp on roof panel (before baking) to create guides for icing.
• Liberally dust the dough impression stamps with powdered sugar before pressing into dough so that it won’t stick.
• Do not press dough impression stamp all the way through the dough as it will weaken the panel.
• Store the baked panels - before decorating - with wax paper between pieces so they don't stick to each other

Here's how to make the gingerbread house that appears in the illustration for Ginger's Breadboys.

Make the dough per the instructions on the card included with the gingerbread house kit.

Roll out the dough and make the following impressions and cutouts before baking:

• on the roof panel, make the diamond impression;
• on the wall panels, make two square window impressions;
• use the large round cutter to make a half moon impression over each window;
• on the end wall panel with gable:
• make a wreath impression with the large round cutter;
• make two small round impressions to the left and right of the door cutout;
• make a door cutout; and
• make 3 pavers using the small round cutout and excess dough.

Bake the house panels per the instructions on the card included with the kit.

Bake the door and pavers per the instruction on the card included with the kit.

Decorate all the panels before building the house.

On the end panel with gable:

• Decorate the wreath with green icing and decorating tube #30 (rosettes) using the large round impression as a guide. Place a red hot in the center of every other rosette.
• Decorate the small round windows using decorating tube #4 and white icing. Trace the impression and then pipe a vertical and horizontal line down and across the middle respectively to form a cross.
• Add a small triangle of icing to the lower right corner of each "pie" piece created with the lines.
• Outline the door cutout with a thin bead of white icing and decorating tube #4. Add 9 dots in a semi-circle over the door.
• Decorate the door cutout with two lines of 4 dots and a green rosette at the top.

On the wall panels:

• Outline the windows using decorating tube #4 with white icing. Use the impressions from the square and the round cutter as guides.
• Add a line down the middle of each window and a horizontal line through the square.
• Pipe 7 dots over each window following the curve of the impression.
• Add a small triangle of icing to the lower right corner of each square and "pie" piece created with the lines.
• Add window shutters with the green icing using decorating tube #48 (basket weave).

On the roof panels:

• using white icing with decorating tube #4, trace the diamond pattern.
• Add a red hot at the intersection of each crisscrossed line.

Build the gingerbread house per the instructions on the card included with the kit.

After the gingerbread house is assembled, pipe two vertical rows of white rosettes on each corner and press a peppermint stick in between each row.

Outline each roof panel with two rows of white rosettes for that snowdrift effect.

Pipe one row of rosettes down the apex of the roof.

Place 3 green and 2 red spice drops down the center line of the roof in every other rosette, changing color with each.

Crush up 10 small balls of aluminum foil and cover in green rosettes to create 5 bushes along the side walls of the house.

Add the decorated door into the door cutout with a piped line of icing on the left to glue it in place.

Place three pavers in front of the door to create a path.

Shop Gingerbread House Kits

Read the Blog: Gingerbread House Decorating Party Idea: A Fun Activity for Children

Royal Icing Recipe | How to Decorate Gingerbread Cookies

(Note: this icing can be use to decorate (not build) a gingerbread house too!)

Using mixer, whip until frothy ½ cup pasteurized egg whites and 2 teaspoons lemon juice. On low speed, gradually add 4–4½ cups powdered sugar until mixture is thick and smooth. Turn speed to high and whip ~3–5 minutes until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks.

For white icing, remove ~¾ of icing from mixing bowl and place in container. If using immediately, cover container with damp tea towel to prevent icing from drying out. For use later, place plastic wrap directly on icing, then seal with lid. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Add green food coloring by drops to remaining ~¼ of icing until desired color is reached and whip. Add powdered sugar to adjust consistency if needed. Store per instructions above.

Helpful Hints:  Icing should hold its shape on cookie and maintain pattern of decorating tube but not be so thick that it can't be squeezed easily out of pastry bag. Add powdered sugar or lemon juice to adjust consistency. Lemon juice complements gingerbread and provides acidity to stabilize egg whites in icing. If you don’t like lemon flavor, add ½ teaspoon Cream of Tartar instead. Cream of Tartar is found with spices in the grocery store.

Decorator’s Icing (without egg whites) Courtesy of The Preppy Chef

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoon meringue powder
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. In mixer bowl, add powdered sugar and the meringue powder, mix until thoroughly combined. Sifting is not required.
2. At the lowest setting of your mixer, using the paddle attachment, add in the combined water, corn syrup and flavorings. Depending on your preference you can use all vanilla or decrease to 1 teaspoon and add in an additional teaspoon of another flavoring such as almond or lemon emulsion.
3. Once the ingredients are fully combined, turn the mixer to medium, beating until the icing is well blended and smooth like thick honey. (2-3 minutes).

Note: This recipe makes almost triple the amount of icing you'll need to decorate the gingerbread cookies from the Ginger's Breadboys Cookie Kit. Consider cutting the recipe in half. Leftover icing can also be refrigerated and used for other holiday cookies.