Gingerbread inspo: Build an over-the-top house!

Gingerbread houses are not for the faint of heart.They take time, love, as well as lots' of patience. But what holiday celebration would be complete without a gingerbread house? Ditch the sugar cookies for a fun and colorful DIY treat this year--you won't be dissapointed, we promise.

INGREDIENTS
• 7 graham crackers
• frosting for glue (instructions below)
• candies, mini marshmallows and cookies for decorating (check out cake décor shops for edible accessories)
• a bud to give you a hand

FROSTING
• 1/2 lb. confectioner’s sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons milk

DIRECTIONS
1. Mix frosting ingredients until smooth and easy to spread. Add more sugar if frosting seems runny.

2. Place frosting in a plastic zip-shut bag, and cut a small hole in the corner.

3. Place one cracker flat on a cookie sheet, and pipe frosting around the edges.

4. Stand one cracker on each side so it looks like a box with no top. On all outside corners, squeeze frosting from the top to down and around the bottom of the box.
5. Pipe the frosting on two of the box’s top edges, and place the last two crackers in an upside-down V for the roof. Then, pipe the frosting along the top of the roof where the crackers join.
6. Cover the roof with frosting to look like snow. Pipe little dabs of frosting onto the candies and other decorations, and gently place them on the house, wherever you like. 7. Use frosting or square cookies for doors and windows, marshmallows to make snow around the house, gumdrops as bushes, whatever! You could even get candy wreaths to make the house look super-pro. Oh, and now you can eat it!

Have you made a gingerbread house before? What's your favorite topping? Share in the comments below!

POSTED IN christmas, Christmas decorations, Christmas cookies, Dec/Jan 2014