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Farm Kitchen:  Children's Gingerbread Houses  |
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bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
 Posted - Dec 04 2006 : 7:18:29 PM
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This started when Z was in nursery school and we haven't stopped yet!
Collect quart, pint, half gallon milk cartons and wash thoroughly. Allow to dry and seal the top with hot glue or staples. Now you have the base to your house. You can go to the trouble of making royal icing but little fingers don't do too well with it. We substituted cheap canned frosting and mix in confectioner's sugar. Place a glob on the bottom of the carton and "glue" to a plate. We use a clear glass one but have used foam disposable when teaching 200 children! Spread frosting over roof area and begin to "shingle" They can be crackers, mini wheats, Necco wafer candies whatever your imagination can come up with. Next decide what side will be the front door and spread frosting. Pretzel sticks work well for framing doors and windows and can be shortened as needed. Chimneys can be jelly beans , boston baked beans, mini marshmallows, etc...String licorice can make "siding" or other details too. Buy a selection of unusual candies and let the kids cut loose. Make sure you buy gummy bears as every child I have ever helped build one wants massive quantities of gummy bears to "live" at these houses! I love to see what their imaginations come up with. Have fun, it's a great project for big and small!
with a happy heart |
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katie-ell
True Blue Farmgirl
1818 Posts
Katie
Illinois
1818 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2006 : 05:31:01 AM
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We did this when my 'Z' was in nursery school, too! One of my top ten projects from his childhood. Very fun -- very easy. What we did was to 'glue', with frosting, graham crackers to the sides of the small milk cartons. That gave us the gingerbread look. The roof we did with shredded wheat shingles. Then we put on all the wonderful little candies.
Thanks for the reminder!
(By the way, Martha Stewart has graham cracker houses on her site -- without the milk carton -- with lots of great variations in the magazine. We're thinking to do these houses with our teenaged nieces and nephews this year - just for grins.) |
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2006 : 07:01:53 AM
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Gosh, you sure brought back a memory!
When my kids were little, I decided to make a gingerbread house from scratch. I followed the old rule of thumb that everything had to be edible, and everything prepared by hand. I baked the sheets of gingerbread and mortared them together with Royal Icing. I made the little sugar panes of glass, the tiny steps of marzipan, the shingles, EVERYTHING. It took me TWO FULL DAYS. When it was done I told my family to take a good hard look and I'd also take a picture, because I was NEVER going to do that again!!!
I like your idea better, and little hands can help. I think that'll be on my list; I use that Horizon milk in the half gallon cartons, and they'll make nice little frames for houses. |
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bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2006 : 8:21:16 PM
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BK (before kids) we tried the fancy houses and baked everything ourselves. It was a very humid Dec. and everything started wilting, and the roof was very bowed. We swore that there had to be a better way! So once the kids arrived (ours and everyone else's!) we started using various milk/cream cartons. The adults make them this way but the challenge is to make them look real. Sometimes I'll put a few together to get the "house" I want! Glad this jogged some good memories for all of you. Think of me this weekend...I'll be the one with frosting on my skirt and jujubees in my hair having a good time!
with a happy heart |
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sunshine
True Blue Farmgirl
4877 Posts
Wendy
Utah
USA
4877 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2006 : 8:42:19 PM
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We made the old fashioned type for halloween before we had kids invited all the nieces and nephews over. One house per family was the rule. I remember our tiny duplex apartment with every one squishe din our tiny kitchen, with 8 adults and 5 kids squished around a folding card table that ook almost all the space in our kitchen we had about 1 1/2 feet al the way around it to walk. This is why we never ate in that kitchen always on the couch. Any way I digress the point is it was fun making haunted gingerbread houses even had the candies that make little skeletons. Boy I had a ton of candy I think I spent about 100.00 way to much then and now for that type of thing. But it was well worth it to see all the kids and their parents having fun squished in that tiny tiny kitchen. With that said I will never make one again with any one but my own kids way to much work for that many and to hard to teach people how to use royal icing. We had a lot of good photos of them. Hmmmmmm I wonder where they went the photos that is. The house where eaten over the next two weeks . Rooky mistake I made them hugh took forever to eat.
have a lovely day and may God bless you and keep you safe my blog http://sunshinescreations.blogspot.com
my web stores www.sunshines.etsy.com and http://vintagethreads.etsy.com
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Dec 06 2006 : 10:43:33 AM
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quote:
Think of me this weekend...I'll be the one with frosting on my skirt and jujubees in my hair having a good time!
LOL!!! Please take a pic of that, and share it with us! |
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Farm Kitchen: Children's Gingerbread Houses |
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Children's Gingerbread Houses
