Gingerbread House Decorating

To kick off the Christmas season library festivities, we had a Gingerbread House Decorating activity. And by gingerbread, I mean graham crackers. Because get real.

My mom came and we spent the day making 45 of these graham cracker houses. It took 2 batches of the icing recipe below. I used leftover chipboard from the Gratitude Trees covered in foil for the base plates.

Frosting Cement for Gingerbread Houses

4 egg whites

1 tsp. cream of tartar

4 cups powdered sugar

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff. Add powdered sugar and beat 5 minutes. Keep covered with damp cloth to prevent from hardening.

Candy selection included peppermints, plain M&Ms, jelly beans, Skittles, party mints, Sixlets, gum drops, sprinkles, marshmallows, Jolly Ranchers, candy canes, Air Heads, and Twizzlers.

I found the cute polka dot cups at Hobby Lobby, so the kids could dip up what candy they wanted and take it back to their tables.

I mixed up two more batches of icing the night of the event, and just put a spoonful in a paper bowl with a plastic knife for the kids to use for candy glue.

I made this Candy Curtain with pastel cardstock on my Cricut. I used these candy images:

My example house