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Making a Wilton Gingerbread House

December 17, 2015 by Rosie 3 Comments

Mmm, gingerbread house, who could resist a piece?!

Wilton-Gingerbread-House-4

Following our visit to the Fairmont Hotel life-size gingerbread house I thought it would be fun to make a gingerbread house of our own at home. This was also another activity on my list of 5 fun activities to get in the mood for Christmas.

I decided to buy the Wilton Gingerbread House Kit – to make a nice gingerbread house, but also keep things simple (I’m all for making life fun, but also easy on mum!)

It’s a great little kit and includes all the supplies you need to build the house: gingerbread panels, fondant icing, icing bag and nozzle, stencils to make patterns and various candies – plus instructions of course.

Wilton-Gingerbread-House-1

The instructions are really easy to follow and give you lots of ideas on different ways to decorate your house. I love the fact that two stencils were included, as this made it much easier to create patterns on the roof. It was also useful to have the icing bag and nozzle – not all kits include that. There are also some suggestions of extra tools and things you can use if you are going for a more professional look!

I won’t go through all the instructions here, they are fairly self explanatory. But ideally you want to really take your time over the house and allow plenty of time for the icing to dry as you go along – especially if you want it to look perfect. After assembling allow time for everything to set before decorating.

Wilton-Gingerbread-House-2

I wasn’t worried about the house looking perfect, it was just a chance to have some fun with Little M. He was (ridiculously!) excited about the idea of making a gingerbread house. But I’m afraid the excitement made the activity completely frenzied!

In hindsight I wish I had at least assembled the house first, before involving him in the decorating. Or possibly even making the house as a gift to him and doing a different activity with him instead…

I’ll be honest – I would not really recommend attempting to make a gingerbread house with a toddler!!! Unless your toddler has much more self-control than mine, which is apparently zero. This photo just about sums it up…

Gingerbread-House-5

He was, understandably, far more interested in eating the candies, than sticking them on the house! (Although he does have occasional treats, he never really has sweets or candies, so being given a pot of candies was definitely a huge novelty for him!)

You’d have to make your own judgement for your child, but I think this activity is more suited to a much older child, or an adult. For a toddler you could build the house in advance and just have them help stick candies on (if you think they could handle it!) With Little M I ended up finishing the house after he had gone down for his nap!

If you are looking for a gingerbread house kit though, then this one as great, as it had plenty of icing, a variety of candies and easy to follow directions. I would definitely recommend it. All things considered the finished house looks quite good…

Gingerbread-House-8

The only thing I would add to the kit – it would be nice if there were a few extra pieces, like gingerbread men or Christmas trees, so that little ones could do their own thing with those and feel involved, whilst still keeping the main house pieces intact! I have seen other kits where they have little people and things to go outside the house.

For a toddler I would be tempted to try a more open ended activity instead, such as building their own small houses, or icing gingerbread men. I love this idea of making miniature houses from crackers or biscuits. That way you could give them all the supplies and just let them get on with it!

That being said I think Little M would still end up eating his house materials before it got built – so we might just hold off until next year!

Making-a-Wilton-Gingerbread-House

Have you made a gingerbread house with your child? How old were they before they could resist the temptation to just eat their building materials?!

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Filed Under: Christmas, Crafts and Activities, Reviews Tagged With: candies, christmas, gingerbread, gingerbread house, gingerbread house kit

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Comments

  1. Who Let the Mum Out?

    December 17, 2015 at 7:53 pm

    Great gingerbread house! Mine always turn out like a 2 year old did it. Always tasty to eat, though.

    Reply
    • Rosie

      December 17, 2015 at 8:33 pm

      Thanks! Turned out ok in the end – though you are seeing the ‘good side’ – ha ha! Thanks for stopping by. x

      Reply
  2. Angela

    November 10, 2016 at 9:34 am

    oh this looks so so fun! 🙂 I love baking and making things with Sylvia. We would have fun making a gingerbread house.

    Reply

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Sweet and simple ideas to inspire kids. 👩‍🎨
Art | Crafts | Nature
Lover of tea on the beach and avid recycler! 🐚🐠🐳 ❤️

Rosie
Don’t you just love when a crafty project double Don’t you just love when a crafty project doubles as something useful??
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You can turn this easy Christmas tree stencil idea into simple gift wrap! 
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Get your children printing and decorating Christmas trees on a sheet of parcel paper. You’ll keep them busy and creative, then can wrap gifts for the grandparents or friends in the paper! 
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This year, more than ever, people will really appreciate the small, personal things that you do for them. Things that are made, thought about and given with love. ❤️ Have a think about how you can make someone feel special this year. The simple ideas are always the best!
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Joining in with @makemerryandcreate @littlelion_mom @playwithmamma and #makeyourchristmascrafts
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I took a bit of a social media break, as life took over. As it does from time to time. So taking the time to say hello to you all again.👋 

I’m Rosie and I love to share simple ideas to inspire kids to get arty, crafty and creative. 🎨 

I also 💚the outdoors and try to share this love of nature in many of my projects. 🌲 

This is me and my crew, back in October on my 40th birthday! A beautiful beachy day. 🏝 

Since then we’ve bought a house, moved and had one kiddo in isolation for 14 days 🤪- hence the radio silence. 

A break has helped me ditch the overwhelm and simplify my priorities. But now, I’m so ready to start getting creative again and bring on all the festive vibes! 🎄

When life gets overwhelming, don’t be afraid to step back and focus only on the things that are important. Take a breath, get outdoors and then reprioritise, one step at a time. ❤️

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If you’re feeling a little lost at the moment I can recommend a good sort out as a starting point! @whatkatysaiduk is a wonderful inspiration on decluttering. 🥰
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I feel so much more relaxed for letting go of formal work! (Let’s face it there wasn’t much of it happening anyway...😬) But I was still pressuring myself mentally and it was starting to create power struggles (with my eldest very spirited child!) When you start doing things that you and the children are motivated to do it takes the pressure off everyone. And the miracle is that’s when the real learning happens! 🌟 
My son has even written about his fossil collection - a change from tearing my hair out to get him to write! The kids have played more independently too, as I’ve ‘left them to it’ more. Plus - the house is even starting to look just a little bit cleaner! 🧹

So if home school is just not happening anymore, I’d recommend doing an Elsa and just ‘Let it Goooo’. Swap it for ‘life school’ and I guarantee the kids will be learning equally valuable lessons. 💡Just do what works for your family. ❤️ Are you still home schooling? Do you feel like you’re trying to ‘do it all’? Or have you embraced a more flexible approach?

I’d love to hear any ideas you have that we could try? My kids love dinosaurs and creative things. Plus I’m trying to encourage independent playing and helping in the house, so all ideas welcome! 💡
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