How to Make a Graham Cracker Gingerbread House

Children and grown-ups alike love to make gingerbread houses, dripping with white frosting and decorated with candies. Whether it's Christmas, Halloween, Easter or a birthday party, gingerbread houses are fun to make and eat. However, a true gingerbread house is a lot of work, from cutting out patterns to baking the gingerbread, not to mention constructing the house. Skip the hard work and go right to the decorating with these easy kid-friendly graham cracker gingerbread houses.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Frosting in decorator bag
• Assorted candies

Build the House

1. 
   Let the structure harden before decorating.

   Mix the sugar, cream of tartar and egg whites thoroughly in a bowl. When the frosting is smooth and glossy (about 3 minutes), it is ready.

2. Smear some frosting to the center of the paper plate, enough so that the first two "walls" of the house will stand up.

3. Spread frosting along the edges of two graham cracker squares and join them together to create a right angle. Holding them together, press them down into the frosting on the plate.

4. Join two more graham cracker squares together at a right angle, and join them to the others on the plate. You should now have a complete square of graham cracker walls held together by frosting and standing somewhat firm on the frosting on the plate.

5. Smear plenty of frosting on the top edges of two new graham cracker squares. Add more frosting to the tops of the existing cracker walls, and gently place the "roof" in place. The frosting should hold the roof pieces to each other as well as to the cracker walls.

6. Let the structures dry on the paper plates for at least an hour. The frosting will dry into a hard and edible "glue."

Decorating the House

7. 
   Halloween-themed house

   After the graham cracker structure is hardened, you can begin decorating. Simply pipe the frosting wherever you want it, and press candy into the frosting before it sets up.

8. Use your imagination with decorating. Create shingles, window shutters, doorknobs and more with different kinds of candy.

9. Try using bits of graham cracker for other features of the house, such as a door or chimney. Attach these to the cracker structure with frosting and decorate accordingly.

10. Don't limit yourself to the graham cracker house alone. Use the "yard" around the house to complete the scene. Try using upside-down ice cream cones for trees, or licorice ropes for a fence. There is no end to the creative things that can be done to a graham cracker gingerbread house.

11. Those with a steady hand can create frosting icicles on the candy house. Simply start at the roof eaves and gently squeese a bit of frosting out, then pull downward until the frosting hangs like an icicle. This might take a little practice, but the effect is really wonderful.

Tips & Warnings

• Decorate according to the nearest holiday. Use black and orange jelly beans and gummy bats for a Halloween haunted house, or pastel candies for Easter.