Gingerbread House Kit
All of the Fun and None of the Hassle

A gingerbread house kit is the easiest way to get your feet wet, so to speak, in gingerbread house building. The icing "glue" is usually perfect and ready to be used, without the frustration that we can sometimes feel trying to get the consistency just right for holding the pieces together.

While gingerbread from scratch is usually a bit tastier than a gingerbread house kit, kits usually are delicious and I guaranty you kids will never know the difference!

Preassembled or Some Assembly Required?

You can find kits either preassembled, where you simply unwrap and decorate, or unassembled, with the individual pieces for you to assemble. Some kits only include the ingredients and you mix, roll out, cut, and bake the gingerbread yourself. Make sure that you know what kind of kit you're getting so you don't have any unpleasant surprises when you open it!

Note that, if you're assembling the house (or other gingerbread kit design) yourself, you'll need to give the icing a good bit of time to set (harden) after assembling and before decorating. If you rush the process and attempt to decorate a gingerbread house too soon, there's a good chance something will break while you're trying to decorate.

My advice is to go ahead and preassemble the house at least several hours before having kids help with the decorating. If your kids are old enough to help with the assembly, be sure to lower their expectations and make sure they understand that the decorating will need to come later.

The preassembled houses make terrific gifts for busy families or anyone who enjoys instant gratification. The kits which require some assembly or full baking can be a perfect gift for a family who loves to cook together.

Or Make Your Own Gingerbread Kit Gift

You could even create your own kit to give as gifts this holiday:

• Send the recipient to this site for recipes and templates. You can include the URL on your gift card (www.gingerbread-house-heaven.com)
• Print out our free templates
• Print out recipes from this site if the recipient isn't web-savvy (It's OK with us as long as it's just for your personal use and NOT something you'll sell)
• Include a gingerbread mix OR all of the ingredients needed for the gingerbread recipe
• Royal icing mix OR all of the ingredients for royal icing
• And, the most fun part, add a variety of colorful candies

Wrap your kit up together in a pretty basket or attach to a brand new baking sheet. Or, for a less expensive option, you could tie everything together with red and green ribbons and then tie on a gingerbread man cookie cutter as the decorative "ribbon".

Using a gingerbread house kit yourself or giving one as a gift is a terrific way to start (or get back into) making gingerbread houses! Have fun with it!