6 fun and easy ideas for a Christmas gingerbread house

Gingerbread houses aren't just fun to make with friends, family or loved ones, they also add a touch of festive whimsy to your home's holiday décor. Here are six easy-to-make gingerbread house ideas that you'll want to try this year.

[Photo Credit: iStock.com/Sasha_Suzi]

Gingerbread houses are often difficult to construct because they're flimsy and fragile – sometimes there just isn't enough icing in the world to hold them together! The solution?

• Rather than building the walls with graham crackers, gingerbread wafers or other thin materials, consider making a large batch of toasted rice cereal and marshmallow treats to add to the house.

Toasted rice cereal and marshmallow treats are flexible and sticky: they're easily shaped into walls, roofs or floors. Moreover, they also stay securely put.

Rather than creating a traditional brown gingerbread house, use brightly coloured candy as "tiles" to create vibrant walls and roofs.

• You can stick candies to the gingerbread by using frosting. The result is a colourful, interesting and delicious-looking mosaic.

Rather than making an entire house, consider cutting flat pieces of gingerbread into house-shaped cookies.

• You can use different colours of icing to draw house details like roofs, windows and flowers onto the cookies.

This is a great way for you and your children to create many gingerbread houses, rather than just one, to give as delightful homemade gifts. Just remember to keep at least one for your own home!

Instead of using graham crackers or gingerbread, try building a gingerbread house using toaster pastries for the walls and the roof.

• Toaster pastries are sturdy, thick and easy to balance on one another. In addition, they come in various "frosted" flavours, so they already have "snow" on them! This also means you can use toaster pastries of different colours to achieve various effects, if you wish.

Just remember one thing: if you're going to eat the house be sure to pick your favourite flavour!

Another great idea for creating an easy gingerbread house is by using a small milk carton for the base.

• Make sure that you wash the milk carton thoroughly before you start so it doesn't smell.
• Use white icing to stick graham crackers to the outside of the milk carton.
• After the carton is covered with crackers and looks house-shaped, use white icing and candy to decorate the outside.

To make a gingerbread house that is less messy and lasts longer, consider constructing it out of brown cardboard. Although it obviously isn't edible, it can still be attractive and festive.

• You can use construction paper, pom-poms, pipe cleaners, glitter and other art supplies to decorate the house.
• By gluing cotton balls to the roof, you can mimic snow.
• Silver tinsel – the kind you hang on your Christmas tree – looks a lot like icicles when added to the roof of your "gingerbread" house.

There's no better way to celebrate the holiday season than by making a gingerbread house. This year, why not mix things up a bit and give your classic gingerbread house a fun new twist.