How To Make A Dollhouse Gingerbread House

It's still Christmas at the cabin and 
 Ginger has been a very busy little baker!
 The gingerbread house for the Dora Kuhn
Christmas themed dollhouse cabinet is finished.

Actually, I made two.  It was a fun project
and much easier than I had imagined!
This project started when I was looking for a 
finished gingerbread house and I came across this 
wonderful gingerbread house kit at:
Belara Beach Originals 
So, I thought I'd try my hand at making my own. 
(Photo courtesy of Belara Beach Originals)

I decided I wanted bigger houses for the larger 1/10th
scale furniture in the Christmas Cabinet dollhouse.
So, the hubs kindly made a couple houses out 
of scrap wood.
    I ordered more beautiful hand made candies
 from Lauriel at  Belara Beach Originals
I have a Halloween house in 
mind for this fall candy.
Tiny candy corn....so cute!
Lauriel makes candy for all the holidays!

Here's a list of things I purchased to make the houses.

House Kit & Handmade Candy
from Belara Beach Originals
&
Snow

Everything else I had in my house and craft supplies.
Glue that dries clear
 Toothpicks, for placing glue on the back of candy
Paint: gingerbread color and white
Small paint brush
Small spatula for scooping out snow
Tweezers for placing candy on house
Small Scissors
Quart size freezer bag
Small tools for spreading snow
(small knife would work)
Small container for mixing snow
Paper towels
Small baking pan with sides
Aluminum foil
 Damp cloth for wiping up messes!
Baby powder
A sweet hubby who makes things you request.
A pair of glasses that magnify if you're old like me!
Last but not least:
Patience

This is the snow I purchased at Michael's Crafts store.
I believe this is a seasonal product.

I also found these products online.  I have 
not used them, but snow is snow!



I mixed brown craft paint with red, to get
the color I wanted for the gingerbread house.
I painted the base with white.

I put a white paper towel in a small baking pan
with sides.  It's much easier to see the candy on
a white background.  The candy is teeny tiny, don't 
drop it on the floor or it's lost forever, hence the
pan with sides!  I used tweezers to sort the candy.
I decided what candies I would use on the roof, 
sides of house, front of house, around the base etc.

 I spread snow on one side of the roof top and 
placed the candy in rows with the tweezers.  I used a
toothpick to push the candy out of the tweezers and 
onto the snow, if it was stuck.  A toothpick works well 
for pushing the candy deeper into the snow too.

Here is where patience is used.  
The snow is sticky and it's easily messed 
up, so go slowly and LET THINGS DRY
BEFORE YOU MOVE TO THE NEXT STEP!

Next step was gluing candies to the front,
back and sides of house. I used a toothpick
to put glue on the back of candy as I held it
secure with the tweezers.  Be creative!
I turned the tiny candy canes into heart
shaped front and back doors.

 I spread a layer of snow on the base and placed
candies around the house to represent bushes.
I made little sidewalks out of caramels.
Remember to let your work dry hard before you proceed.
I then added another layer of snow on the base for
more snow drifts.  I pushed snow up close to
the candy bushes and made a path of shoveled 
snow next to the sidewalk.
Lots of photos below.  
(Excuse the dusty bits on the snow, I was
 working with moss at the other end of 
my table and forgot to brush them clean.)

Last step is the decorative piping on the house
  roof and fence along the base.   No need to be
too technical.....they are just SQUIGGLES.  You
don't have to be a professional to make squiggles!
 I mixed a small amount of baby powder to the 
Michael's snow.  I thickened it just enough for 
the squiggles to keep their shape.  This may 
not be necessary with the other types of snow.

I trimmed off the top of my quart sized blue freezer

bag.  That's what I had, any small bag will do.

I used the small spatula to put the 

snow into the plastic bag.

I cut a tiny tip off the end of the bag.

Twist the open end of the bag so the snow 
doesn't come out the big end as you work.
I practiced making squiggles on the foil
using a small up and down motion as I moved
in a line and gently squeezed the snow out. 
It doesn't need to be perfect, it's just
snow drifts, they come in all shapes and sizes.

 I cut down candy canes and used them 
for gates along the front walkways.
I added candy to the top of the squiggles.

Photos below show all the places
 I "squiggled" the snow.

Fun & Easy Peasy!

Be sure to stop by Lauriel's

website to see all her beautiful

handmade candies & other 

dollhouse creations.

Belara Beach Originals

Some more photos 

Spring is in the air....