Today’s Happy Craft are fun Gingerbread House Ideas!
Welcome to our special Heartfelt and Handmade 28 DIY Valentines! A BIG thank you to our fearless leader, Jennifer from Town and Country Living. She has gathered 28 bloggers and their fantastic Valentine’s Day projects. Scroll down to the bottom of my post for more inspiration.
The following post contains Amazon Affiliate links
Valentine’s Day Memories
I adore Valentine’s Day.
Isn’t it a happy holiday?
I remember in elementary school when I would carefully create my big construction paper envelope that housed all my Valentine’s Day cards. You know back in the day when the teacher would hang them up around the classroom and then we would deliver our cards like a mailman to the various envelopes.
Well, my passion for art started at a young age.
My envelope had a crazy amount of white lace doilies, and every inch was either covered with pink crayons or my cut out hearts.
I’m still that little girl who can’t wait for Valentine’s Day.
When the Christmas decor is tucked away in storage, and the house is lighter, and February rolls around, I’m antsy to create something for this fun holiday.
This year I decorated Gingerbread houses that I had sitting around from the holidays. If you happen to miss my French Holiday Table Decor, you might want to check it out. But for now, my Valentine’s Day my gingerbread house ideas are so fun, and I’m super jazzed how they turned out.
Does anyone use the word jazzed anymore?
Here are some fun Gingerbread House Ideas
Before we begin this fun project, I must brief you on the icing that I use. I found the best recipe on Sweetopia when I created a cookie gift basket. The royal icing goes on smoothly and hardens just perfectly. And she has a must see little 10-second video tip on how to make the icing perfect every time!
Ok, let’s get started on this Valentine’s Day Gingerbread project! Here is what you’ll need.
Ingredients:
Instructions:
1. You can either bake your own gingerbread houses or if you are like me, you can buy them. I had one leftover from Christmas, but Amazon has a year-round supply, Gingerbread Mini Village.
2. To break apart the gingerbread pieces, I always use a serrated knife and go over the precut areas. I pretend I’m sawing a piece of wood. The sections will naturally just come apart when you are sawing.
6. The next part is called flooding. You’ll fill in the outline with the icing. I usually just pipe back and forth and it naturally fills in the gingerbread. I tried to capture this but it filled in too quickly for my camera to take the photo.
8. While the icing is fresh and soft add your candies and decorations. Let the icing set and harden before moving onto the next step.
I like to let mine set up overnight.
9. So, the gingerbread kit comes with frosting for building your houses.
The Amazon reviews complain that the icing doesn’t work at keeping the houses together.
Well, the key is to build the bottom of the houses and let them sit overnight. Also, make sure all your walls are lined up straight. Don’t rush into adding the roof right away since the icing takes a while to set up. I found that if you are impatient, the whole structure will collapse. Yup, it took me a couple of attempts to finally figure out this critical step.
10. I found these adorable hearts at my local grocery store. But here is the linkon Amazon.
I went ahead and created a fun party for my daughter and her friends.
Take a peak at these lovely projects!
MONDAY
Town and Country Living | Finding Silver Pennies | Duke Manor Farm | Maison de Pax | Shabbyfufu
Making It in the Mountains | Tidbits | Taryn Whitaker | House by Hoff | Clean and Scentsible
TUESDAY
So Much Better with Age | The Happy Housie | Shabby Art Boutique | Paint Me Pink | VinYet Etc.
Unskinny Boppy | Sincerely Marie Designs | A Burst of Beautiful | The Wicker House | Zevy Joy
WEDNESDAY
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia | In My Own Style | Golden Boys and Me | Seeking Lavender Lane
On Sutton Place | Happy Happy Nester | The Chronicles of Home | Craftberry Bush
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Kristin salazar
Could these be any more adorable! I will have to remember that for next year when they all go on sale! They are gorgeous!
happyhappynester
Kristin,
Yes, I had my village from Christmas and was super sick with the flu. Then I realized why not use it for Valentine’s Day! They still have them on Amazon, but not that expensive. I can’t wait to make some Bunny Shacks!
Jennifer @ Town and Country Living
Janine, this is just about the cutest Valentine decoration I’ve ever seen. I sooo want to make these! Thanks so much for joining Heartfelt and Handmade!
happyhappynester
Jennifer!
Your tour was fabulous!!! I always love making crafts and all the bloggers you rounded up are amazing! Thanks so much for including me.
Krista
Oh my goodness! These are so sweet and beautiful! What a cute idea!
Carla
These are just darling! If you have impatient kids, ???? you can also use melted candy melts to build your house. Worked like a charm for me.
happyhappynester
Carla,
I haven’t heard of using candy melts! I’ll have to try it on my bunny shacks for Easter! Thanks so much for the great tip!!!
Jamie
Oh my gosh, these are the sweetest things ever! Such a great idea, Janine. Perfect for Valentine’s Day.
Hugs, Jamie
happyhappynester
Jamie,
You’re so kind to visit my post! I so need to come your way as well! I’m sure I’ll be in for a treat! Happy Valentine’s Day to you!
Coco in the Kitchen
These are so cute, I nearly fainted!
happyhappynester
Ah, I didn’t realize they are dangerous houses? 🙂
Danielle Driscoll
Oh, my goodness! These are just adorable. Perfect for a Valentine’s Party!
happyhappynester
Danielle,
Thanks so much! I need to come visit your post too! Happy Valentine’s Day to you!
Tana - Your Marketing BFF
These are adorable! A year??? I don’t know girlfriend that’s a long time to survive… No matter what, it’s a great idea!!!
happyhappynester
Hi Tana,
Nice to see you over here! Happy Valentine’s day to you!
Sam - Raggedy Bits
Super cute, Janine! Love your little love shacks!! Such a clever and creative idea!
Marci
These houses are adorable! And your instructions are very clear.
Lisa
I love the idea of bringing the gingerbread house into February! Why should they just be for Christmas time! And they look lovely in pink.
Sharon
Janine, you are so creative! I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw these adorable little houses! Then when you described the steps, I thought ‘Wow!, I might actually be able to do this!’ I’m really excited to try it. Thanks so much for your inspiration.