Step into the holiday season with a delightful DIY Gingerbread House Garland that's sure to be the centerpiece of your Christmas decor. This easy-to-follow guide will show you how to craft charming miniature gingerbread houses and string them into a festive garland.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar for three to four minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the egg, molasses, and vanilla. Mix to combine.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet. Mix to combine. Cover and refrigerate the dough overnight or for at least four hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Divide the dough in two. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the dough so it is about 1/8-inch thick. Cut out shapes with the gingerbread house cookie cutters. For each house you’ll need two of each shape.
Place the shapes about one inch apart on a cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough.
With the roof pieces (the larger rectangular shape) you’ll want to put a hole in the middle of each. This hole is where you’ll thread/string your ribbon. I used a metal straw to create my hole and this seemed to be a good size.
Bake 5-8 minutes (or 8-10 minutes for standard cookies) or until the edges of the cookies are firm. Transfer the cookies to cooling racks to cool completely.
While the cookies cool, prepare the royal icing. Add the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder to the bowl of a stand mixer. (You can also use a hand mixer.) Whisk to combine.
With the mixer on low, add one tablespoon of warm water at a time. Once all six tablespoons have been added, add in the corn syrup.
Continue to mix on low-medium speed adding more warm water, one tablespoon at a time, to achieve the desired consistency. The ideal consistency is something that is a bit thicker than corn syrup.*
Transfer the icing to a piping bottle or piping bag. **
Start by “gluing” the sides of the house to the front of the house and let that sit for a few seconds. Then add on the back of the house and let that sit for a few more seconds. Finally, glue on each roof piece.
Once the royal icing is set, have fun decorating your adorable little gingerbread house. Start with the front of the house first (let it dry), then the back and the roof (let them dry), and then finish with the sides.
Let your icing completely set before proceeding.
Use a large needle to thread your ribbon through the houses. (I used a plastic darning needle my mom had.***) To secure the ribbon in place while threading, I cut the end of the ribbon to make it more narrow, threaded it through the needle, and then superglued the tip of the ribbon to the ribbon strand.
When threading, you won’t be able to do both holes in one go. So, thread through the first hole, pull the needle and ribbon through the bottom of the house, and then go back up through the bottom and thread through the second hole.
Continue threading on your houses until you have as many as you like/need.
Your ribbon should be thick enough to hold your houses in place. I spaced my houses about 4 inches apart. You can do what works best for you.
And with that, your Gingerbread House Garland is complete and ready to hang and enjoy!
Notes
*Making "proper" royal icing takes time and practice. You need to get a feel for it to know the consistency you need. It took me 30 minutes to figure it out and I still needed to adjust things. Have patience and take your time.**You can find the icing bottles I used HERE.***I used a plastic darning needle my mom had. To secure the ribbon in place while threading, I cut the end of the ribbon to make it narrower, I threaded it through the needle, and then superglued the tip of the ribbon to the ribbon strand. (There is a photo in the blog post for reference.)