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In early January, our home transforms from Christmas to Valentine’s and I look forward to it each year. Instead of thinking, “Eleven more months until Christmas,” I get excited about all of the upcoming holidays! After putting so many decorations away, I like to keep Valentine’s Day sweet, simple, and cute. I can’t wait to show you our adorable Valentine’s Gingerbread House!
Valentine’s Gingerbread House
We had the most gorgeous Christmas gingerbread houses, so these pretty little Valentine’s Day Gingerbread Houses are the perfect transition. Well, instead of the traditional gingerbread, we cheated a little and used graham crackers. I love these because they make smaller houses, perfect for Valentine’s Day candies.
Start by cutting two graham crackers as seen above. Cut the last 1/4 of the graham cracker off. Then, cut two angles off (as seen above) to create a point. Here’s my tip for cutting graham crackers successfully (because they break so easily): use a sharp knife and gently pierce the graham cracker in the desired line a few times. If you start at the edge, it will crack in an undesirable way. If you pierce a line in the desired way and work outwards towards the edge, you have a better chance of not cracking the graham cracker.
In addition to the two cut graham crackers, you will need 4 full size graham crackers. To build the house, I don’t use royal icing. This is mostly because I’m tired of holiday baking LOL! Instead, I use CandiQuik, which is essentially a chocolate that is designed for melting and hardening. Assembling gingerbread houses is not the simplest task, so I like to make it as easy as possible!
I don’t use a fancy piping bag, but instead I pour the microwave melted chocolate into the corner of a sealable plastic bag, cut the tip, and create a DIY piping bag. My tip is to not use the CandiQuik candy melts while they are super hot. Let the melted candy cool until it is slightly thicker. That way, when you’re holding the pieces together it doesn’t take as long to dry.
TIP: if the house falls as you’re holding it together, just keep trying! Put the pieces together again, add more melted chocolate to the “seams”, and it will dry quickly.
From there I continue to keep it easy! I use a regular pre-made tub of white vanilla frosting to begin decorating the Valentine’s Gingerbread House! For our houses, we used conversation hearts, Valentine’s Day M&M’s, twisted marshmallows, and sprinkles. We added graham crackers for the doors and windows too. So fun for kids!
More Valentine’s Day Crafts by Smart School House:
-
Valentine’s Candy Critters
-
Valentine Heart Bouquet
-
Old School Valentine
-
Heart Pretzels
-
Blushing Valentine
-
Valentine Fortune Cookies
-
Twinkie Hearts
You Will Need
- 6 graham crackers
- Vanilla CandiQuik (or royal icing)
- Vanilla frosting
- Candy hearts
- Other Valentine’s candy: we used purple sprinkles, Valentine M&Ms, and twisted marshmallows
Directions
- Start by cutting the corners of two graham crackers to create points, as seen above. TIP: use a sharp knife and gently pierce the graham cracker in the desired line a few times. If you start at the edge, it will crack in an undesirable way. If you pierce a line in the desired way and work outwards towards the edge, you have a better chance of not cracking the graham cracker.
- Melt the CandiQuick and place it in a plastic baggie. Let the liquid candy melt cool until it is slightly thicker. That way, when you’re holding the pieces together doesn’t take as long to dry.
- Assemble the house as seen above, using two full size graham crackers for the roof and sides of the house. TIP: if the house falls as you’re holding it together, just keep trying! Put the pieces together again, add more melted chocolate to the “seams”, and it will dry quickly.
- Once the house is assembled, use vanilla frosting and candy to decorate the outside.
