Made popular by kindergarten classes everywhere in the 80s, these childhood classics bear repeating.
I gathered my family for a night recently of decorating and everyone had a good time!
Let’s make them.
(Here’s a quick reel to show you how they come together)
Supplies Needed
- Milk cartons – Collect cartons from school, Target or Disneyland or buy these convenient and inexpensive cardboard ones here (photos below).
- Graham crackers
- Icing – Store bought tub frosting works best. Get classic white – buttercream came out a bit yellow compared to the vanilla or “white” options. We mixed powdered sugar with water for another adhesive option and it didn’t work as well.
- Candy to decorate – I used a lot of what I had at the house already including random stuff like peanut butter chips, sprinkles and M&Ms. Then I bought the traditional staples like Starlight mints (red and white peppermints), spice drops (or gum drops), Dots (similar to gum drops), candy canes, coconut (for snow), pretzel sticks (wood for log cabin).
You can keep this simple and have kids create their gingerbread houses on a paper plate and leave it at that. Or, you can collect them all and build a little village.
Optional supplies include:
Milk Carton Options
You need a structure to adhere the grahams to.
Here are some options to choose from:
Execution
- Cover the exterior sides of your milk carton with icing
- Press graham crackers against the sides of the milk carton to create the exterior “gingerbread”
- Add a roof, too, with grahams or use pretzel sticks to mimic wood (peanut butter pretzel barrels work well, too)
- Use icing to add candy embellishments
Results
They’re glorious!
I had the movie, Elf, playing in the background. Everyone grabbed a bowl of One Pot Spaghetti and we sat down to eat while we decorated. It was a fun night.
Extra Credit
Add lights and watch your village come to life at night!
Additional Resources
I do a lot of projects like this with my kids – even still at ages 18, 19, and 25. Here’s more of what we do, called “Family Recess”.
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