Build a DIY gingerbread house: steps and tips

It might just be the sweetest holiday tradition.

Four gingerbread walls, frosted doors and windows, a gumdrop roof — the gingerbread house is confectionary construction at its best.

One of the most beloved symbols of the holidays, the gingerbread house epitomizes the delicious, nostalgic and creative spirit of the season. Plus, building your own gingerbread house is an activity for the whole family!

We love gingerbread houses — in fact, the edible masterpiece inspired two of our newest holiday products, the Scentsy Sugar Chalet Warmer and Sugar Chalet Diffuser, and we have an array of delicious seasonal Scentsy Bars and Scentsy oils, so you can make each of them smell as good as they look!

In celebration of our delectable new gingerbread-themed Warmer, let’s build the real thing!

Exercise your imagination

Embrace the magic of the Christmas season and some good-old childhood wonder, and build your holiday house from scratch this year — because your gingerbread family deserves the best!

Sure, you could pick up one of those kits at the grocery store and save a bit of time, but they’re awfully limiting. Most are simple cottage-style homes with just enough frosting to draw a couple of windows and a front door. When you go with a kit, you get what you get!

Baking your own gingerbread house from scratch isn’t as hard as you might think. Here’s the whole project in five straightforward steps:

1. Get creative: Sketch out your design, or search for ideas online.
2. Get cookin’: Bake the walls, roof and a whole gingerbread family with a recipe like this one from Food Network. (Might have to double it if you’re going Victorian!)
   
   Time-saving tip: If the whole baking process seems daunting, use graham crackers instead. You can still get a custom look, but in a lot less time.
   
3. Make it frosty: Mix up a batch of icing to have plenty to suit your Christmas fancy, with enough left over to give everyone a chance to lick the spoon. Be sure to divvy up some of the white stuff in separate small bowls and add food coloring to kick your design up a notch!
4. Assemble: This is where the whole thing comes together. With a pastry bag (or any plastic bag with the corner snipped off), pipe the icing like glue around the edges of your walls and roof, and assemble. Be sure to let each section dry for a few minutes before trying to move on!
   
   Time-saving tip: Not planning to eat your house? Get out your glue gun to make it even more structurally sound! You can cover the evidence with icing (and we promise not to tell).
   
5. Decorate: Now for the big payoff. Once your house is assembled, use the rest of your icing to dress it up as you please, affixing as many sweet treats as your structure can stand. We like rainbow sprinkles and chocolate chips (you might already have some stashed in your pantry). Add gumdrops, licorice or miniature candy canes for holiday flair.

Now stand back and admire your very own DIY gingerbread house!

Sugar Chalet Diffuser

Want a picture-perfect gingerbread house, but you don’t feel like turning on your oven? We recommend the Sugar Chalet Diffuser. This charming holiday Diffuser is decked out in sweet details, and fragrance even wafts from the chimney of this adorable Diffuser when in use!

Many don’t realize, but any Diffuser shade can be used with our Scentsy Premium Diffuser, so if you already own one of those, a simple shade swap is the perfect way to switch up your seasonal or holiday decor!

What’s that fragrance wafting from the chimney? Well, that’s up to you, of course. We have an incridible selection of fragrances from all across our Scentsy fragrance families, but we also happen to have the perfect recommendation for the season: the Scentsy Holiday Oil 3-pack!

• Lemon Sandalwood Garland: Salted pistachios and bright lemon zest wind around white sandalwood for a festive display.
• Peppermint Macaroons: Mounds of frosted coconut and crisp peppermint sweetened by a dash of vanilla bean.
• Whipped Pumpkin Frosting: Whipped peaks of vanilla cream spiced with brown sugar and pumpkin puree.

What fragrance are you most excited to try?

Whether you make your own gingerbread house or decorate with our Sugar Chalet Warmer, share your photos with us using #ScentsySnapshot!