| ||||
|
BUILDING THE
HOUSE Before building the house, I highly recommend investing in a plastic tablecloth and laying it on your work table. Gingerbread house building is a messy business. For
Temporary House Structure: Wrap
a long, smooth sheet of plastic wrap around the entire cardboard house
structure. Start from the bottom making sure that the edge of the plastic wrap
is touching the base around the entire structure and continue unrolling the
roll of plastic wrap all the way up the cardboard structure until it is
completely covered. Try not
to smear any sugar glue on the plastic wrapped cardboard structure underneath
the gingerbread house both at the base and at the corners.
But if you do, the plastic wrap will prevent the any dried sugar glue
from sticking to strongly when you pull the structure out of the dry
gingerbread house. The point of the temporary house structure is to stabilize
the gingerbread walls while the sugar glue is drying.
Front, Back, 2 Sides: You will probably start smearing the sugar glue with the back of a spoon, but, I’ve found the best tool for this process are your fingers! Spread a thick strip around the bottom perimeter of the house, be careful not to smear on the plastic wrapped cardboard. Spread a strip of sugar glue along the side edges of the front wall and place the bottom edge of the front wall in the front sugar glue strip. You can let the front wall lean against the structure, while you prepare the other gingerbread walls. Spread a strip of sugar glue along the side edges of the back wall and place the bottom edge of the back wall in the back sugar glue strip. Place the bottom edge of a side wall in the side sugar glue strip. Press the front house edge leaning against the side wall edge adhering with the front wall sugar glue. Press the side wall edge leaning against the back wall edge adhering with the back wall sugar glue. You will build a stronger more supported house by leaning the front wall on the side wall, and then the side wall on the back wall as opposed to leaning both the front and back on the sides or vice versa, as a wall that is only leaned upon has a greater chance of caving in. Repeat the process with the other side wall. Let the house dry completely before carefully removing the cardboard structure and the plastic inside. A safe drying time for this large house is three hours, depending on the humidity or the heat in your home. You can use a blow dryer on a low, cool, setting if you are impatient. Roof: Place a thick strip of sugar glue on the back side of the roof cookie, along the sides and on the bottom. Stick one roof cookie on the front of the house, making sure that the sugar glue on the back of the roof cookie is adhering to the top edges of the slanted side walls and to the top edge of the front wall. Prop a piece of cardboard up against the bottom edge of the roof, holding it in place while it dries. You may have to fold the top of the cardboard so there is a wider edge supporting the thin roof cookie. Repeat this process with the back roof cookie. Also, spread a strip of sugar glue at the top crest between the top roof edges and press the edges together. Readjust the cardboard supports as necessary so the top edges are firmly pressed together while drying. Make certain that the roof is completely dry and secure before putting any candy shingles on. For
Permanent House Structure: Do not
wrap the cardboard structure in plastic wrap. Follow the Front, Back, 2 Sides, and
Roof instructions above, and also, spread a quarter size dollop of sugar
glue in the center of the cardboard walls and the cardboard roof. Press the
gingerbread walls and roof against the sugar glue, adhering the gingerbread to
the cardboard. You will still
need to place a piece of cardboard against the bottom edges of the 2 roof
pieces to prevent sliding. Have your kids slap sugar glue anywhere they want
in the side corners and let the sugar glue dry completely with the cardboard
structure inside the house. Chimney: Not only do sugar cubes look great for the chimney, but they’re as strong as bricks. Start your chimney on the right side of the house that has the 2” space from the edge of the base. When applying the sugar glue for the chimney, make the glue thick so it oozes in between each sugar cube adhering them to each other as well as the gingerbread. Spread a 3” thick strip of sugar glue in the center, along the base and 2” up the gingerbread side wall. Place 5 sugar cubes in a row adhering them to the base, the wall, and the sugar cube sides with the sugar glue. It’s tough to lay the sugar cubes in the traditional brick pattern, so these sugar cubes will go up the chimney directly on top each other. Continue up the chimney, by spreading a strip of sugar glue on top of the sugar cube row and the gingerbread. Place more 5 sugar cubes on top of the bottom row, adhering to the row below, the wall and sugar cube sides. Repeat this process using 2 more rows of 5 across. Then, center 4 sugar cubes across on the row of 5, and build 3 rows of 4 across. The remainder of the chimney will be 3 sugar cubes across centered on the row of 4 all the way the top. Build up the chimney 3 rows higher than the top of the gingerbread roof. The top is a little tricky because the chimney sits on the slanted roof. Cut the 6 sugar cubes in half, as evenly as possible, on the diagonal. You will now be building across the roof in order to make the chimney stack. Sugar glue the sugar cubes on the slanted cut side of the cubes and adhere them to the slanted roof in a row of 3 sugar cubes across the roof. Make sure the sugar cubes are level with each other and with a row in the chimney that you’ve built on the side of the house. When both rows on either roof are dry, stack the sugar cubes directly on top of the roof row adhering with sugar glue on all sides of the cubes. Build up the rows level with the rows on side chimney and as high. Also place a single stack of sugar cubes spread with sugar glue in between the built up roof side rows, completing the square of the chimney stack. Top with sugar glue as a snowy top.
Roof
Shingles: The roof is pretty easy when working with
gum drops or corn syrup based candies. Chocolate is a whole other issue.
Gum drops are the only candies that I don’t overlap upon each other
as in a real shingling technique. Everything else such as Ande’s Mints,
candy corns, sliced caramels, sliced licorice, gum sticks etc... I do the
traditional shingling or it doesn’t look right.
Begin at the bottom of the roof and spread a layer of sugar glue all
the way across and about 1” up. Don’t make this layer too thick or the
candies will slide and take forever to dry.
Place the candies across the roof in the sugar glue. If you are using
different colored candies make a pattern or alternate colors. As necessary,
spread the other glue strips across the roof above the candy rows.
Don’t get ahead of yourself and ice the whole roof or it may dry
before you get to the top with the candy. If you are using gum drops, place
the next candy row in the sugar glue strip above the bottom row.
If you are shingling, place the next candy row in the sugar glue strip
and have the top candy row overlap the bottom candy row a bit. Also, place the
candies “shingle-style” where the middles of each candy in the top row are centered
on the side-by-side meeting points of each candy in the bottom row.
For the ends of every other row, cut the candy in half to continue the
shingle pattern. Because these
rows are overlapping, you will only be able to do 3 rows up at a time and wait
for the row to dry completely before continuing. Otherwise, the bottom rows
will begin to slide from the weight of the top rows.
Begin on the other side of the roof as one side is drying and go back
and forth between the two sides. Definitely
use chocolate shingles if you have planned to do so. It looks and smells
great, but its high fat content may take 5 hours or so, to adhere to the sugar
glue per 3 rows! Once again,
drying time depends on conditions such as humidity or heat in your home. Porch Roof: This little roof is probably the most difficult step in the design of these estates. First, ice the entire cardboard base all around the house. Thin out the sugar glue to more of an icing consistency by adding 1 - 2 more tablespoons of water and spread around the base with a knife. The porch roof will be connected to the front of the house about 3/4 of the way up the front gingerbread wall and will be supported by candy cane posts. Take the gingerbread porch roof and set it at the 3/4 point up the wall. If the porch roof in the style of house you are building has a downward slant, as in the Traditional Gingerbread Estate, then, slant the porch roof down. If it extends out flat or at a right angle from the house as in the Southwestern Beach House, leave it flat. Hold the porch roof in position against the front gingerbread wall and stand a candy cane next to it. Eyeball the candy cane for height as if the hooked top was underneath the front edge of the porch roof. Break off the straight bottoms of 4 candy canes to where they will stand at the height you’ve determined. Hold the porch roof in position and test each candy cane for height with the porch roof and making sure that as equal as possible. Some may be off and you will either have to adjust them all, or use a whole new candy cane. When you are satisfied with your 4 candy cane posts set them aside. Make a sugar glue mark as to where the porch roof touches the front gingerbread wall all the way across. The porch roof needs additional support where it adheres to the front wall, so you will be making a licorice ledge for it to rest upon. Use the thick cement sugar glue for the rest of the porch roof assembly, not the watered down version you iced the base with. Spread a thick strip of sugar glue across the front gingerbread wall where the porch roof is supposed to adhere to it. Place the straightest licorice Twizzler of the bunch across the sugar glue strip, slightly below where the porch roof will adhere, and hold it in place until it stays on its own. Leave it alone until it is completely dry, about an hour. When dry, reapply a thin strip of sugar glue above the licorice ledge and stick the top of the porch roof in the strip. Unless you have three hands, you will need a small piece of cardboard under the porch roof in the center to help hold it in place while you are setting the candy cane posts. Prepare and set the candy canes one by one, with all 4 evenly spaced all the way across the underside of the roof. Place a tablespoon sugar glue glob on the bottom stick of each candy and a 1/2 tablespoon sugar glue glob on the top of the hook. I’ve found it’s easier to start with the center candy cane posts. Set the candy cane in the determined space, making sure that the porch roof is resting on the sugar glue on the hook. Pack the sugar glue around the bottom of the candy cane making sure it is secure and adding more sugar if necessary. Repeat the process with the other 3 candy canes until all are set. Leave the cardboard support under the porch roof as it dries which usually takes about an hour. Don’t get frustrated by the canes falling as you are setting the others. Once you get the hang of it, it’s Decoration City and you’re the Mayor! Porch Roofing: The porch roof has to be completely dry before putting anything on it, so you may want to start decorating the yard your chosen theme. Even when it is dry, it’s still very delicate so any roofing must be very light. I don’t recommended any kind of shingling technique as the overlapping candy may get too heavy and collapse the porch roof. Mini non-pariels work great, as would gum, M&M’s, or even colored sugar. Spread a sheer coat of watered down sugar glue on the porch roof and set the candy roofing in place.
|