Check out our fun ideas for throwing a gingerbread house decorating party. Every Christmas Eve we have a party with our best friends with kids’ Christmas party games and delicious food. We have been doing this since our children were tiny, but now they are older we have graduated to a gingerbread decorating party.
But it doesn’t have to be for just children, oh no. I have just come back from a fabulous adult-only party hosted by Who’s the Mummy? where we had a gingerbread decorating competition and let Instagram decide the winner. It was absolutely hilarious and so much fun. I really hope that we make it an annual event just like our kids’ one.
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Hosting a Gingerbread House Decorating Party
The best thing about parties is the people, honestly, it doesn’t matter if you use shop-bought kits your party guests will have a fun time regardless.
Invitations
I always think the invitation allows the host set the foundation for what to expect, so make sure it includes all the party details. It can be as simple as a text or evite or you could get adventurous and send a homemade gingerbread cookie with the invite. This one is free from Punchbowl.com or you could get really creative and send an invite out as a recipe card.
I personally love the idea of sending a cardboard gingerbread cookie with all the details on it – we have some amazing gingerbread free printables here.
Home Decorations
Unless you are doing your gingerbread house party way before Christmas then it is unlikely you will need to decorate your house too much as it will already be decorated for the holiday season.
- Gingerbreadman banner with Free Printable
- Gingerbread House Award Ribbons – Free Printables
- Gingerbread Party Full printables set
- Free Printable Gingerbread Garland
Gingerbread Houses
So the biggest decision is whether to make your own gingerbread house or use gingerbread house kits. Personally, I am a kit girl when it comes to a gingerbread house party. Firstly you can make them ahead of time and secondly, it gives everyone an even playing field when it comes to decorating.
However, when it was just two families doing the decorating we both made our own gingerbread house for the kids to decorate using my not to gingery gingerbread recipe.
The glue you use to keep the houses together is key. Make sure you errect your house with plenty of time for it to dry. I recomend Dr Oetker Baking glue which you can pick up from Ikea or making caramel glue. The clear edible glue you see is not designed for gingerbread but sugar icing and cakes and isnt strong enough.
Decorating Supplies
When it comes to decorating, the easiest thing to do is to set up decorating stations and use place settings for individual houses. We did this by decanting the candies and embellishments into small bowls and muffin tins and putting them in the middle of the dining table and then any additional on a work surface nearby with a specific station for pre-coloured fondant icing with rolling pins. We also had a decorating station with pre-coloured royal icing and piping bags. Our rules are that everything you use has to be edible! We provided each decorator with a cake board that they could landscape with frosting should they wish. You could also provide an apron which would be a great gift to take home as you do get quite messy!
Things to decorate with:
- Candy Canes
- Gum Drops
- Marshmallows
- Jelly beans
- Skittles
- M&M’s or Smarties
- Various seasonal sprinkles
- Pretzel sticks
- Chocolates
- Chocolate buttons
- Gingerbread cookies
- Icing pens
- Mini gingerbread men
- Edible cupcake decorations
- Coloured icing
Activities
Depending on who the party is for, you might not need additional activities. As adults we really didn’t, we just spent the night chatting, eating pizza and having so much fun.
However, if you are doing mini houses as part of a kids holiday party then it can be fun to break up the gingerbread house decorating with some party activities.
