An easy DIY Milk Carton Gingerbread House is a fun and unique craft for kids to make this Christmas! Using a recycled milk carton makes the house easy to form and decorate, even for small children.
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- Cute Craft Alert: Easy DIY Milk Carton Gingerbread House for Christmas
- Supplies for a Gingerbread House from a Milk Carton
- Make a Milk Carton Gingerbread House Step-by-Step
- Craft Tips
- Craft Variations
- FAQ About a Homemade Gingerbread House
- More Edible Christmas Crafts for Kids
- Come join the fun at WTN!
- More Crafting Fun!
- Easy DIY Milk Carton Gingerbread House for Christmas
Cute Craft Alert: Easy DIY Milk Carton Gingerbread House for Christmas
Everyone loves decorating gingerbread houses, and this tutorial makes the classic Christmas craft super easy as well!
A recycled milk carton provides the structure for the house, making it easy to decorate, even for small children. Add some frosting to hold the graham cracker siding and roof in place and some fun candies for decoration, and you'll have a cute DIY Graham Cracker Gingerbread House in no time!
Wouldn’t it be fun to have a DIY Milk Carton Gingerbread House contest? Your family or friends could make a whole village of little graham cracker houses for your Christmas guests to enjoy!
Gather up various candies to decorate the houses and see who comes up with the most creative X-mas design.
Supplies for a Gingerbread House from a Milk Carton
Here are a few quick notes about the supplies you will need to make this easy gingerbread house craft!
- Milk/cream/juice cardboard carton- Either a pint or quart sized cardboard juice carton will work for this craft. Carton should be washed and dry inside.
- Graham crackers- Graham crackers will be broken in half.
- Vanilla frosting- Regular vanilla canned frosting works best as food "glue".
- Various decorating candies & foods- Fruit slices, peppermint sticks or candy canes, Dots, M&Ms, licorice, cereal squares, crackers.
- Ice cream waffle cone- A conical shaped waffle cone makes a great pine tree.
- Other supplies- Utility knife, scissors, knife, cardboard, aluminum foil.
Make a Milk Carton Gingerbread House Step-by-Step
Building the base of the Xmas Gingerbread House
Staple the top of the carton shut (or use tape). Break 3 graham crackers in half.
Use a graham cracker half to measure how tall to cut your cardboard carton. Place the graham cracker on the side of the carton and then cut below the graham cracker. Cut all the way around the carton at this height on all four sides.
This will be your form for making the house with graham crackers and a milk carton.
Build the walls of the graham cracker house
For the base of your project find a piece of cardboard that's about 10 inches by 12 inches. Cover it in aluminum foil.
Spread some frosting on the area where you want the house to be. Press the cardboard carton down into that frosting to hold it in place.
Spread some frosting on a graham cracker half and stick it onto one side of the carton. Do this on all four sides.
Place some frosting in a quart sized freezer bag. Cut a small bit off 1 corner. You'll be using this as a piping bag to pipe frosting onto your project.
Add the roof
Pipe frosting on the top ridge of the carton to start on the roof. Also pipe frosting on the bottom edge of the roof line, next to the graham cracker side.
Place a graham cracker half on one side of the roof. Repeat this for the other roof piece on the other side of the roof. Watch the video to make this clear.
Use the utility knife to cut a graham cracker half into two triangles. Pipe frosting on to either peaked edge of the house around the edges. Then put one of the triangles on it to cover that open triangle area.
Use cereal squares (like Chex) or a type of candy for shingles on top of the roof. Hold them in place with frosting. You can pipe some frosting on top of those squares to make it look like snow.
Decorating the gingerbread house
Spread more frosting on the base so you have a snowy yard around your house.
Place all of your candies in little dishes so that they are available and visible.
Then stick the candy in various places on the House as decoration.
I used peppermint sticks on the four corners of the house. The peppermint sticks covered up the cardboard corners of the carton. Use your creativity and make a fun gingerbread house.
Cut some of the candies into pieces if needed in your design. Also, think of other food items you have in the house that could be used in gingerbread house making. For instance wheat thins for stepping stones.
Add a tree or two
Use the ice cream waffle cone to make a tree. Spread frosting all over the cone. Set it down on the base using frosting to hold it in place.
Add decorations like M&M's for ornaments on the tree. You could also sprinkle it with green sugar sprinkles, or coconut. I loved the tree so much I made two and put one on either side of the sidewalk!
Craft Tips
Here's a few tips to help your Christmas graham cracker gingerbread house come together:
- Cutting crackers- Try using the utility knife to cut the crackers.
- Frosting- Frosting is your “glue”. Use the regular canned frosting, not the whipped type to assemble the house.
- Plastic bag- Use a quart sized freezer bag. The heavier weight of plastic keeps the bag from ripping.
- Candy coop- Have all those building Milk Carton Gingerbread Houses bring a different type of candy. Send out a link to a Google Doc so there aren’t candy repeats.
- Candy purchase- A discount house has small bags or boxes of candies. This is less expensive and you can have more options. Don't forget to raid the left over candy from Halloween!
- Utility knife- A utility knife is dangerous so help younger kids cut their cartons. Or have the cartons already cut to size.
Craft Variations
Want to switch things up? Here are a few ways you can customize and play with this DIY gingerbread house craft.
- Taller carton- Use a quart sized cardboard carton and cut the sides the height of a full graham cracker.
- Flat roof- Cut the carton with the flat bottom as the flat roof instead of having a pitched roof.
- Add on rooms- Place more than one carton side by side or stack in various ways for a different shaped graham cracker house.
FAQ About a Homemade Gingerbread House
The milk carton is cut down to the size desired and then the gingerbread or graham crackers are attached ot the carton. This keeps the house from caving in. Even small children can be successful with this technique!
Need to hold together the walls of your gingerbread house? Canned frosting works well as a food "glue"! Simply use the frosting along the edges of your graham crackers to stick them to the house.
Look in the candy section at a store and you will see many options. Fruit slices, peppermint sticks or candy canes, Dots, M&Ms, licorice, life savers, etc. Don't forget that other foods can be used like cereal squares and crackers.
More Edible Christmas Crafts for Kids
Looking for more easy Christmas recipes for kids that also make fun craft projects? Here are a few of our favorites:
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Easy DIY Milk Carton Gingerbread House for Christmas
Equipment
- none needed
Items Required
- pint or quart-sized cardboard juice or milk carton
- Graham crackers
- Regular vanilla canned frosting
- Various decorating candies & foods Fruit slices, peppermint sticks or candy canes, Dots, M&Ms, licorice, cereal squares, crackers.
- Ice cream waffle cone
- Utility knife, scissors, knife, cardboard, aluminum foil
Instructions
- Staple the top of the carton shut (or use tape). Break 3 graham crackers in half.Use a graham cracker half to measure how tall to cut your cardboard carton. Place the graham cracker on the side of the carton and then cut below the graham cracker. Cut all the way around the carton at this height on all four sides.
- For the base of your project find a piece of cardboard that's about 10 inches by 12 inches. Cover it in aluminum foil.Spread some frosting on the area where you want the house to be. Press the cardboard carton down into that frosting to hold it in place.Spread some frosting on a graham cracker half and stick it onto one side of the carton. Do this on all four sides.Place some frosting in a quart sized freezer bag. Cut a small bit off 1 corner. You'll be using this as a piping bag to pipe frosting onto your project.
- Pipe frosting on the top ridge of the carton to start on the roof. Also pipe frosting on the bottom edge of the roof line, next to the graham cracker side.Place a graham cracker half on one side of the roof. Repeat this for the other roof piece on the other side of the roof. Watch the video to make this clear.Use the utility knife to cut a graham cracker half into two triangles. Pipe frosting on to either peaked edge of the house around the edges. Then put one of the triangles on it to cover that open triangle area.Use cereal squares (like Chex) or a type of candy for shingles on top of the roof. Hold them in place with frosting. You can pipe some frosting on top of those squares to make it look like snow.
- Spread more frosting on the base so you have a snowy yard around your house.Place all of your candies in little dishes so that they are available and visible, then stick the candy in various places on the House as decoration. I used peppermint sticks on the four corners of the house. The peppermint sticks covered up the cardboard corners of the carton.
- Use the ice cream waffle cone to make a tree. Spread frosting all over the cone. Set it down on the base using frosting to hold it in place. Add decorations like M&M's for ornaments on the tree. You could also sprinkle it with green sugar sprinkles, or coconut
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