National Gingerbread Day
As the fire burns in the fireplace and holiday songs play through your house, there is nothing better than rolling up your sleeves, getting the family together and decorating a gingerbread house.
Here are a few tips for getting the most out of family decorating day:
- Buy a gingerbread house kit – We definitely don’t want to discourage the entire DIY from scratch gingerbread house, but you may have to spread that over several days. A pre-baked kit from the store costs about $10 and comes with everything you need to put the house together and make it look festive. If you have a larger gathering of people, go for the gingerbread village or one house and a set of several gingerbread people.
- Prepare to get messy – Building a gingerbread house is kind of like using glitter. It can get everywhere, and that’s half the fun! Give everyone their own apron and cover your surface with a disposable table cloth before you begin. Once the fun is over and the gingerbread houses are glowing in their new décor, just fold the table cloth over and throw everything away at one time. With any luck, you can throw the aprons in the washing machine without giving the kids an extra bath.
- Set up decoration stations – Fighting over the last scoop of sprinkles or gumdrops can make a fun time go south quickly. Give each decorator in your family an equal set of supplies to keep in front of them.
- Be okay with weird – Sometimes things don’t end up as planned. Own it! Let things get a little weird. Few people will remember the way the actual gingerbread house looks, but they will remember the fun they had decorating it.
While you’re thinking about how to decorate your gingerbread house, you may want to consider a home equity loan to upgrade the look and décor of your own home!
