We took that kit back to Big Lots and got a replacement with no problems. They were very nice.

The first thing the instructions say to do is to prepare the icing, kneading it for one minute until it reaches a soft, creamy consistency, or you can place it in a bowl of warm water. We kneaded, and knead well because hard icing doesn’t spread very easily.

Next, the instructions say you snip the corner of the icing pouch to a 1/4-inch opening. I would start smaller than that and go larger if needed, because you can not un-do that hole once you cut it too big. We actually did this with another gingerbread house from Wal-mart, and once we squirted the icing in a Ziolock bag, we cut the end off way smaller. That worked ok as a solution.

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This kit just had a small broken end. The instructions say any pieces of gingerbread that are broken can be mended with icing.

This is us mending:

You can see why mending would not work for large, possibly entire broken pieces.

The instructions suggest you pipe a line of frosting in the channels of the house base. Now, we were scared we would run out of icing, so we did not do this. The house stayed together mostly just fine (see below). If you plan to move your house around a lot, you might not want to skip this step, as it might hold it more securely.

We got the four walls put up, and we let that sit about 15 minutes to harden. The box suggests you wait just five minutes. We say triple that to be safe.

Then we applied the roof and held it for a few minutes. The instructions say 10 minutes wait time, and again, we say 15.

And that’s when the wall caved in.

We took off a roof panel, pulled that wall back out, and reapplied the ceiling icing to glue it together again. That really wasn’t a huge deal, and it held this time.

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Next we decorated the ceiling. While the box instructional photo used all white icing, we had purchased some red cookie icing for about $2.50. This added a little color.

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My son would tell you straight lines without guidelines are harder to pull off than you think.

Then the decorating with the candy enclosed in the kit began, which was probably the most fun.

Icing was added to the base for decorating candy.

What did we think about out $10 investment?

To add a little Mickey and Minnie to your holiday decor, we would give a thumbs up to the $10 gingerbread kit. Again, ours was purchased at Big Lots.

This isn’t professional level material, but then, we aren’t professionals, so…

I think if a 17-year-old boy who can’t do the dishes much less decorate anything can put 98% of this house together by himself, you and your kids will have a nice couple hours of family bonding.

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Several tips:

Make sure the gingerbread pieces are not broken before you leave the store. Driving back with broken pieces is a bummer.

Make sure you get the icing warm enough by kneading the bag or warming up the container in a bowl of warm water. The kids complained about working with icing that was too hard.

If you use other icing besides what comes with the kit, make sure it’s not too soft, because soft icing will roll off and down slanted or horizontal surfaces.

Thanks for stopping by, and we’ll see you in Big Lots buying gingerbread. They had a cute Snoopy house as well…
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Amanda Major is the creator of cheapskateprincess.com. She remembers her first visit to Magic Kingdom like it was yesterday, because she had a ham sandwich tucked in her shorts pocket. The whole family snuck in their lunch; you can’t make that kinda stuff up. 40 years worth of trips to Orlando later, she is still trying to save money on vacations.

Amanda is a Disney Vacation Club Member and Annual Pass holder. Her amazing husband, band director Carl Major, plus three teen children and two dogs keep her busy. Amanda teaches Leadership to high school seniors in the almost-coastal town of Foley, Alabama. Read about her cheapskating local vacations with this link. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, walking somewhere, or paddling a kayak. Life is indeed a blast. 

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