Haunted Gingerbread House Party

Our cousins slept over last week and we decided to make haunted gingerbread houses with them. I bought a kit of five houses a few weeks ago at Walmart for $7. I planned on doing them with my kids some time during October, but when our cousins were over, we knew it would be the best activity to do together. So the night before, I gathered all my supplies and quickly made up some spider web bases, treat bags and glued all the houses together. Glueing all the houses together before the party is the best way to do it. You can see more about it on my Gingerbread House Party post.  My original idea for the icing, was to fill some piping bags with white frosting and tie them shut. But at the very last minute I had the idea to make them look like candy corn. I’m so glad I did, because they looked so cute!

Candy Corn Frosting Bags

Supplies Needed:

• Frosting (I used pre-made frosting from the grocery store.)
• Piping Bags
• Food Coloring
• Cups
• Twine

Directions:

1. Color your frosting with food coloring.
2. Place the piping bags in cups and fold down the top two or three inches around the outside of the cup. This keeps the bag upright and also keeps you from getting frosting all over the top edge of the bag as you fill them.
3. Scoop white frosting into a piping bag. Do the same for the yellow and orange frosting.
4. Cut the tip off of the white frosting, and pipe it into the bottom of each bag sitting in a cup.
5. Next pipe in the orange frosting, followed by the yellow frosting.
6. Pull the bags out of the cups, twist the tops and tie shut with the twine.
7. When the party starts, just snip the tip of the bag off and let the kids start frosting.

For the haunted gingerbread house bases, I cut out a spider web using my Silhouette Cameo and used it as a stencil on some white cake boards. Place the spider web on the cake board, tape down in one or two spots, then spray with black spray paint. I wasn’t too worried about the lines being perfect, because they were going to get covered in candy and frosting. I like to do a larger base for the houses, because the kids love creating fun things in the yards. I think they spend more time decorating the base than on the actual house.

*While I was cutting out the spider webs for the bases, I cut out a few smaller ones using white sticker paper and placed them on the bags of candy to seal them shut. Easiest stickers ever!

I took pictures of everyone’s houses during the party and thought this little evolution of a haunted gingerbread house was fun to see.

Do you see that large, square marshmallow in the backyard of the house above? That is a trampoline. My little boy used a toothpick to make the gummy bear look like he was jumping high on the trampoline. And that big Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup in the front yard is a fire pit. He sure is a clever little 4-year-old!

Just look at all that delicious candy to use. And aren’t those candy corn frosting bags so cute sitting there on the table?

Sometimes it’s hard to know when to quit. Haha! Can you believe all the piles of frosting and candy on this house? This was the house of my other 4-year-old, Jax. His house was voted the spookiest. I can see why. 

This scene was all too familiar. I don’t think there was a second during the whole party when there wasn’t at least one kid eating frosting from their bag. Just another reason I like to give each kid their own frosting supply. 

A little look at all the gingerbread houses made at the party. I love the creativity kids have when you don’t show them a finished project of what it is supposed to look like. It’s so fun to see what they come up with, and let their creativity run wild.

Also, when there are six kids and only 5 houses in the kit, (and the store is sold out) you make do with what you have. My 2-year-old didn’t mind decorating a house out of marshmallows one bit.  She was just happy having her own stash of candy and giant bag of frosting. My favorite pictures of every party is the messy table during the middle and at the end. Nothing shows it was a fun party more than that.