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Gingerbread House Pattern Resources for Cookie Shapes

Scissorcraft is full of color book type images for year round holidays and events that can be used for craft projects such as embroidery, wood working and stenciling. Most can easily be applied to cookie patterns.

Need a recipe idea or theme for a party, school potluck, family gathering, or just want to impress the co-workers? Treat them all with specially decorated gingerbread cookies.

• ScissorCraft.com tons of color book crafts
• More links and resources for gingerbread supplies, moulds, inspiration, history

Suggested Decorations for Ginger Bread House and Cookie Designs

Gingerbread houses, whether decorated realistically or covered with candies, icing and other treats, are popular Christmas decorations.

Here are a few idea themes to start: (more will be added)

• Make Cookie Mobiles
• flag cookies for the 4th of July celebration
• snowflake cookies
• Halloween Haunted Houses and pumpkin cookies
• castle cookies
• Christmas ornament cookies
• Make heraldic shield cookies to teach family history
• Build a Breast Cancer Awareness house or cookies with pink and white colors
• Make Zoo animals

Gingerbread houses and cookies can also be fun family activities for any major holiday or special family occasion.

Every day is a holiday somewhere. Visit Fun and Wacky Holidays web site for fun ideas and excuses to celebrate with gingerbread.

Where to Start on Your Decorating Adventure

There are a lot of sweet treats available for decorating your own unique style of gingerbread house or cookie.

Using mixtures of candy sizes and shapes will make your design more interesting and eye appealing.

Candies for Decorating

The following candies are readily available in most grocery stores and online at Amazon.com and other merchant resources. "Pink" candies are available in many popular brands such as M&M's, Jelly Bellies, Good & Plenty, Wrigley's gum (makes good roofing slats and siding), Jolly Rancher, Jordan Almonds, Marshmallow Peeps and more.

Diabetic? Sugar intolerant? Don't neglect the sugar free candy aisle. Most sugar free candies, cookies and treats these days are quite tasty, so there's no need to forego the traditional gingerbread house decorating fun if sugary foods are an issue. Haribo Gummi Candy, Sugarless Gummi Bears

Warning: please keep all sugar-free products away from your pets, especially dogs.

• Butter Mints - 2 lb (various colors)
• Creme Savers
• Chocolate squares
• chocolate chips (white and dark)
• bite size red and black vines
• French burnt peanuts
• Milk Duds
• Dots
• Wilton Snowflake Sprinkle Mix
• Jujyfruits
• Good & Plenty (pink and white coated licorice)
• Circus Peanut candies
• Gummy Rasberries
• Licorice pastels
• Candy Corn
• Spearmint Jelly Leaves
• Brach's Sundae Neapolitans
• Brach's A&W Root Beer Barrels
• Butterscotch Disks
• Milk Maid Caramels
• Gummi Bears, worms and spiders
• Necco wafers for patio stepping stones
• Sweetheart candies
• Jellybeans
• bubble gum balls
• gum drops
• licorice whips
• candy canes
• Pumpkin candy
• Skittles
• candied orange slices
• M&M's
• round spearmint or peppermint candies
• candy sprinkles
• hard candy
• Tootsie Rolls
• Pastilles (small fruit-flavored candies)
• Taffy
• Sugar cubes

Non-Candy Ideas

Other non-candy and/or non-sweet edibles you can use for creating such effects as shingles, snow, grass or window and wall trimmings:

• popcorn
• pretzel sticks for creating wood log cabin effects and woodpiles
• shredded coconut
• sunflower seeds (no shell) for slate-colored roof tiles
• pumpkin seeds (no shell)
• pine nuts (no shell)
• shaved almonds
• graham crackers
• macadamia nuts
• chopped nuts
• dried fruits
• trail mixes
• yogurt chips (a good substitute for chocolate chips)

Roofs, Walls, Eaves & Shingles

The following categories of candies and edibles are suggestions to assist in the creation of the perfect design effects for your candy houses.

Cereals, crackers and wheat thins make perfect roofing shingles and wall siding:

• Triscuit crackers
• wheat thins
• mini shredded wheat
• cheezit crackers
• graham crackers
• Vanilla wafer cookies
• Oreo type cookies (vanilla and chocolate)
• sugar ice cream cones

Window & Decorations

• Square Butter Snap Pretzels or circle pretzels (in Chex Mix) are good window frames
• Pretzel sticks
• melted hard candy (broken into pieces and baked in place with the dough

Grass, Snow, Trees & Shrubs (Snowmen & Animals too)

• sugar ice cream cones
• Tree shaped miniature marshmallows (Peeps)
• large marshmallows and mini marshmallows (white and colored)
• Marshmallow Peeps
• chopped nuts for walkways and paths

Cake or Cookie Decorations

Don't forget the obvious. There are plenty of ready to use cake and cookie sprinkles available in the grocery store's baking aisle.

• Decors: peppermint, red crystals, yellow crystals, green crystals, etc.
• Red Hots (cinnamon candies)
• chocolate sprinkles
• chocolate shapes
• chocolate squares and chips
• cake sprinkles (Jimmies, sprinkles, or decorettes)
• Mini Pastel Candies
• Nonpareils (tiny, colorful ball-shaped sugar beads)
• Shimmer Sprinkles
• Sparkle Piping Gels

Decorating Tricks, Tips, Uses & Ideas

• press and flatten large marshmallows to create flat snow roof shingles or gravestones
• Use tootsie rolls for logs and totem poles Candy Mini Tootsie Rolls
• Mini-marshmallows, white marshmallow cream or cotton candy to create snow drifts
• Upside-down sugar ice cream cones for making trees and shrubs
• Use flat wafer type cookies for shingles, siding, building bricks or fences
• Pretzels with wall pane pattern for small windows
• seasonal Marshmallow Peep shapes: ghosts, pumpkins, chicks, Christmas trees, hearts
• broken bits of flat candies make great mosaic patterns
• Food coloring pens can write on many candy surfaces and the food coloring "ink" is safe to consume. Some brands have both fine and broad tipped pen tips.
• theme: use pink and white candies, sprinkle, frostings and other white and pink colored treats to make a Breast Cancer Awareness house
• Add green food coloring to shredded Coconut for grass. Seal the coconut in a zip-lock bag with the food coloring and shake until till the coconut is the desired tint
• chocolate cookie crumbs for dirt
• Fruit rollups or gelatin sheets for pathways and glazed walls
• Cinnamon Sticks, tootsie rolls and pretzels for woodpiles
• Make haystacks or thatched roofs with shredded wheat
• mini shredded wheats make interesting roof tiles. Frosted miniwheats for snow covered rooftop.
• Chocolate or Candy coated raisins and seeds -
• Crumble Lifesaver candies and fill window holes in the cookie dough before baking to create stained glass windows
• Cut sticks of chewing gum into square roofing tiles
• Sheets of Nori (sea weed wraps) for grass effects
• Mold taffy candy into vines, vegetables and other custom shapes
• Sprinkle granulated sugar (white or colored)