St. Andrews Gingerbread House
Updated: Feb 20
The St. Andrews House is a favorite house of mine. Simple and yet majestic, with grand front columns made from giant candy cane sticks. This gingerbread house was built on a 36" wide board to be displayed and auctioned-off at the 2002 Festival of Trees in Eugene, OR.
The approximate footprint/size of this house is 24" wide x 7.5" deep x 12.5" tall.
The majority of the decorating of the St. Andrews Gingerbread House (#StAndrews) was done while the house was flat, before construction.
One of my favorite design elements on the St. Andrews Gingerbread House are the front pillars, and the greenery that wraps from top to bottom. While one kid is on the ladder trying to hang the greenery on the pillar, another kid is on the ground helping with an armful! I piped the greenery in two sections. Following the twist of one of the red bands of peppermint, while the candy cane stick was flat on the table I piped the back side of the candy cane stick, then after the frosting had dried I placed the pillars on the house and finished piping the front of the candy cane stick. Adding the kids gave life to the display and made the story complete.
Originally this template used 12" candy cane sticks, but at some point the manufacturer shortened them to 10" (9.5"). I have since updated the template to account for shorter candy cane sticks.
I tried something new with the lit fence posts. I first taped my mini-light strand under the house area, and around the perimeter of the board where I wanted the fence posts. I taped the light strand so each light was pointing up. I then wrapped each light with a handful of marshmallow cereal, and added lifesavers around the actual bulb (perfect fit). I then capped with a chocolate kiss. When turned on, the lights illuminated the lifesavers and provided a nice glow.
Special Design Elements
How-To instructions for special design elements used on the St. Andrews Gingerbread House can be found on www.gingerbreadexchange.com (a free membership website for the sharing of how-to instructions, templates, pictures, ideas, recipes, contests, etc.)
For the St. Andrews Gingerbread House, I used the following special design elements:
wrought-iron fencing with edible re-bar for the fence and ladder
Rice Krispy and Cornflake cereal Marshmallow Treats for bushes and fence posts
hard candy (poured sugar) for windows
Got Snow melting snowman
Store bought Marzipan for the kids
Decoration Candy
Doesn't everybody have a box of left-over candy stored in their closet, at all times? I'm always scoping-out the perfect candy for my next gingerbread creation!
Click here to view the candy list on Amazon for easy purchase!
Candy used for the St. Andrews Gingerbread House:
Front Door - Green Gummy Wreath and Chocolate Candy bar
Pillars - 4 10" Big Stick Candy Canes
Window Shutters - 38 sticks of Cinnamon Stick Gum
Front walkway - Graham Crackers
Fence Posts - Rice cereal, Marshmallows, chocolate Kisses, and
Bushes - Flake cereal and Marshmallows
Foundation and Gable - Necco candy
Window Boxes - 12 Pink wafer cookies and hot-cinnamon candy
Door mat - Chocolate cookie
Grass/Snow - Coconut and green and white decorators sugar
Children - Marzipan and food coloring as desired
Glitz and Sparkle - Silver Dragees
Templates
Templates are available for the St. Andrews Gingerbread House via electronic download of a .pdf file, or a pre-printed and shipped template.
Download
The template download for the St. Andrews Gingerbread House can be found on www.gingerbreadexchange.com (a free membership website for the sharing of how-to instructions, templates, pictures, ideas, recipes, contests, etc.) Simply download the .pdf template packet to your electronic device, print on your printer, cut-out the template pieces and assemble per the instructions provided. All templates are full-size and ready to use. No enlarging required.
Pre-Printed
Pre-printed templates are available in the Gingerbread-By-Design Online Store. These templates are pre-printed for you to then cut-out the template pieces, cut your pieces from gingerbread dough, bake, and assemble per the instructions provided.
The pre-printed template packet includes:
Template printed on 67lb card stock
Step-by-step detailed construction instructions
Candy/Shopping List
Recipes
Decorating instructions, including design elements utilized
Handy ziplock storage bag to store your templates
All templates are full-size and ready to use. No enlarging required.
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