Here’s the thing about gingerbread houses. You get all excited to make them and spend hours building it. You add gumdrops and candy canes, decorating it to perfection. And then as you are about to finish adding the last gumdrop, alas, it crumbles right in front of your eyes leaving you with a broken candy heart and feeling like a cotton headed ninny muggins. So, we decided to figure out the best way to make a delicious, indestructible gingerbread house that will last you through the holidays.

We used two methods to help us figure this out, ending with a “shake test” where we shook the table that the houses were on to see if one would fall apart…and one did…

First Method: The Good Ol’ Fashioned Way

1. We started off by building the house and sticking the walls and roof together with frosting.

2. We were going to add the candy once the house was built but it was too fragile and we did not want to ruin the house that took us forever too build.

This method requires patience! It took us forever to get the house to actually stand and once it did, it did not pass our “shake test,” the roof fell off, and we all know how hard it is to get a maintenance person during the holidays – impossible! I would avoid this method if you’re a college student during finals week, there is no need to add an extra stress to your life. But if you’re looking for a clean cut, classic flair, go for it.

Second Method: The Indestructible Way

1. We decorated the walls and the roof and let the frosting dry before gluing the pieces together so the candy wouldn’t slide down the sides like normal.

2. It’s all about the glue, instead of using icing, which can either be too runny or too stiff, we made our own delicious sticky glue by melting down caramel candies, gummy candies and marshmallows.

This method truly makes your gingerbread house indestructible, but it’s also a mess! When we say sticky we mean STICKY, the glue kept sticking to the table and everything around us. It wouldn’t even come off of the bowl it was in. If you are a neat freak I would avoid this method, but it did survive the “shake test” fully.

Looking for some gingerbread people in your life? Check these out: