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Every year we decorate a gingerbread house. It is a family tradition that we started with my son and it is something he REALLY looks forward too. This past weekend we made our gingerbread house. Since we don’t “EAT” our house and it is for decoration only it is not something I want to spend much money on. This year I decided to use a Betty Crocker Gingerbread Cookie Mix instead of spending the money on all the ingredients to make my traditional recipe from scratch. It was a huge savings! I was able to pick up the cookies mixes for $1.99 – $.40/1 coupon that doubled to $.80/1 bringing it down to $1.19 per package. I used 2 packages total.
In an effort to save money we saved our Halloween Candy and Christmas Candy from last year. I know that sounds strange but we decided that since we won’t be eating the house that using stale candy would not be an issue. This worked out perfect! I was able to get some smooth and melty mints for less than $1.00 after Christmas last year as well as candy canes for nearly free!
I did pick up frosting from our local bakery because we like the consistency ant it is perfect for decorating a gingerbread house with or you can make your own with this recipe – Homemade Whipped Cream Cheese Icing. Our total out of pocket expense for our house was less than $8.00. Years ago I purchased Longaberger gingerbread house molds to use in my classroom and now we are using them each year for our family! This is a family tradition that we all love. It is something that I plan to pass onto Peyton’s children one day too.
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This is a very frugal Christmas project and a family tradition and we all enjoy! If you have never tried decorating gingerbread houses because you think it is too much work you should reconsider. This is Peyton’s favorite family project during the holidays.
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Our Frugal Gingerbread House 2011
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We make ours from scratch, and the cost still is probably less than $2.00 for the actual gingerbread. We will double the recipe so people can snack on little gingerbread cookies if they choose. And sometimes we decorate gingerbread people cookies for the family Christmas party. Our icing cost is VERY minimal because we also make that ourselves. It’s probably no more than $1 for the best gingerbread holding icing ever. We do the same for the candy – leftover halloween, and other free or nearly free candies. We meet togatehr with two other families who also bring candies pretzels and other amazing item to use.
You must not be using molasses in your recipe…that really drives up the price.
We do the same thing with Halloween candy ! The hard candy usually gets left behind , so great for the gingerbread houses. Thanks for the idea about the BC gingerbread cookie mix. I have some that I bought
that is a couple months expired. This would be a great way to use it , Thanks !!
Great idea! It would be perfect for this!
We make our Gingerbread house on Christmas Eve every year. One of my fav. traditions! I’ve never made it homemade though. I buy a kit at Wal-Mart for $7. It has everything in it already and even has a santa, sleigh and reindeer.
That is awesome! I love traditions 🙂
We use graham crackers and hot glue. Whipped icing bought on sale, and any candy is game, halloween, christmas, easter..it’s all good. It’s decor, not food, after all. We use chocolate and regular grahams to make houses and trains. it’s a lot of fun!
Cute idea for Graham Crackers and the Train!
I have some expired BC Gingerbread cookie mix that I don’t want to waste and I am making a gingerbread house for the first time, so this has been very helpful.
Thanks Amber!