This post was sponsored by our friends at Aleene’s.
You know that sinking feeling you have when it’s time to throw away the sugary gingerbread house that you and your kids slaved over? Here’s an upcycled paper version that you can save and display from year to year!
Starting with an empty tissue box as the basic shape, just add cardboard and any crafty embellishments that you have to make it magical and sweet. Great creative and crafty…think about what usually lives on a gingerbread house and think how you can make it from non-edible materials. Like you can twist a red and a white pipe cleaner together to make a candy cane if you don’t have these nifty paper straws! Here are a few little tips and tricks for how we dressed up our paper holiday gingerbread house!
What you’ll need:
- Square tissue box
- Cardboard
- Scissors
- Aleene’s Tacky Glue
- Colored cardstock
- Red and white paper straws
- Green felt
- Red and white mini pompoms
- White paint pen
- White cupcake liner
- Pipe cleaners
- Iridescent glitter
- Foam brush
- White cardstock
- Trace the side of the tissue box onto cardboard and cut out. Repeat to make a second piece. Print template, trace, and cut cardboard sides for the front and the back of the house. Cut a 5 ½ by 8 ½ piece of cardboard for the roof (make sure the corrugation is in the direction of the fold.)
- Glue the four sides to the box with Aleene’s Tacky Glue.
- Bend the roof piece in half and glue on top.
- Here is how we made our house, but use materials that you have and get creative!
- Cut paper straws at an angle and glue them to the side edges of the front of the house. Glue two more to the front edge of the roof.
- Cut colored cardstock into doors and windows.
- Make a candy window by attaching small segments of a cupcake liner to the sides of a circular window.
- Make a mini wreath by twisting a green pipe cleaner into a circle. Glue on a small pipe cleaner bow, and glue to the front door.
- Add a snowy roof by painting a piece of white cardstock, sized to match the roof, with Aleene’s Tacky Glue, and sprinkle with glitter; let dry. Fold in half, cut a “drippy” edge, and glue to the roof.
- Cut holly leaves from green felt and glue them to the apex of the roof with three mini red pom-poms.
- Embellish the cardboard with a white paint pen.
- Cut paper straws at an angle and glue them to the side edges of the front of the house. Glue two more to the front edge of the roof.
