How to Decorate a Gingerbread House: The BEST Candy Ideas {Printable}

I was young when I learned how to decorate a gingerbread house. Every December when I was a kid, my family went to my aunt and uncle’s house and had a gingerbread house decorating party. As the years passed and we gained experience, we got more and more creative with our houses.

There was the year that my uncle decided a plain old house wouldn’t do and instead created an elaborate church complete with steeple and stained glass windows. We called it Church of the Praying Gummy Bears (which, by the way, is one I forgot to put on my gingerbread house decorating candy list, so stay tuned for Part Two).

Then there was the year that my dad got really serious and used his jigsaw to cut out the pieces for his house. I could be wrong, but I don’t remember that working very well.

How to Decorate a Gingerbread House: The BEST Candy Ideas

Regardless of the results, our family always had a blast creating our  gingerbread masterpieces. Of course, one of the best parts was sampling the many candies available, and we always had a large assortment to choose from.

If your family is planning to do something similar this year, but you’re wondering how to decorate a gingerbread house, I hope you’ll find the following list of easy gingerbread house decorating ideas helpful.

Roof Ideas:

Necco wafers
Nonpareils
Andes Mints
Shredded Wheat
M&Ms
Skittles
Peppermints
Gumdrops

Window Ideas:

Life Savers
Pretzel Sticks
Peppermints
Starburst

Door Ideas:

Gum
Pretzel Sticks

Other Ideas (walkways, snowmen, log pile, etc.)

String Licorice
Candy Canes
Red Hots
Silver Balls
Smarties
Mini Marshmallows
Sprinkles
Jimmies
Tootsie Rolls
Teddy Grahams
Nerds

To make it super easy on you I’ve created a printable of all the candies I’ve listed here. You can print it out and take it to the store (no list making, yay!) or have it on hand when you decorate to give everyone ideas.

Get your free printable by entering your name and email in the form below.