Tami Smith made this gingerbread house from the Gingerbread House Pattern and Dough Recipe. She used the Safe Royal Icing Recipe. 

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The first step is to make a pattern. Simply decide how large you want you house to be and lay it out on graph paper. To test your pattern, cut it out of heavy box cardboard and tape together to be sure each of the pieces fit up against each other. This will also give you an idea of the finished size of the house. Simply covering the pattern pieces with contact paper (both sides) can make a permanent pattern or have it professionally laminated. If you are just starting out, check out a gingerbread book to help you with simple patterns, and keep your house small. Larger houses need internal support for the side walls and roofs.

After the house pieces have been baked and dried overnight, you can make the royal icing. Use Safe Royal Icing Recipe, if consuming. Use the other Royal Icing Recipe, for non-edible items. The icing for construction should be stiff, but about a medium stiffness. Soft icing will run out of the corners and not hold the pieces together. Remember to keep the icing covered AT ALL TIMES with a damp towel to keep it from drying out.

Begin by piping a line of icing along the front corner, attach the side panel and hold in place for about a minute for the icing to take hold. If you have any shifting, do it now, you won't be able to slide the pieces around after the icing begins to set up. I like to run a narrow spatula along the outside of the bead of icing to smooth. This way, it makes room for a shell or other decoration.

Next, attach the back panel just like you did the front. Then after that, pipe a bead on the front panel and back panel and carefully place the other side panel in the icing. Hold the house with both hands for several minutes and make any adjustments now. Again, you can smooth the outside with a narrow spatula for a smooth exterior effect.

 Before adding the roof, reinforce the corners with extra icing. I like to pipe a zigzag so that the icing is touching both sides of the house. This makes for a stronger bond. If you are constructing a large house, you will need to reinforce the sides and corners with wooden dowels, or even Popsicle sticks.

If you are adding a complete cover with cereal or candy to the roof, it is a good idea to add this before placing the roof onto the walls of the house. Pipe icing on the roof and smooth. You need to work quickly to keep the icing from hardening before you have added the decorations.

Smooth out the icing, and then arrange the roof decorations. Frosted Mini Wheats are a classic "snow covered thatched roof" for gingerbread houses. Shingle them, just like real shingles. For small pieces in the corners, they are easily broken in half. I like to keep the end line clean by putting the finished edge of the cereal on the edge, and the broken side towards the center. Set the finished roof aside to completely dry before adding it to the walls.

To attach the roof, first do a dry run by lining up the roof to the walls. When you know the position, then pipe a bead of icing on the angled wall pieces. Turn the roof upside-down and place the walls onto the roof. Once again, do any sliding now, once it's set up, it's too late!

The house will not stand in this position by itself. Look around for something it can sit up against to prop it up until it dries.

 As with the walls, pipe a zigzag to reinforce the roof. Allow this to dry before adding the second roof panel. When you are ready to add the second panel, pipe the icing onto the walls where the roof will set. Then press into place and prop up like you did with the first panel. Reach into the house from the bottom and pipe extra icing onto the second roof panel if you can. Like the walls, you can smooth the outside icing to allow room for decorations.

If you are adding the cereal to the top, when both panels are attached, they probably won't line up. So pipe a bead across the top where the seam is, and arrange another row of cereal shingles to finish the top. Allow the whole house to dry for several hours before decorating.

If you want the house as a centerpiece, you will need to set it up onto a base. You can use covered cardboard (cover with freezer wrap), if you are making a large house you will need a heavy wooden base, cover with freezer wrap. If you are just making a small house and don't really want a large scene around it, you can simply bake off a square of gingerbread and attach the house to this.

Up to this point I have NOT attached the walls to anything. I like this so that I can move the house around. In fact, I like to work on a piece of cake cardboard so that I can spin the house around while I am working on it, or slide it out of the way without disturbing it. Then, when it has set up, I attach it to the base with icing and decorate the house from there.

When you are ready to finish your house, assemble a batch of icing (covered with a damp cloth!), a piping bag with a small-ish tip to help you "squirt" the icing exactly where you need it, and your gathering of candies and decorations. I personally like tip #4 or #5 because it is larger and doesn't clog as easily, and yet, if you press your bag hard, the icing will really come out.

First, spread a thin layer of icing onto the surface of your board. Decide where you want to place the house and pipe a bead of icing onto the bottom walls, place your house. Decorating is quite subjective, so use your imagination! Below are the steps in decorating my demonstration house. Working on a turntable is wonderful so that you can turn the house without disturbing it.

I have chosen easy to find, recognizable candies for my house. I used the little chocolate wafers with the white "non-pareils" embedded in one side for the bottom of the house, pipe a small bead of icing on the back and press into place.

For the front, I found "Willy Wonka's Tart & Tinys". They are small and come in multi colors. I purchased them because of their color and size, but I wasn't sure what I would do with them until I brought them home. Once I sat down, they immediately became a string of lights and tree decorations! If you can't find anything, mini M&M's are about the same size and colorful. I piped a bead of icing along the outside of the front of the house and evenly spaced the candies along the icing bead.

A wall is built by piping a bead of icing along the path you wish the wall to lay. Then lay down the first row of colored party mints. I alternated colors with a pattern, but you can just randomly lay them down. The second row is alternated over the space from the lower row. For the edges, simply cut a mint in half to complete the wall. I would let the two rows set for about an hour for the icing to set up before adding a third row. If you take your time and let the icing dry and harden, you could probably stack a wall about 4-5 rows high, depending on the size of your finished house. I topped off the top of the wall with a bead of icing.

Finishing Touches:
 For the gate/light posts I used a piece of peppermint stick topped off with a yellow M&M "light". For the door, I piped an outline in icing and then just gently pushed it in place. Mr. Snowman is simply three balls of rolled fondant in three sizes. For his hat I used a chocolate wafer.

I piped icicles by piping a larger amount of  icing on the edge of the roof, then I pulled it down to create the icicle. At the bottom of the windows, I colored some of the icing green and piped little leaves. I then pushed a small yellow candy like a light in the window.

The snowman had his face painted on with a toothpick and some black gel color. The wreath was piped onto a piece of parchment, just with a leaf tip in a round shape, nothing fancy. When it was dry, I peeled it off the parchment and glued it in place with the icing.

The tree is a parchment cone covered in green icing, then while the icing was wet I pressed the same little colored candies into the sides for lights. The "star" is another yellow M&M.

The finished house is a wonderful afternoon project for the whole family. It's small enough to hold the attention of a young child, yet not overwhelming to the novice baker. A batch of dough, one batch of icing, an afternoon baking and assembling, then enjoy sitting down and creating your wonderful little Holiday centerpiece. And better yet, it's completely edible!!