Hi All,

Does anyone sell decorated gingerbread houses for the holidays?

If you do, how do you sell them? Pre-order only? Pick up item?

Also, would you be willing to share your pricing?

I searched and found very few threads from a long while back, so I would love to hear a 2009/2010 report

Thank you!

I would also love to hear more current information regarding the lost art of Gingerbread Houses. I've seen more Fake ones than Baked ones. By Fake I mean Polymer Clay.

I personally love the idea of faked ones, id love to create something, that i could keep and bring out year after year! ! Having said, i love the fun of making the houses with my family around xmas time I want to know what people think too

I closed my bakery shop Dec. 31, '09, but I did make and sell gingerbread house kits for years. I made all the pieces of the house, a base, snowman, a door, tree, and gingerbread man, icing mix, icing tip and 2 plastic bags, and a selection of sprinkles and candies. I sold them both by order and by retail pickup for $29.00 a kit. (the approx. size was 10" X 8"). I wrapped the entire kit in a large gift bag and tied with holiday ribbon.

I also sponsored a contest with community children with a prize of a cookie baking party for the older kids and baking kit for the little children. I set a deadline for those houses to be submitted and used them as holiday decor in our retail section. (They had to purchase the same kit from me AND I used them to decorate!!) And...even better, the local newspaper came to take pics - so FREE advertising!

Hope this helps - as you can tell, I think it's a great idea!

that contest is a FANTASITC idea!

I have been trying to figure out how to market my kit above the ever so cheap grocery store kits, and this is perfect!

This girl has been in business for years! I ordered a house from her once and I enjoyed it. As I recall she's not great at communication and it got frustrating for me not knowing the status of the order, but once I got it I was very happy with it.

http://www.enchantedgingerbread.com/home.htm

Thank you all for the great information!
It is really interesting to hear the kits were popular. I was worried about the price point since Wilton makes those cheapie ones. That is a great idea!

I love the contest idea!!

I hope we hear lots & lots more!

We were looking at doing this, but comparing the time it took to make one-off gingerbread houses against how much we could charge, it wasn't realistic to offer it commercially. If you could mass produce them like Enchanted Gingerbread that's a different story, but that would be a big commitment.

Here is a picture of a vegan gingerbread house we made for a friend (I believe it was made using instructions from a Martha Stewart magazine, it's completely edible except for the trees):
http://www.allergyfriendlypastries.com/photos/vegan-gingerbread-house225.jpg

can i use corn syrup instead of molassas? I HATE the smell lol

Yes you can substitute dark corn syrup for the molasses in gingerbread - altho it won't taste quite the same as the traditional. I've also split the difference - half molasses and half corn syrup (either light or dark).

You can also substitute honey for molasses. It makes the gingerbread a little sweeter but it bakes into a beautiful light golden brown color.