I am planning on making Gingerbread Houses for Christmas. How far in advance can I make them? Should I let the baked pieces rest for a couple of days before decorating them and should I decorate BEVORE putting them together?
I have a few templates. Right now I cut them out of carton and assemble them with tape to see how they fit together. I'll post a pic when I am done...
Hi there...I love making G-bread houses. For my son's Christening I made one for each table (12) and you never saw educated, decent people fight over centerpieces like this!!!! (It was the greatest compliment)
Anyway...I don't expect people to actually eat the ones I make because they are out so long. You can make them all now (My mom and SIL have theirs for 1 and 2 years, respectively) The key is a dry environment. If the pieces stay dry and cool, they will last indefinately.
There are some decorations that are better done before assembly. If you pipe decorations on the walls, if you add "curtains" or doors....it's easier to do it before the walls go up. I can't wait to see you photos....please post any more questions....I'll be glad to help.
I make a gingerbread house every year. I am not an expert but I have learned a couple of things. The most important thing I have learned is to recut the pieces AFTER they come out of the oven. It is easy to do when they are still warm(I actually have a couple of kits with cookie cutters and just recut them). This makes it way easier to put together since the pieces have a tendancy to spread just a little in the oven. The right recipe helps-I've tried a few that were really dry and hard to roll out. I use one from Canadian living-should be on the foodtv.ca website. This one always works for me and the kids love the taste.
You can make the pieces now and freeze them until you are ready to put the house together. I usually make the house pieces early and then when ready to make the house, take them out of the freezer.
Oh, don't try to do it all in one day-I did that once. I usually make the dough one day and put it in the fridge overnight. I then roll and cut out my pieces, bake them and then freeze them.
Good luck and have fun
Sandra
A bride I'm working for next month has asked for the SWEETEST idea for a gingerbread house. She wants to use it as her money box.
What a great idea!
I'm building a big one with a 1" x 5" slit in the roof to drop the envelopes through, no floor and built on a box below.
I'll post when it's done...but it will be in this curved roof pattern I've done a few times. Except all white with silver detailing, to match her Snowflake Cake:
I use a recipe for gingerbread that you don't eat it is construction grade (you can eat it, but its very tough)
I have templates that I follow for the house types I make and I start at the 1st of october. I make one batch of gingerbread a week (at least) and cut out the shapes I will need. Then I start assembling the week before thanksgiving. I got an email from a lady the othre day saying her gingerbread house finally fell apart. She got it for her babies 1st christmas and now the baby is 6 so they last a long time.
But I agree with who ever said that they need to be stored in a cool DRY place.
HTH
Thanks for all the answers. would somebody mind sharing their recipe??? I am not planing on eating them. I would like to keep them for future christmas decoration
Here are my templates. I had a 4th house (really nice), but somehow the pieces didn't fit together and I gave up after 2 hrs and put it in the trash 
those are gorgeous!!!
they look so realistic!
...ooops, those are the cardboard mock-ups, right?
LOOOL. Yes those are cardboard. I cut the patterns and assembled them, just to make sure that they fit. I have a lot of notes on them (as you can see in the pic), so I will be able to fit the actual gingerbread together like the pattern. 
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