It's that magical time of the year full of holiday cheer, hot cocoa and gingerbread houses. This year, the year of 2020 has everything a bit topsy-turvy, nothing is quite what it seems. I've seen this idea floating around on Pinterest and YouTube for a few years and decided what better time than now. So in true 2020 fashion we decided to try something a little different this year. We said goodbye to our traditional gingerbread house and hello to this DIY bad boy! We introduce to you Holiday Houses - made simple using ... drum roll please ... Pop Tarts!
Recipe or Craft?
Now, I know you may be thinking ... wait, is this a recipe or is this a craft? I dare say it is both. And I remind you, life is always better when you can play with your food! So pull up a chair and get ready for one of my favorite holiday festivities.
Plus after using pop tarts I am sure you will never go back to any other kind of house building materials. There are just so many perks to these toaster treats.
- Variety of Colors & Flavors: Great way to fully customize the experience. Everyone can have a different holiday house based on their favorite colors or taste preferences. If needing a little inspiration check out more than 20 different options right here.
- Three Ingredients: Pop Tarts, powdered sugar and water. Done.
- Bigger, Sturdier Houses: Look how much larger and thicker these are than graham crackers. Honestly I don't know why we haven't used these sooner.
- Comes Pre-Decorated: I mean seriously, how cute are these with the frosting and the sprinkles?! Talk about a huge plus already being semi decorated. You could easily leave a holiday house as is after assembling. No extra decorations required.
DIYs of House Constructing
Not a carpenter or much of a handyman? Don't be intimidated. First things first, we want to get our materials cut to size. Make sure to have a serrated knife handy. THIS IS KEY. Pressing down on the pop tarts too hard may cause them to crack. Gentle sawing motions will yield the best holiday houses.
- Following the examples below place two pop tarts next to one another, one laying horizontally and the other butted up against it vertically. Using a serrated knife, carefully saw away at the top corners of the vertical pop tart using the horizontal pop tart as your guide. This will create slants for your roof to lay against.
- Turn your horizontal pop tart side ways so the top edge meets the corner of the slant you just made and carefully saw off the over hanging edge so the second pop tart is now a square.
- Repeat the first two steps giving you two of each piece, in addition to two whole pop tarts for roof pieces.
- Prepare the royal icing using powdered sugar and water. Ideal icing will have a thicker consistency - more concrete or paste like than glue. If the icing is looking too thin add more powder sugar until the desired consistency is reached.
- Using the royal icing assemble your holiday house by placing one of the angled pop tart pieces face down. Apply a healthy amount of icing in a line where your first square side piece will go. Repeat this with the other side.
- Carefully stand the house up and apply the second slanted piece so the base of the house is now assembled. Let this set for 5 minutes before applying the roof pieces.
- Using a generous amount of icing apply the whole pop tarts to the top of the holiday house base, one side at a time. You will have to hold these pieces on for a moment to make sue they are secure.
Congratulations! Your house is now complete and ready to decorate!
Pro Chef - Mom Hack
If planning to decorate with young children I would definitely suggest making your structure before hand and giving it 3 or 4 hours to dry and really set up. This way your house stands a better chance against any bumping or shaking during the decorating process. Building the houses also requires a little more of a delicate touch than our toddlers were ready for so when we do this again we will definitely assemble the houses ahead of time.
Time to Deck the Halls
Anything goes when it comes time to decorate your house. Popcorn, cereal, candies, peppermints, pretzels, paper, powdered sugar, sprinkles, banana chips, you name it! Get creative with your decorating materials, go wild with your design.
There is definitely no right or wrong way to decorate a Holiday House. I will be the first to confess that we are not pro-decorators here. Where we may lack in skill or technique we make up for in fun and whimsy! So don't be afraid to let your guard down. We dare you to really make it your own. Throw caution to the wind and let creativity be your guide.
Holiday Sweet Tooth?
If these Holiday Houses - Made Simple have your sweet tooth craving more you definitely need to check out our classic yet simple Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. It is the perfect sweet treat for sharing with loved ones or leaving out for Santa with a big glass of ice cold milk!
DIY Holiday Houses with Pop Tarts
Fun and unexpected twist on traditional gingerbread houses. Use Pop Tarts to DIY your own gingerbread houses this year with these step by step instructions.
Ingredients
- 6 pop tart treats (any flavor or brand)
- powdered sugar
- water
Instructions
- Following the example images above place two pop tarts next to one another, one laying horizontally and the other butted up against it vertically.
- Using a serrated knife, carefully saw away at the top corners of the vertical pop tart using the horizontal pop tart as your guide. This will create slants for your roof to lay against.
- Turn your horizontal pop tart side ways so the top edge meets the corner of the slant you just made and carefully saw off the over hanging edge so the second pop tart is now a square.
- Repeat the first two steps giving you two of each piece, in addition to two whole pop tarts for roof pieces.
- Mix powdered sugar and small amounts of water to make royal icing. Ideal icing will have a thicker consistency - more concrete or paste.
- Using icing assemble your house by placing one of the angled pop tart pieces face down. Apply a healthy amount of icing in a line where your first square side piece will go. Repeat this with the other side.
- Carefully stand the house up and apply the second slanted piece so the base of the house is now assembled. Let this set for 5 minutes before applying the roof pieces.
- Using a generous amount of icing apply the whole pop tarts to the top of the holiday house base, one side at a time. You will have to hold these pieces on for a moment to make sure they are secure.
- After letting dry for a few minutes decorate using royal icing to adhere candies and decorations.
Notes
- For step by step pictures scroll up.
- Make sure to use a serrated knife to gently saw your pop tarts when cutting to size to prevent breakage.
- Assemble your houses ahead of time so they have time to dry before decorating for more stability.
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