Every year over the holiday season, we host a Gingerbread House Party in our home. We invite family and friends over to our place and every family gets to make their own gingerbread house. It’s such a great time for everyone, that we’ve made it into an annual tradition.

It’s such a simple holiday party idea but so fun, so before I share all the photos from this years party, I thought I would share with you guys, How to Throw a Gingerbread House Party.

How to Throw A Gingerbread House Party

Ingredients for a Gingerbread House Party:

– a list of friends and family you want to invite (and send invitations)
– buy enough gingerbread house kits for each family to be able to build one (we like to buy the ones that have plastic stands because it saves time in the building process.)
– have pizza, drinks, fruits and veggies, mini brownies (foods that don’t require utensils are the best at this kind of party because most surfaces are busy with people building their gingerbread houses.)
– a prize for the winning house (that everyone votes on.)
– a little gift bag for the kids to leave with (optional)

Instructions for a Gingerbread House Party:

1. Make sure you have enough surfaces available for every family to build their gingerbread house. We used our dining table, the island in the kitchen and our friends brought a folding table for us to use as well.

2. Have some sectioned plates to pour and spread all the candy in.

3. Once everyone has arrived, let the gingerbread house building beginning.

4. Set up an area for food, drinks, plates and glasses. We’ve found that it’s easier to do this and people can just come eat when they are hungry, throughout the building.

5. Once everyone is done building, put all the houses together in one area. Put empty cups or glasses beside each house. Then hand each person 2 pieces of small scrap paper to vote with. They put the paper into the glasses of their favorite houses. The only rule we have is that you can’t vote for your own house.

6. Tally up the votes, then announce the winner! Every year, the winning family gets a family board game to take home. (This year we decided to have the top 3.)

7. Then it’s time for dessert, coffee and for the kids to play. When people decided to leave, don’t forget to give the kids their loot bags ( I usually use something seasonal like a Christmas coloring book or Christmas pencils and erasers along with a candy cane) and for the families to take home their lovely gingerbread house creations!

It’s that simple, easy and fun!

And now for our 4th Annual Gingerbread House Party, everyone had a blast! If you were following along on Instagram storiesthat evening, you got to see it all. If not, here are some highlights from the gingerbread house party.

That’s a sneak peak at some of the fun at our Gingerbread house party this year. Check out last year’s party as well.

Now that I’ve shared exactly how to throw a gingerbread house party, is it something you would consider doing it?