Its fun and easy to make these haunted houses with your little monsters to celebrate Halloween. There is no cooking involved and they can be as simple or elaborate as you would like them.
To create a house similar to the one shown, you will need:
Royal Icing (recipe to follow)
Graham Crackers (at least 6 full crackers per house)
Halloween candies
Sprinkles
Paste food coloring
Color Mist - Wilton Food color spray
Disposable plates or cake boards to build house on
Lots of Imagination!
Royal Icing is a simple, thin icing that dries hard and acts as a glue. If you don’t want to make your own, Wilton sells a “Cookie Icing” that will do the job.
To make your own Royal Icing you will need:
3 TBSP Wilton Meringue Powder (Available in the cake decorating section of most Walmart and craft stores)
1 lb Powdered Sugar
6 TBSP Warm Water
Add the ingredients together and mix well for 7 to 12 minutes with an electric mixer. consistency should be similar to a thick glue. Divide icing into two or three bowls and add paste food color. Black, red and yellow are good choices.
Place your finished icing in a Ziploc freezer bag. By snipping the corner of the bag, you can use it to apply the icing to construct your house.
Start with two graham cracker sheets. Apply icing to the inside edge, long side of your first cracker. At a ninety degree angle, stick your second cracker to the line of “glue”. Stand the crackers up on your cake board. Repeat the steps for a second set of crackers, then join the two sets together to make a tall square shape. Don’t worry if your “walls” aren’t perfectly straight... Haunted Houses are supposed to look imperfect!
For the roof, break a cracker sheet in half. Apply glue to the two ends of both crackers, create a pitched roof line and attach to the standing box. Allow icing to harden for a few minutes and then you can decorate.
Spread your roof line with icing and then use candies to tile the surface. I used candy bones, but candy corn, gum drops, or licorice would all work well too.
Windows can be icing, candies or even fruit leather strips. Doors can be cookies, taffy, or more licorice. Leave your walls the brown of your crackers or paint with icing... or give the Wilton Color Mist a try and paint your house any color you want.
Cracks, uneven spots, ghosts and more can all add character to your Haunted House. Decorate your plate or cake board to continue the fun. A pumpkin patch, a sidewalk of bones, a graveyard... Anything you can imagine.
The best part of this project is that its one hundred percent kid friendly and edible. So when the fun is done, your home builders can turn into wrecking crews and eat the mess!
Want to give this project a try? Take pictures and post them to Facebook. Don’t forget to tag The White Hall Journal.
