When kids are around, there’s no day ending in ‘y’ that isn’t a good day for jokes or for candy. So before I show you how to make this green-and-rainbow Shamrock Shack, I’ll share the comedic bounty.

Why can’t you iron a four-leaf clover?

(Because you shouldn’t press your luck!)

How can you tell if a leprechaun is having a good time?

(He is Dublin over with laughter!)

What is Irish and left out on the lawn all summer?

(Paddy O’Furniture!)

Collect Green, Rainbow-Hued, and Gold Candy

Examine your Gingerbread House Kit pieces,

or Bake Your Own

Most factory baked gingerbread pieces have mechanically embossed windows and doors. If you prefer to start with a clean slate, simply turn the pieces over and decorate the wrong sides.

A word of warning – -please take the pre-made icing and put it directly into the trash bin. I’ve found the industrial icing doesn’t dry well.

If you prefer to bake your own gingerbread, use the template for Anna’s House here or under the Patterns tab at the top of the page.

 

 Find a Base

The cake plate under my Shamrock Shack has upturned glass edges, so I added an overturned glass relish dish to the top of the plate. This lifts the gingerbread house above the plate’s raised edges, adds height to the scene, and lends a smooth curve to the surrounding lawn. Use low-temp hot glue to join the relish dish and cake plate.  When you’re finished displaying the house, it’s a simple matter to peel away the glue.

 

 Make Royal Icing

To save some time, I’m going to direct you to a royal icing recipe and tutorial from Marian of Sweetopia.

Click here for royal icing recipes on www.sweetopia.net.

You can see some of Marian’s fantastic-amazing-astounding gingerbread houses here.

You’ll want to make two consistencies of icing. Use medium thick icing to attach candy. Use thick icing as cement to join the four walls and roof of the house.

Load a disposable decorating bag with medium thick white icing, and prepare to decorate! Cut a small bit from the end of the bag to create a small hole. To prevent the seam of the plastic bag from interfering, trim a small slice away from the end as in the photo below.

Note: Often, I use brown icing to attach candy to brown gingerbread. The excess that squeezes out shows less if its color matches the underlying cookie. You can do this too – use brown and a touch of egg yellow paste or gel food coloring.

 

Decorate the Front of the House

Unfortunately, this tutorial has no step-by-step photos. It’s rained for days, and days, and days.  I’ve given up on getting sufficient light during assembly for photographs.  You’ll see that I resorted to photos in the backyard during a break in the clouds to capture the finished houses.  Instead, let’s look at close-ups of each house panel.

Pipe a rectangle of white royal icing for the front door and cover it with sanding or table sugar.

Edge the door with a rainbow of large confetti sprinkles.

Arrange green candy corn pieces into a half-circle above the door. Ice a green confetti sprinkle and green dragee in it’s center.

Ice a green gumdrop heart on the door and add a green dragee for the doorknob.

Arrange white gum squares into a window.

Position sections of twisted marshmallow ropes on either side for shutters. Embellish the window with green sugar pearls and candy hearts.

Cut a green gumdrop fruit slice in half (to thin it). Cut sections of the front apart into individual hearts with two lobes each. Position four of these hearts to form a shamrock.  Trim a thin length of green fruit slice and use this for a stem.

Decorate the Sides of the House

Arrange white gum squares into a window.

Position sections of twisted marshmallow ropes on either side for shutters. Embellish the window with green sugar pearls and candy hearts.

Decorate the Back of the House

Use white royal icing to attach rainbow colored jellybeans to form a fireplace and chimney.

Make shamrocks with green gumdrop hearts or with green fruit slices (as you did for the front of the house).

Let it Dry

Let the décor on your four walls dry thoroughly before you assemble the house.

Assemble the House

I’ll to direct you to my Valentine’s Day House Tutorial, Part 2 for assembly instructions.

The dimensions and methods with both houses are identical.

Let it Dry

Make certain that the four walls and then the roof have dried completely before you decorate the roof.

Decorate the Roof

Use a sharp knife and cutting board to split each fruit slice candy in half. The thinner fruit slices add less weight to the roof and look more in scale with the size of the house.

Spread a thin layer of medium consistency white royal icing on one side of the roof. Smooth the icing carefully with a long knife or spatula. Try to maintain a consistent thickness of the icing layer. Your goal is to add only enough icing to cover the brown cookie completely. Extra icing will bulge out from under the fruit slices.

Press the fruit slices into the roof in lines. Use the same light pressure to attach each candy.

Repeat to cover the other side of the roof.

Outline the roof’s edges with white royal icing shells, zigzags, stars, or dots.

Add the Landscaping

Break the stick off of a rainbow colored lollipop and attach the lolly as a front doorstep.

Surround the house with green gumdrops, spearmint leaves, and gum balls.

Working in small sections, pipe green royal icing stars around the house to cover the overturned relish dish. Immediately add confetti sprinkles before the icing crusts. Push gum balls into the bottommost ring of stars so they rest where the relish dish and cake plate meet.

Turn over two gold foil wrapped Rolo candies so they resemble flowerpots.  Pipe a star of green icing and push in a large flower candy. Put one on each side of the door.

Kristine