DIY Wood Gingerbread House Village

Gingerbread houses are a strong part of my Christmas memories. We always had so much fun decorating them.

But they can also be very finicky to assemble. If you do not cook them properly, they crumble. And they can go bad, or get eaten by the kids or pets.

So this year I am enjoying the tradition of gingerbread houses without the hassle!

I built 3 wood gingerbread houses that I still get to decorate. Then they can be used for Christmas decor for years to come.

Pottery Barn Gingerbread House Dupe

I love the beautiful stoneware gingerbread houses from Pottery Barn. But the fun of a gingerbread house is decorating it yourself.

So I took inspiration from their houses, and made my own versions from wood!

I created 3 different house designs similar to the Pottery Barn ones. Build your favorite or all 3.

Or make a whole village and let everyone have fun decorating their own.

To make them easy to cut and paint, I used inexpensive MDF to build my gingerbread houses.

All the pieces are cut out easily with a circular saw with a guide. I love Kreg’s AccuCut guide track for cutting my sheet goods because it is easy and accurate.

And it works on both the straight cuts and the angled cuts used to create the different house shapes.

More DIY Christmas Decor Ideas

Decorating for Christmas is more fun with decorations you built yourself! Check out these other amazing holiday decor ideas.

How to Build a Gingerbread House

Tools & Materials

Overall Dimensions

There are 3 different styles of gingerbread houses.

• The small one is 6 5/8″ wide by 6 3/8″ tall and 5 1/2″ deep.
• The tall one is 5 1/4″ wide by 8 7/8″ tall and 5″ deep.
• The wide one is 8 1/2″ wide by 7 1/4″ tall and 6 3/4″ deep.

Cut List

Cut out the pieces according to the easy-to-read table in the PDF plans.

I laid a piece of rigid foam on my work table, then cut the pieces out with my circular saw and AccuCut saw guide.

Cut the MDF into strips according to the cut diagram in the plans. Then cross cut the pieces to the finished length.

Learn how to cut sheet goods with a circular saw here.

STEP 1- Shape the pieces

Measure and mark the angled cuts according to the diagrams in the plans.

Then using the circular saw with a guide, cut out the shapes.

For the front of the wide gingerbread house with the extra roof peak. Use a jig saw to cut the shape out on the front.

STEP 2- Cut out windows and doors

Measure and mark out the windows and doors according to the premium PDF plans.

Cut the doors with a jig saw

For the square or arched windows, first drill a pilot hole in each window to get your saw blade into it. 

Then cut it out with a jig saw. You will have to take multiple cuts toward the corners to clear out the shape.

For the round windows, measure and mark the center of the circle.

Using a hole saw or forstener drill bit, cut out the circles.

STEP 3- Assemble the houses

Apply glue to one side of the side pieces and place them on the back so they are flush with the bottom and side. 

Then apply glue to the other side of the side pieces and position the front so they are lined up the same as on the back. 

Use a piece of painters tape to hold the pieces together.

EXPERT TIP:
You can use super glue gel or wood glue. The super glue dries quicker, but I still used the tape to hold things together. 

Glue the short roof piece to the top so it hangs over the front and back 1/4” and is flush with the top. 

Then glue the long roof piece up so it is flush with the top and front/back of the short roof piece.

Tape in place while the glue dries. 

For the wide house, cut a triangle out of the long roof piece according to the diagram in the plans. 

Glue the roof pieces in place. The long roof should sit on either side of the middle peak on the front of the house.

The roof peak pieces do not sit perfectly flush with the roof (it would require cutting some complicated angles to do so). Instead they should fit flush to the top of the peak and nestle into the cut out triangle on the roof.

It might take some wiggling to get them to sit where you like them. Remember, they are gingerbread houses, and you can fill any gaps with paint (aka, frosting). 

Glue the pieces to each other and to the front piece. They may not be able to be glued to the roof since the pieces do not lay flat there.

STEP 4- Sand, paint and decorate

Sand the gingerbread houses.

I curved the top edges and corners to make them look like cookies that puffed up in the oven.

Spray paint them brown.

I did a solid coat of the Warm Caramel color, then a light dusting of the Nutmeg to give them some dimension. 

Now it is time to decorate your houses with puff paint to look like frosting.

Let the paint dry overnight.

EXPERT TIP:
The puff paint does not dry quickly. To prevent accidentally smearing it, do not try to decorate the front and sides the same day.

You did it!

Now you can decorate your home for Christmas with delicious looking decor that will not be eaten or go bad. 

I love the look of these gingerbread houses and there was no

Happy building!