A Candy Cottage

What You Need:

• Electric mixer (for adult use only)
• Royal icing* (recipe below)
• Piping bag or freezer bag
• Flat piece of heavy cardboard,
  covered with aluminum foil
• 6 whole graham crackers
• Serrated knife (for adult use only)
• Ruler
• Assorted candies in bowls (M&M’s, Necco Wafers, tiny candy canes, etc.)

Adult Step: ROYAL ICING (*Contains raw egg whites; do not eat)

What You Need:

• 3 large egg whites
• ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
• 4½-5 cups confectioners’ sugar

To Make the Icing:

1. Beat egg whites with mixer on medium about 2 minutes until foamy.
2. Add the cream of tartar and half of the sugar. Mix on low, scraping the sides of the bowl. Add the rest of the sugar and mix until smooth.
3. Spoon the icing into a piping or freezer bag (with a corner snipped off). For some children, a plastic squeeze bottle from the craft store may work better for applying icing. Refrigerate extra icing in an airtight container.

What You Do:

1. Ask an adult to gently saw the two gable pieces and with the knife. Use the ruler to measure the angle from the center top to the middle of each cracker.
2. Squeeze icing along the sides and bottom edge of a gable piece. Apply icing down the two short sides (slightly in from the edges) and along the bottom of a wall piece.
3. On your foil-covered surface, attach the edge of the gable piece to the wall piece. (For stability, the wall pieces should overlap at the corners.)
4. Squeeze icing along the sides and bottom of the second gable piece and attach it to the inside edge of the standing wall piece.
5. Squeeze icing down the sides and across the bottom of the second wall piece and attach it to gable pieces.
6. Apply icing along the bottom of the house to glue it to the foil base. Squeeze a line of icing up each corner seam.
7. Apply icing along the inside edge of the two sides and bottom of first roof piece.
8. Attach this piece to the edges of gable crackers and wall cracker.
9. Apply icing to all four inside edges of second roof piece and attach it to both gable crackers, wall piece, and first roof piece. Let cottage dry for 20-30 minutes.
10. Now the real fun begins! Use the icing to attach your decorations. Necco Wafers make colorful roof shingles. Begin at the bottom of the roof and work your way up, slightly overlapping each new row.
11. You can also squeeze on icing to look like snow and icicles! Take your time and have fun!

In the meantime, take a look at the cottages that our readers have already created!