How to Draw a Gingerbread House

In the middle of your paper, draw a big A shape with no line across it. Go up to a point and back down the other side. Make it big. The bigger the roof, the more room you have for candy later. Leave space below it, since the candy cane posts and the ground go underneath.

Under each end of the roof, draw a candy cane hook that curls up to meet the roof and comes back down. Draw a ground line that runs across the bottom past both posts. Then draw the inside curve of each cane down to the ground and close off the hook end. Try to make both canes the same size so the house looks even.

Draw stripes down each candy cane. Curve every stripe a little instead of drawing a straight line across. That curve makes the cane look round, like a real 3D candy cane. On the left cane, slant them one way. On the right cane, slant them the other way so the two posts mirror each other.

Start at one bottom corner of the roof. Draw a wavy line of little icicles hanging down from the roof line, all the way up to the peak and back down the other side. It looks like frosting dripping off the roof. Some icicles will come out longer than others. That's fine. It makes the icing look melted.

Draw two tall lines down the middle of the house to the ground and connect them at the top. Make the door big. Then draw a wobbly frosting line all the way around the outside of the door. It looks like the door is glued shut with icing. Finish with a small circle for the doorknob.

Draw a circle above the door for a peppermint candy. Add lines through it like a pinwheel so it looks like a striped mint. Add another peppermint on each side of the door. Three is a good number, but you can add more if you have room. These are the first candy decorations on your house.

Draw big upside-down U shapes next to the door and along the bottom for gumdrops. Add a few dots on each one for the sugar coating. Then line the whole roof edge with smaller gumdrops, one connected to the next, from one corner over the peak to the other. These get colored in rainbow colors later, so draw plenty.

On one side of the roof, draw a short line up and a longer line next to it, then connect the top. That's your chimney. Add a little frosting on top. Above it, draw puffy bumps of smoke that look like popcorn, curling up from the chimney. Connect the bottom of the smoke cloud so it is a closed shape.

Below the door, draw a few small rectangles stacked down the page. They make a candy sidewalk leading up to the house. They do not need to be straight. Then draw a wild wobbly line under the ground on each side that connects to the sidewalk. That's a pile of snow, or extra frosting, holding the house up.

Color the walls and chimney a medium brown. Leave the icicles, door trim, snow and smoke white so they read as frosting. Color the candy cane stripes and peppermints red. Make the gumdrops every color of the rainbow. Give the sidewalk blocks bright colors too. The brown house with all that candy is what makes it look like gingerbread.