Reusable Felt Gingerbread House

I made this reusable gingerbread house for my kids last year and really wanted to share it with you now.  I'm making another one as a gift for my daughter's preschool class, so thought this would be the perfect time to show you how I did it.

I started off by checking our recycling bins for old boxes I could use for the house.  I'm sorry I didn't mark down my measurements, I just cut the pieces to the size I wanted the house to be.  Those are the 2 roof pieces, 2 end walls and 2 long side walls.

I used my hot glue gun to glue the pieces together.

Next, I used a combination of spray adhesive and hot glue to attach the brown felt to the sides.  I started by adhering the felt to the end walls first, with pieces cut to match.

Then I adhered a longer piece that covered the long side wall, across the roof, and down the other long side wall.

I used the hot glue to fold over and keep the short ends down.

I used hot glue to adhere large white rickrack to cover the ends and add a decorative touch.

I glued the house to a base made from a thick piece of cardboard covered in batting.  Then I used my felt scraps to cut out a door, windows and lots of yummy candy to decorate the house with over and over again!

This was SO EASY to make!  The longest part was cutting out all those cute little candy decorations, but it was totally worth it, because my kids love it!

I am sharing this craft at the following blogs:

Paisley Passions

Fireflies and Jellybeans

Somewhat Simple

House of Hepworths
Black Kat's Design
Life as Lori
Yesterday on Tuesday
What Allie's Making Now
Suzy's Artsy-Craftsy Sitcom