Graham Cracker Houses Decorating Party

This past weekend I put together a graham cracker house decorating night with my family as part of my partnership with #CollectiveBias. It was so much fun, and I want to share my tips for hosting a party to make graham cracker houses with your friends and family!

How to Host a Graham Cracker Decorating Party

#1 – Stock up on a variety of supplies to build the houses.

I picked up some Honey Maid Graham Crackers (honey and chocolate flavored) and Skippy Peanut Butter (regular and chocolate) at Walmart to use as our base. I love that the peanut butter is stickier than regular icing so the decorations stay on better! And it tastes better too! #Yippee for #PBandG houses! 

#2 – Provide plenty of options for decorating the houses.

I walked through the candy aisle at Walmart and grabbed pretty much anything I could imagine on a house – gum, candy canes, big candies, little candies, people shaped candies, you name it. And everyone came up with ways to use all of the toppings that I never would’ve imagined.

#3 – Let people get creative.

Some of my favorite moments from our party were watching my brother-in-law chisel out his door using the kitchen thermometer and watching my mother-in-law create a snowman using spice drops and toothpicks. It’s amazing what kind of things people can come up with if you let their imaginations run wild. And my favorite of all of the designs has to be the above the ground swimming pool and my husband’s replica of our townhouse! Here are step by step instructions in case you want to create your own! 

1. Lather the sides with peanut butter to build a strong foundation. Stand up the graham crackers lengthwise in a square to add the townhouse height! Set your graham crackers on cups while you’re working on the other walls to keep your fingers from getting peanut butter all over them. 
2. Add more peanut butter and candy cane sidings. 
3. Add two contrasting color graham cracker squares on top to create a roof. 
4. Cut a square graham cracker in half to close the triangle window in the roof. 
5. Decorate the front and side of the house with pretzel windows, spice drop trees, and candy Christmas lists! 

#4 – Shake it off.

If you’ve ever built a graham cracker house before, you know that no matter what you do, something is going to go wrong. Your roof will cave in, your mailbox will fall over, or you’ll get peanut butter all over your window. No matter what happens, realize it’s all just for fun. Have a good laugh and put it back together. Or if it’s not repairable, eat it!

#5 – Have activities or games for people who finish first.

My brother-in-law took almost twice as long as anyone else, so while the rest of us waited, we played some fun Christmas games. You don’t want to rush anyone, so instead, just have some fun activities for everyone else to do once they’re done like Christmas card matching. K was happy to just sit around and eat candy all afternoon, but that won’t be true of everyone. 

#6 – Serve yummy treats!

While it’s inevitable that people are going to snack on the toppings, you should still make some yummy treats for people to eat while they build in case they would rather use the candy as Christmas lights for their house than eat it. I made really simple chocolate and peanut butter graham bites that only use five ingredients and take just a few minutes to make. Get the recipe here! 

#7 – Don’t forget the milk.

I’m pretty sure as much peanut butter went into our mouths as went onto our houses, and you can’t have peanut butter without milk. Set up a little drink station with milk, eggnog, and some sparkling juice to make the party just a little more festive!

I love how our little village turned out. We had everything from our three-story townhouse to a bomb shelter and even the school/post office/church. Same supplies, completely different results. I hope you can use some of these tips to host your own fun graham cracker house decorating night!