How To Host A Gingerbread Decorating Party: A Festive Girls’ Night

It’s been a long time since I’ve thrown a gingerbread decorating party. My kids are older now, and while we’ve had our fair share of frosting-covered gingerbread afternoons over the years, it’s been awhile since I’ve pulled out the piping bags and hot glue gun (hint: my favorite house building hack). 

This season, everyone seems to be hosting Favorite Things parties and I get it, I used to do them every December too, but since I did one over the summer this year, I wanted to try something a little different. Something festive, fun, and new for my friends.

Enter: Adult Gingerbread Houses.

At first, it sounded a little silly, a table of grown women in pajamas decorating gingerbread houses, but once everyone sat down and started, they got into it. A few friends even showed up with Pinterest inspiration photos and actual plans for their houses, which I would totally recommend. It was so fun watching everyone execute their big gingerbread visions. We ended up with a couple of picture-perfect houses and one hilarious fixer upper.. which probably has the biggest ROI in real life. 

To kick things off, I hand-delivered the invitations tied around a pair of cozy pajamas for each friend to wear to the party. It was a fun surprise and immediately set the tone. You don’t have to gift pajamas, just simply have everyone come in their favorite holiday PJs, but adding that cozy element really made the whole night feel relaxed and playful.

The more I planned, the more I realized how refreshing it felt to do something creative just for fun, not for kids, not for a classroom, just for us.

1. Prepare the Decorating Station

I kept things simple and used prebaked Wilton gingerbread houses (they sold out quickly this season I linked a similar style). I glue-gunned the houses beforehand so nobody had to deal with crumbling walls.  We were there to decorate, not engineer.

For the icing setup, I used:

• Wilton royal icing
• Piping bags
• Decorating tips
• A whole assortment of candy and toppings

Here’s our complete toppings list if you need ideas:

Candy & Toppings Ideas:
marshmallows · pretzel sticks · Golden Grahams · sprinkles · bubble tape · licorice rolls · gumdrops · Starburst · Christmas Peeps · royal icing decorations · rosemary sprigs · shredded coconut · Spree · candy pearls · DOTS · gummies · candy canes · swirl sticks · M&Ms

Everyone brought a topping or two, and the variety was so fun. Adults get just as excited about candy as kids.. maybe more.  I was actually surprised how much candy was sampled alongside the decorating. 

2. Drinks: Simple + Pretty

For something festive, I poured champagne with a splash of cranberry juice. We also used big block ice cubes from a previous party, each cube had rosemary, cranberries, and orange slices frozen inside. They look so pretty in a wine glass and slowly infuse flavor as they melt.

You can freeze them with water or Prosecco, depending on how extra you want to be in these silicone trays.  

We also had a little hot cocoa station with cocoa, marshmallows, whipped cream, peppermint sprinkles, chocolate shavings, and peppermint swirl sticks for a little sweet treat nightcap.  

3. Food: Cozy + Easy

I kept the food simple and crowd-pleasing:

• A simple holiday salad (recipe below)
• Beecher’s mac and cheese from Costco (just transfer it into your own baking dish and you’re golden)
• A simple charcuterie board with a few cheeses, meats, apples, crackers, nuts and berries.  
• A fresh floral arrangement for the table
• And a few desserts to stay on theme:
  • Snow Globe Gingerbread Cookies 
  • Ginger Molasses Cookies
  • Gingerbread Men Cookies

It all came together so easily, but felt really special.

The salad I made:

4. Set the Table + Make Cleanup Easy

I pre-set each place with a finished gingerbread house (glue gun for the win!) on a cake plate so everyone had their own little “canvas” waiting for them at eye level, alongside a piping bag filled with royal icing ready to decorate.  I tied bows around glasses and cake plates for an extra festive touch.

And here’s the trick that saved me: I rolled out a long sheet of kraft wrapping paper across the entire table as a runner and tucked more underneath the food spread and decorating station. Even though we’re all adults, we still made a huge mess..icing blobs, sprinkles, candy shrapnel everywhere..and at the end of the night I literally just rolled the paper up and tossed it. Easiest cleanup ever.

A holiday candle burning, Christmas music (ok Taylor), and all of us in pajamas made it feel extra cozy.

A Really Sweet Night

At one point, a friend looked up from her house, icing bag in hand, candy everywhere, and said she couldn’t remember the last time she sat down and did something creative just because. Especially in December when everyone is running in a million directions.

And that’s what made the night so fun.

Not the perfect houses (although we had a couple!) or the matching pajamas or the treats, but the chance to slow down with people I love and do something completely out of the routine. A couple of hours of laughing, concentrating, chatting, and making gingerbread houses like we were kids again.

If you’ve been wanting to carve out a little space for your friends this season or offer something that feels different from the usual holiday parties, an adult gingerbread night is such a fun option. It doesn’t need to be fancy or overdone. Give everyone a house, a bowl of candy, something festive to sip on, and the rest takes care of itself.

It ended up being one of my favorite nights of the season, and I’m so glad we did it.

How would you decorate your gingerbread house? Let me know!

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