MILK CARTON GINGERBREAD HOUSE

 

MATERIALS: 1 paper milk carton per student, any size will work – individual, quart or half gallon.  Enough brown construction paper, cut into strips, to cover all 4 sides and top of each carton.  Decorations – buttons, wrapping paper, recycled holiday cards, tubes of squeezable craft paint, ribbon, yarn, rick-rack, or other decorative trim and cotton balls or cotton batting for snow.  You’ll also need glue for attaching the paper to the carton and for applying the decorations.

DIRECTIONS: 

1. Rinse the milk cartons out.  Individual milk cartons will be used as is, but quart and half-gallon cartons need to be cut in half.  Then slide the top half over the bottom half to create the form for the gingerbread house.  Some milk cartons come with a plastic pouring spout.  You can remove the cap and leave the spout to make a chimney or remove the spout and cover the opening with the roof.

2. Cut 1 strip of brown construction paper to cover all four sides of the milk carton and glue in place.  Cut a second piece of construction paper to cover the top of the carton and glue in place forming the roof of the gingerbread house.

 

3. Use a pencil to draw the basic features for the house on the construction paper such as the
door, windows, etc.

4.Trim the house by gluing on an assortment of decorations.  The doorway in this illustration was created using an image from a holiday card that was trimmed with decorative braid and craft paint.  The windows were made with shirt buttons, highlighted with plaid ribbon and craft paint.  The roof is covered in wrapping paper and gold braid trim.  Finish the house with cotton on the roof edges and around the base of the house for snow.