Halloween DIY: Graham Cracker (Faux Gingerbread) Haunted House

Here's a fun, frugal Halloween craft that costs less than $3 to make.  Using the graham crackers is so much easier than gingerbread.  The supplies will cost around $10-$15, depending on what you buy.  However, if you have several kids they'll all be able to make a haunted house and you'll likely have candy left over, too.

You'll Need:

• Graham crackers
• Powdered sugar, cream of tartar, eggs and food coloring for frosting (see recipe below)
• Base (we used a piece of cardboard covered with aluminum foil)
• Assorted candies

Use a serrated knife to carefully cut the graham crackers.  Use a sawing motion that doesn't put too much pressure on the cracker, otherwise it will crack.  Even if your crackers aren't even, a crooked house may add to the “haunted” look.   We cut a pitched roof on the cracker lengthwise for our haunted house.

For your frosting, combine one 16-ounce bag powdered confectioners' sugar, three egg whites (room temp), 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 tsp. cream of tartar.  This will make a stiff frosting.  Add food coloring in desired color.

We found that it was easiest to secure the house to the base by putting the frosting down first.  We created a frosting “foundation” and a path leading to the front door.  The Halloween sprinkles are from Target's Dollar Spot.

Next was the fun part – decorating with candy!  We loved the Halloween pumpkin Marshmallow Peeps.  We also had planned to use a box of Marshmallow Peeps ghosts, but they were consumed before we could make our haunted house.