(Set of 18) Christmas Gingerbread House Cookie Cutter Set, 3D Gingerbread House Kit Holiday Cookie Cutters Shapes for Kids, Snowman, Sled, Elk & Christmas Tree Molds

The price for these made me hesitant at 1st because they were so cheap. When they arrived they looked flimsy and I questioned if our plans to do our gingerbread house would go awry. But we went forward and I'm so glad we did. The house was the hit of the holidays.Some things to keep in mind with the cutters: They are not the highest quality, they are sharp on the edges even on the non-cutting side. Do not leave them wet for a long time and I wouldn't recommend the dishwasher (we didn't even attempt it).As for building a good house the key is a great recipe.Always cut the pieces from raw dough (I've seen people try to do it from the cooked sheets and that will be a disaster). Cut windows and doors too. If you want 'glass' windows use crushed hard candies (we used some stuff we had from Halloween). Don't put too much candy in each window. Less is better usually. If you use the candy for windows ALWAY bake on a silicone mat or parchment paper. Otherwise it will bake onto whatever tray you're using and ruin both the cookies and your tray.Rolling out the dough thinner than you would for cookies you intend to eat (we like softer chewy cookies for eating so we roll out the same dough but thicker for those), and baking it until its firm.Cool completely before handling further.We 'shave' the flat edges of the cookies before trying to assemble so they connect better. Do this with a serrated knife and basically slowly grind down each edge until they're flat (any cookie is going to expand and puff during baking no matter how little leavening is in them). You will definitely need to do this if you choose to do any of the smaller cutters like the pieces of the reindeer and trees. The only way they can be put together after baking is to shave down the connection points.We do not use icing to hold the pieces together, even the best royal icing can be messy and require braces until it dries. We boil sugar to the hard crack stage and then dip the edges that need to connect into the hot sugar (please be careful if you do this the sugar can cause severe burns). It adheres and dries almost instantly and will not fall over or require any other supports (depending on your building design, we kept it simple).After it's assembled you can jump right into decorating with this method. We still make royal icing for decorating and snow because it's great for all that. You could also use a more simple frosting (even canned) because you won't need the frosting to hold up your house.We have a battery operated, waterproof puck light with a remote that we put inside our house to have it light up and be a beautiful display piece.I hope these tips help others with their decision to purchase this product or not. Just know regardless the quality of the cutters making a gingerbread house is a lot of work.

Practico

Havent used yet but they are great

Metal was thin and flimsy.

This came and they were bendy and not very sturdy. They are cheap, but I have gotten better for the same price.