You can always make gingerbread from scratch, but if your kids want to decorate gingerbread houses in a hurry, look no further than graham crackers! We love the vegan s’moreables from Kinnikinnick; armed with those plus store-bought vegan frosting plus empty cartons of non-dairy creamer, we were ready to go.

We first smeared some of the frosting over the sides of the cleaned and empty cartons. Press on graham crackers to each side of the carton. The fit wasn’t perfect, but we weren’t going for Instagram perfection here!

Now use additional frosting as “glue” to add candy details. We used candies from Yum Earth, as well as mini candy canes and Dandies mini marshmallows.

Travis loved making window frames…

…and was particular proud of the marshmallow door he created with a front path made of jelly beans.

For snow, we added extra frosting on the top of the carton, then sprinkled down shredded coconut. A blizzard!

Little sister Veronika got a turn to decorate, too! She loved alternating between taking bites of candy and sticking one onto the carton where I had applied frosting.

There’s lots more you can do here, depending how crafty the family is feeling! Make trees from upside down ice cream cones coated in frosting and green sprinkles, or add tile roofs, or turn yours into log cabins with the aid of pretzel sticks. I confess, though, we skipped all that.

There are magical families who make their gingerbread houses last as beautiful decorations throughout the holiday season. Needless to say, we are not that magical family; within moments the house was part of Travis’s Star Wars Lego battle.

But I had happy smiling kids, and that’s the most Insta-graham-able thing of all!