Gingerbread House Costume

Rowan is 5 years old and declared that this year she wanted to be a Gingerbread House. She insisted on the following costume design, and decorated the entire thing by herself! It held up beautifully even in the rain (it's amazing what Royal Icing can do...)

Supplies: cardboard box, box cutter, duct tape, brown acrylic paint, paper and markers, royal icing (egg whites and icing sugar, recipe online), candy for decorating, gingerbread cookies for the roof.

Approximate cost of costume: $8 for the candy, gingerbread cookies and icing ingredients (we already had the box and paint).

How to guide: Pick a cardboard box that spans the distance from your child's shoulders to waist (so they can still walk easily). Cut out a hole for the head and two holes for the arms. Remove the side where his/her legs will be. Paint the box brown (we recommend acrylic paint in case it rains). Pipe white frosting onto box and let your child decorate with candy / cookies / paper/markers.