IKEA’s gingerbread furniture is ridiculously charming (and free to download!)
The Gingerbread Höme kit transforms your holiday baking into a miniature Swedish showroom. Complete with furniture-shaped cookie cutters and easy-to-follow instructions, you can now deck out your gingerbread house with bite-sized versions of IKEA’s most iconic pieces.
Finally, furniture you can actually finish in one sitting – though true to IKEA form, some assembly is still required. We hope it’s nothing harder than rolling out dough!
What’s in the Gingerbread furniture kit?
The collection features six miniature masterpieces: the beloved STRANDMON wingback chair, the iconic BILLY bookcase, the versatile LACK side table, plus three additional pieces to round out your edible living space. While it won’t furnish an entire gingerbread mansion, it’s perfect for creating a cozy, delicious vignette.
Free gingerbread furniture templates
First, get the Gingerbread furniture template and then print out your chosen furniture pieces. In classic IKEA style, each comes with familiar step-by-step illustrated instructions, but swap that notorious Allen wrench for cookie cutters and royal icing. No Allen wrench required.
Once printed, simply cut out your furniture templates and you’re ready to roll… out the dough, that is.
Time to get your hands floury
Here’s where it gets exciting. Whip up a batch of gingerbread dough, lay your templates on top, and carefully trace around each piece before cutting. Think of it as flat-pack furniture, but tastier.
After baking comes the moment of truth: assembly and decoration.
The IKEA gingerbread furniture assembly challenge
Assembling the pieces seems like a delicate job. The manual suggests either warm sugar or icing to “glue” the pieces together.
It says, “When using sugar: melt some granulated sugar in a frying pan to make dipping the big gingerbread pieces easier. The sugar dries quickly, in a minute or two. This step is hot, so be careful!”
Sounds like a recipe for lots of deformed tables and chairs. At least when these furniture pieces collapse, you can eat the evidence.
Nevertheless, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how perfect the gingerbread home looks. It’s the sweet warmth and laughter that truly make a house a home. Even a gingerbread one.
Have you tried this? Let us know how it went.
All images in this post are courtesy of IKEA.