Make a Candy Igloo (A Great Gingerbread House Alternative!)

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Forget the gingerbread house, and try a candy igloo holiday decoration! This cute igloo just uses one type of candy and a simple trick to make it all stick together. Try this sweet holiday decor idea with your kids, girlfriends, or family!

How to make a candy igloo for the holidays
How to make a candy igloo for the holidays
How to make a candy igloo for the holidays

‘Tis the season to deck the halls and make little houses out of candy, am I right?! Now I love a gingerbread house as much as the next girl, but you cannot deny that a candy igloo might just be even cuter!

This little project is just the perfect way to spend an afternoon with friends or kiddos, and celebrate having your favorite candies around during the holidays.

Psst — if you like this holiday decor idea, you’re gonna love these:

And be sure to sign up below for my VIP group, where I’ll send more of my very best holiday ideas straight to ya.

The Perfect Candy for Building

When I lived and worked in China, I became totally obsessed with HI-CHEW candy. Have you ever tried it? It’s getting easier to find it in the states these days, but back then I had never seen it before.

And when I realized that HI-CHEW makes the perfect building blocks, this candy igloo idea kind of had to happen. We tried an igloo, but you could use the same candy to make just about any shape.

It’s moldable, soft enough to be pliable, but firm enough to hold its shape. And if you press two pieces together, they hold nicely.

Materials for Making a Candy Igloo HOliday Decoration

  • HI-CHEW candy in your favorite flavors (or a mix!)
  • platform for building upon (we used a marble pastry slab)
  • small decorative holiday items (mini trees, etc.)
  • fake snow

Make Time: 1 Hour

How to Build a Candy Igloo

  1. Start by deciding how large you’d like your igloo. Ours is about 7 inches across at the base. Create an outline of the base of your igloo on your platform with unwrapped HI-CHEW candies, leaving an opening at the front for the arched door passage.
  2. Add another row of HI-CHEW to start building up the sides of the igloo. The candy becomes pretty malleable in your hands, so press the pieces together as need be and they’ll conform to the shape that you’re looking for.
  3. Create an arched doorway by molding together a few HI-CHEW.
  4. Put the doorway in place and continue building up the side walls. With each row, place the candy a little closer to the center of the circle of the igloo to start tapering the structure toward the top.
  5. As you near the top of the igloo, you’ll need to mold the candy into more of an arched shape, and possibly cut the pieces down a bit to fit into any small holes. Just keep patching it together.
  6. Create the top to your igloo by molding together a few HI-CHEW. The center should be one half-piece of the candy, with full pieces molded around it to create a dome.
  7. Once you’ve finished the igloo, put the top of the dome in place. It’s so cute, right?! Now just add your small holiday decorations around the igloo and set it out for everybody to love.
How to make a candy igloo for the holidays
How to make a candy igloo for the holidays
How to make a candy igloo for the holidays
How to make a candy igloo for the holidays
How to make a candy igloo for the holidays
How to make a candy igloo for the holidays
How to make a candy igloo for the holidays
How to make a candy igloo for the holidays
How to make a candy igloo for the holidays
How to make a candy igloo for the holidays

have Fun!

Yay! I can genuinely say I’ve never seen a candy igloo before, and it’s such a fun holiday project to put together with your family. Or you could have an igloo competition and see who can build the best one!

No matter how you tackle it, I hope it adds some extra fun to your holidays this year. xoxo

How to make a candy igloo for the holidays
How to make a candy igloo for the holidays
How to make a candy igloo for the holidays
How to make a candy igloo for the holidays
How to make a candy igloo for the holidays

This post is sponsored by HI-CHEW. All ideas and opinions are my own. Thank you for being supportive of the partners who help keep Lovely Indeed rocking!

How to make a candy igloo for the holidays

How to Make a Candy Igloo

Yield: Candy Igloo
Active Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy

This candy igloo is a charming holiday decoration, and a great alternative to a gingerbread house.

Materials

  • HI-CHEW candy
  • platter
  • mini holiday decorations
  • fake snow (optional)

Tools

  • scissors (optional)

Instructions

    1. Start by deciding how large you'd like your igloo. Ours is about 7 inches across at the base. Create an outline of the base of your igloo on your platform with unwrapped HI-CHEW candies, leaving an opening at the front for the arched door passage.
    2. Add another row of HI-CHEW to start building up the sides of the igloo. The candy becomes pretty malleable in your hands, so press the pieces together as need be and they'll conform to the shape that you're looking for.
    3. Create an arched doorway by molding together a few HI-CHEW.
    4. Put the doorway in place and continue building up the side walls. With each row, place the candy a little closer to the center of the circle of the igloo to start tapering the structure toward the top.
    5. As you near the top of the igloo, you'll need to mold the candy into more of an arched shape, and possibly cut the pieces down a bit to fit into any small holes. Just keep patching it together.
    6. Create the top to your igloo by molding together a few HI-CHEW. The center should be one half-piece of the candy, with full pieces molded around it to create a dome.
    7. Once you've finished the igloo, put the top of the dome in place. It's so cute, right?! Now just add your small holiday decorations around the igloo and set it out for everybody to love.

Notes

HI-CHEW makes the perfect building blocks, so this candy igloo idea kind of had to happen. We tried an igloo, but you could use the same candy to make just about any shape.

It's moldable, soft enough to be pliable, but firm enough to hold its shape. And if you press two pieces together, they hold nicely.

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18 Comments

  1. This is such an awesome and unique idea! There’s nothing better than a gorgeous decoration that you can also eat ?

    Indya || The Small Adventurer

      1. Really?! Strange! Did you work them with your hands until they became somewhat malleable? We found that once our hands warmed them up they pressed together really well and stayed quite firm. Let me know and we’ll see if we can get you fixed up!

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  3. Now that’s what I call a sweet decoration! Indeed a clever and unique move. Too bad I did not find this in early December. I bet it was a total success! I’m not sure if we have hi chew around but I will definitely keep this one in mind. Jellybeans might also do the trick, right?

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  5. Super cute idea. But I guess you can’t eat it later. ??
    I don’t know if I’d be able to make it bc I’d be eating them. Lolol I absolutely love this candy. Been eating them for years well before they became mainstream.