DIY Christmas Gingerbread Village Outdoor Decor

Hey there fellow DIYer! I’m a HUGE Christmas decor addict, and I partnered with The Home Depot to come up with some easy do-it-yourself holiday decorations. For the last several months, I’ve been exclusively focused on remodeling the interior of my house, so this creative break was much needed. We’re big on holiday traditions around here, and a highlight of the Christmas season is the gingerbread house decorating competition my husband’s family throws every year. That’s the inspiration behind this Front Lawn Gingerbread Village.

Everything I used for this project can be purchased at The Home Depot!

The taller, skinnier house is 30-inches tall and 22-inches wide. The roof peak is also exactly 10 inches above the center width.

Next, I used my ruler to sketch out some windows and doors. I didn’t worry so much about being perfect with the measurements or placements of the windows since these were gingerbread houses and therefore didn’t need to be up to code.

Trying to cut a full sheet of plywood on a table saw can be really tricky, so I first used my Milwaukee Jig Sawand aStraight Edge Guide to make the initial cut.
I was able to use the table saw and miter saw to make the remaining cuts which made this project go waaaaay faster.

Oh, and by the way, I LOVE my Milwaukee tools! The M18 battery packs not only make using them so convenient without having to deal with extension cords, but also they last forever on one charge and provide all the power you’d get in a corded tool. Seriously. Batteries didn’t use to be so good, but Milwaukee has FIGURED IT OUT. And they can be purchased at The Home Depot!

To get the windows cut out, I used a Milwaukee Drillto drill a hole in the corners of the windows. Then I placed my jigsaw blade in a corner hole and followed the lines to cut out the windows. The door was a piece of cake to cut using my Milwaukee Jig Saw.

The plywood planks for the roof of the houses were 17-inches wide, and I cut them long and wide enough to hang off the house by about 3-inches.

Next up was to sand the plywood. I used a Milwaukee Sander and to lightly sand away the splinters and rough spots until the plywood was smooth.

To assemble the pieces together, I secured the side walls to the front of the houses using my Milwaukee Brad Nail Gun and Titebond Wood Glue (also my favorite wood glue!). I shot a few nails through to secure them together. Also, did you know that wood glue is stronger than nails and screws in a lot of cases? So really, the nails are useful for holding the pieces together while the wood glue dries, but it’s the glue that makes these bad boys sturdy. Don’t skip the wood glue, and be generous!

Also – pro tip – if any wood glue dries on the wood where it will be stained, the stain won’t absorb in those areas. So be sure to wipe it off well before it dries and give it a good sanding so there is no wood glue residue if you want it to stain evenly.

I also used wood glue on the roof before I secured that as well!

After the stain was dry, we added a bit of Christmas flair to the roof and walls. I had some white latex paint left over from a previous project, and my husband and girls went to town applying the “icing”. I drew the designs out with a pencil, and they painted over them.

The last thing I did was tape a few mini white Christmas lights to the inside of the houses, so they’d be seen at night.

Super cute and easy! I set a few spiral-lighted trees and a cone tree outside next to the houses to complete the scene. Seeing these little houses and trees in our front yard is making me even more excited about spending our first Christmas in our new house.

Here is what they look like in the daytime!