Template generator

What size base for a gingerbread house

Pick the board after you know the house. The roof overhang makes the house wider than its walls, and a bare board edge leaves no room for a path or decorations. This page measures four houses the way the generator draws them, adds a margin of board around each, and matches the result to board sizes you can buy.

What other recipes use

There is no standard. A recipe from InDaily builds a house of 15 × 15 × 7 cm on a 26 cm round board. Its template list also names a 20 × 20 cm base and says it is not needed if you use a cake board. The round board is 11 cm wider than the house, so a square footprint has about 5.5 cm of free board on each side before the corners. That is a generous yard, and a useful reference for how much room a hobby house gets.

The footprint

The footprint is the outer size of the roof, the same envelope the contest size guide uses. It counts the roof overhang on every side. Across is the gable direction, along is the ridge direction. The houses use the generator's default 1/2 in overhang and a 45° roof, except the mug house, which uses a 1/4 in overhang.

The margin is my choice

The margin is the free board between the roof's outer edge and the edge of the board. No source sets it. I use 1.5 to 2 in on every side: room for a path, a few candy trees and a thumb. 1.5 in is the tight choice, 2 in leaves room for a fence. Change it to taste. The arithmetic is short.

• Square board: the longer roof direction plus two margins.
• Round board: the roof's diagonal plus two margins, so the corners clear the rim. A round board has to be larger than a square one for the same house.

Board sizes for four houses

Each row gives the roof's outer size, the side a square board needs for a 1.5 to 2 in margin, and the smallest board from the next section that clears it (tight margin first, roomy margin in brackets). Open a house in the generator to print its template.

Brackets show the 2 in margin where it needs a bigger board. "Over 16 in" means a cut board of your own size. Sizes are nominal; measure the board you buy.

Board sizes you can buy

Cake drums are stiff boards covered in foil. I opened one shop's listings for a round drum in 12 in and in 16 in. Both are 1/2 in thick, and the shop also lists 10, 14, 18 and 20 in. The 16 in drum is corrugated cardboard with a foil top. A metric example: a 43 × 43 cm silver square drum is 13 mm thick, close to 17 in.

The table uses 10, 12, 14 and 16 in for both round and square. I could confirm those steps for round drums. For square drums I assume the same steps, so check the shop's list before you count on one. A big house is easier on a board you cut yourself: plywood or MDF in any size, covered with foil or parchment.

Other things to use as a base

• A half sheet pan (the generator's default sheet is 18 × 13 in). It is flat enough for a small or classic house, and its rim keeps loose candy in. This is my suggestion, not a standard.
• A cutting board or a tray. Compare it with the table: the longer roof direction plus two margins is the side you need.
• A cake board cut to size. Leave the foil on so grease from the icing does not mark it.

Before you glue anything

• Print the template and lay the paper pieces on the board. If the paper footprint leaves the margin you want, the board is right.
• Mark the footprint in pencil or on the foil, and start the walls on that line. The assembly guide has the order.
• Contests count the base in different ways. See the contest size limits for three real rules.
• Wall and roof piece sizes for each house are in the dimensions guide. Houses for a mug rim have their own mug guide.