This gingerbread lighthouse template was based on photos of real lighthouses, and it can be made in sections to avoid having to bend gingerbread or do any weird construction. It’s a fun and unique gingerbread house pattern that you can use any time of the year to make a gingerbread house that’s not the usual thing!
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Pattern for the lighthouse.
To download the pattern, click on the link at the bottom of the page. It can be printed on a regular 8.5×11″ letter-sized sheet, or an A4 sheet for a slightly smaller lighthouse. If you print it on A4, unclick the “fit to page” box on the printer box that comes up.
Cut out the individual pieces according to the pattern:
Make sure that when you cut the pieces out everything is really straight, because this design works on angles that line up. If there are any small gaps it’s no big deal, you can fill those in with royal icing, but you want things to be as aligned as possible to begin with.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you watch the assembly video at the end of this article, because I walk through everything in real time and give tips that can help make this build easier!
The recipe for the royal icing is here: Royal icing for gingerbread houses
The recipe for the construction gingerbread is here: Sturdy gingerbread for building houses
Build the top.
Start with the top and put that together. If you want to be able to insert a tealight into the top, assemble the walls separately from the octagonal base so that you can lift it up and put the light inside. If you haven’t cut the windows out of the top wall sections, though, you can put the whole thing together the way that I did here since the light won’t shine out anyway.
Either attach the walls directly to the octagonal base, or put them together on the base without any icing to begin with.
If you attach the walls to the base, make sure that the walls are lined up with the shape of the octagon on the outside so that the shape is symmetrical. If you leave it unattached, put the walls on the base and line them up so that when they dry everything will line up.
Add the top roof sections to the walls. If your royal icing is the right consistency this will be pretty easy, but if it’s too thin, or it’s humid outside, you might need to prop it up with something inside, crumpled up paper towels would give you a light support that can help hold the roof up as it dries.
Smooth the icing over the joints of the cupola and set it aside to dry.
Build the base.
Add icing to the sides of the base sections one at a time and line them up. You might have to prop the first half up as you’re putting them together because they’re not going to stand upright on their own because of the angle. I used a glue bottle that I had nearby, but anything tall that you can lean the sections against will work.
Keep attaching the sections together as you work your way around it. When you get to the halfway point, you can probably remove the support inside. It’s also 100% fine to leave whatever support you use inside to hold it up, and you mgiht have to if it’s really humid and the royal icing is going to take a long time to dry.
You can also use hot glue to attach the pieces together if you use the construction-grade gingerbread, since it’s not really for eating. That will hold the pieces together quickly, which can work well if the icing is taking too long to dry.
When you get to the last piece, put icing on both edges and put it in place, then adjust the shape to be as symmetrical as you can. Let it dry, then get ready to attach the top piece. I was able to put the top on right away because the icing was the perfect consistency and it was setting up quickly, but if you need more drying time, don’t rush it.
When you attach the top, put icing all around the top edge of the base, then press the top part onto it. Make sure that’s it’s completely centered and that the edge of the platform extends off of the base as equally all the way around as you can make it. I ended up having to remove it and reposition it because it was off-center, so place it carefully!
Build the little entryway that attaches to the base of the lighthouse tower.
Here’s the glued-together gingerbread lighthouse.
I would watch this before putting it together, it shows the whole process in real time, and I have some more tips in it!
Tips for making the gingerbread lighthouse.
Some of the tips that I’d give you when you want to assemble this design:
- Make sure that your gingerbread is completely cooled off and solid-feeling. If it feels soft you should put it back in the oven to harden up.
- Start with the platform and the little room on the top and let that dry. Try to make the walls line up with the shape of the platform as much as you can, and make it centered. You might want to draw a little octagon with edges the same length as the wall pieces so that you can mark where to center it.
- There’s a slight slant to the tower part, and that can be slightly difficult to put together. Take your time with this to make sure that the angles are even. I used a glue jar to prop up the first four sections, then I was able to take it out and continue putting the other pieces on.
- Do the same thing with the little roof on the very top. It might be difficult to put this together because of the slant. You can take some crumpled tinfoil or paper towels to support the roof in the right position to dry correctly. It went together pretty easily for me but I was using royal icing that was the perfect consistency, not too dry but thick enough to stick the pieces together.
- Let the bottom tower dry before putting the top part on if you want to make sure it’s going to support it. When I put this one together the royal icing was so good I wasn’t worried about it, but if your icing is a little softer than mine was, it could be good to wait and give it time
- You can cut out windows from the dough if you want to do that before baking them. The dotted lines on the template show where to do that, or you can make your own window shapes.
- To make windows in the gingerbread house you can use sheet gelatin or melted clear candy.
- Use a photo from the internet or another source for inspiration to decorate the lighthouse. You can use fondant or icing to cover it if you want it to be a specific color.
- If you want to put an actual light in the top of the tower, you can use a small tealight that you can remove to turn on and off. Don’t attach the little house on the top of the house to the platform, then you can pick up up to put the light in and remove it later. If you have clear windows in it you’ll be able to see the light inside but it will be blurry-looking through the windows.
