If you love detail on your gingerbread houses, then don't miss this fun tool! Gingerbread houses are individual works of art, and many of our houses through the years have included lots of yard art, like trees and snow piles. The pretzel mold featured below provide 4 1/2" by 1 1/2", sufficient size to hold a pretzel rod, retailing at $2.49. Young children may not have the dexterity and manual skills to fill the mold by themselves, but with help, can participate in creating these clever decorative elements for their gingerbread houses. Older children, ages 6-8, may also need help for detail work, while ages 9 to 11 should be able to fill the molds neatly enough. Ages 12 and up, depending on artistic ability and personality, have the potential for creating more colorful detail in the Christmas tree element of this mold.
If you are using these decorative pretzels as accents for your gingerbread yard, then use something as a base, like a marshmallow. Anchor it to your base covering with ample royal icing, allow the icing to set up for several minutes, and then insert the pretzel into the marshmallow base. You can invent other means, as well, and believe me, your kids are prime for fantastic brainstorming about how to get their desired gingerbread house effects!
Find candy melting supplies here.
If you are hosting a gingerbread house decorating party, then this is a great tool for multiple tubes of royal icing. In fact, even if it's just you doing the decorating, this can be a valuable tool, as it holds the icings so that they are easy to pick up and put back. I generally stick with normal royal icing for our gingerbread houses, but on occasion, we've ventured into the unknown, creating tinted icings for our gingerbread houses. While I often resort to a couple of pie tins for laying our icing tubes down, Wilton's Decorating Bag Holder and Organizer, pictured and linked above, is a step toward tidiness!
If you know someone who loves gingerbread men and gingerbread houses, then you will love this gingerbread Christmas ornament from Swarovski! Measuring 1 1/16 " by 1 1/2", hanging on a white satin ribbon, he's the perfect personal ornament for the gingerbread family's Christmas tree, but he would easily double as a lovely gingerbread pendant! Swarovski is such a pretty Christmas decorating element, already, and in gingerbread, absolutely charming. Image links to product details, but be sure to explore the entire range of pretty 
