Rhinestone Beagle: HTTC - Chocolate Haunted House

The first time I made this Halloween Haunted House my son was 5. He was my little helper, and he still remembers working on this house with me. He will be 22 years old this week! This Halloween Haunted House is what memories are made from. I hope it becomes special to you and your family too!!

Halloween Haunted House
5 Bags of Milk Chocolate Candy Melts
Chocolate Rocks
Stick Pretzels
1 Sugar Cone
2 Cake Cones
Graham Crackers
Mini Nilla Wafers
Box of Reese's Pieces
1 package of Black Twizzlers
1 package of Black Licorice Bites
4 Mini Kit Kats(like from a Halloween Candy Bag)
Orange Gum Balls
Orange and Green Jelly Belly
1 package Orange Wafer Cookies

you will also need:
16 oz of Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
3 Egg Whites
1/2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar

And:
Aluminum Foil
2 Decorating Bags
3 Cookie Sheets
2 Wilton Tips~#2 and #2A
Wilton Color Violet

You can build this house over as many days as you want.
So you can stop at any spot in the directions.
Measure out foil to the size of your cookie sheets.

Loosely crumble the foil. This is your design for the
walls of the house. Don't crumble too tight because
the foil might tear when you unwrap it.

Carefully unwrap the foil and spread it in the cookie sheet.

Repeat this for all 3 cookie sheets. Set aside.

Start melting the chocolate candy melts.
Each cookie sheet should 1 1/2 bags of melted chocolate
on each one.

Pour the melted chocolate over the foil.
Repeat this for all three cookie sheets.

After I poured the chocolate, I realized that
chocolate was not deep enough for the pieces
we would be cutting out. I made the foil smaller to accommodate this.
You can fix this problem by using more chocolate
on each cookie sheet, but I was using the
largest pan available to me at the time.

After the chocolate is dry in the cookie sheet, place
a pattern on the chocolate. You need 2 of each pattern
except the door, which is cut later from graham crackers.

Score the chocolate around the pattern. I used a small
paring knife. It seemed to give me better control.

Here is you scored piece. Because we are working with chocolate
there is nothing we won't be able to fix, so don't be to bother with
imperfections.

Cut the chocolate along the scored lines.

Here are your two top side pieces.

This is what is left after I took out the 2 pieces.
The leftover can be remelted and used again.
Gotta love that candy melt!!

Here is the large pattern of the front of the house.
Continue to cut out the other pieces until you have
2 fronts, 2 bottom sides, 2 top sides.

Make the icing. In a mixing bowl, place the egg whites,
the powdered sugar, the vanilla, and the cream of tartar.

Mix on high speed for 7-10 minutes until very stiff.
Color the icing with the Violet color.

When I was cutting out the large piece, the edge broke.
No worries.

Melt some of the chocolate melt, take a little and put it
on the edge of the large piece, and put small piece
on to it. I guess you could say you are
chocolate glueing it!

You can't even see it. Give it few minutes to dry.

I did not take pictures of this, but take the cake
circle, melt more chocolate. and spread the
chocolate on the circle. Give it about 1 hour to dry.
Set the large piece back on to the circle. Set it a little towards the
back of the circle so it gives you a front yard.
Attach a bottom side piece by piping icing along the side seam.

Attach the front piece of the house with the piping.

Attach the other side piece.

Here is what I was talking about when I said that
mistakes can be fixed. This piece of chocolate was not cut
right when I originally cut it out. So I used the paring knife
to shave the edge. I just sawed a little at a time so as not to
crack the piece.

See the crack in the back. I just ignored it.
Icing is a wonderful fixer. Besides, it's a haunted house.
It can have a few holes.

Attach the top sides with the frosting.
Don't worry if it doesn't match up perfectly.
Attach the graham cracker pieces to the top to create the roof.

Run a bead of icing along the open space above the
bottom side.

Attach a graham cracker piece to the piece above.

Attach a piece to the other side.

In the front of the house put the kit kat.
Attach them with icing or chocolate.
Put 3 strips on the bottom, 3 on the top of those,
and 1 more on the top of that.

Cut out the graham cracker door with the pattern.
Pipe around the door with the #2 tip , and pipe a window.

Attach to the front above the steps.

Cut away a section of the cone to fit the roof of the house.

Attach the cone. Don't worry about the icing on the roof.
Attach a black gumball on top of the cone. Cut off the tip of the
sugar cone, and attach to the top of the gumball.
Decorate like the picture, or add your own touch.

Close up!

Cut 2 cake cones to fit on to each front corner of the house.
Decorate with icing and jelly bellies.

Another view.

Attach licorice pieces to the top front and the bottom front
seams. Do the same to the back of the house.

Attach the vanilla wafers to create roof shingles.
Decorate around the tower.
(Please ignore the mess behind the haunted house!!)

Attach a licorice bite to each side of the door.
Add the top swirl before attaching.

Attach chocolate rocks to the edge of the house, wherever
you want. There is no wrong way. Make the windows by
cutting the orange wafer cookies to just use the top piece.
Pipe the window to look like panes.
Use the other piece of the wafer cookie to make the shutters
Cut it in half. Pipe a design. Attach the shutters with frosting.
Put a window and shutters on each side bottom.

Attach the top window on both sides.
Take the wafers apart just like above.
Shutters should run long ways.
Attach a Reeses pieces to each window top.
Add an orange gumball to create a pumpkin.