I make a gingerbread chateau using a Nordic Ware pan that I bought from Williams-Sonoma seasons ago, or a gingerbread cake using Nordic Ware's Fairy Cottage bundt-cake pan. Is this cheating?

I agree with the PP who said to make another batch for eating while putting the house together!

I tried it once, rolling out the frame was a huge pain and ended up uneven and broken. I gave up half way through, we buy the kits.

As PP mentioned, I have seen graham crackers used but they are delicate.

Hell no. I have a life.

We use graham crackers. Easy, accessible and just the right scale.

Just remember that even if you bake it yourself, the gingerbread needs to be incredibly hard. And then it will sit out for days. Neither lends itself to gourmet dining. Why not make another batch that *is* for eating and snack on that while you build?

OP, maybe the gingerbread needs to be that hard in order for the house to be sturdy enough to construct and stay together. Something to think about before going through all the effort just so it will taste good -- when like PPs, you may not want to eat it anyway!

Could you have an addition to it, a sort of "candy land" where the kids could pick off candy, or maybe have a candy shed filled with candy, which they can choose a piece from?

Yes, we have for years. It started very basic and small, and is now a large, artistic creation.

We would never eat the house though, so I can't give you any suggestions for that.

Technically you could eat everything on it, but we use royal icing to bind it which contains raw eggs. Plus, to make the house more sturdy we bake it extra long until it is dry and hard.

It is a lot of fun and a great family tradition for us.

Yes, we have for years. It started very basic and small, and is now a large, artistic creation.

We would never eat the house though, so I can't give you any suggestions for that.

Technically you could eat everything on it, but we use royal icing to bind it which contains raw eggs. Plus, to make the house more sturdy we bake it extra long until it is dry and hard.

It is a lot of fun and a great family tradition for us.

My mom used to do this. HOLY SHIT what a time waster. She would spend a few days on it.

Back in our childfree days, I made gingerbread houses with a friend. I think she used a Martha Stewart recipe. They were fabulous creations, much more interesting and creative than those from kits, and also many times more time consuming.

As for taste, we never ate them--we had put so much time into them that we wanted to keep them on display for a long time!

We make one of those kits every year but I don't let the kids eat it afterwards because the cookie seems stale, it's really hard and has a bit of a chemical taste. I find that this applies across all the kits we've tried--not too surprising I guess since they are probably manufactured months ahead of time.
Anyone here make their own from scratch, and if so, is there a good website or book you'd recommend with instructions?
Any recommendations, caveats on what to do or not to do?

TIA.