BOOKS : House Plans : GINGERBREAD: Things to Make and Bake, <i> By Teresa Layman and Barbara Morgenroth</i> ; <i> (Harry N. Abrams Inc</i> .<i> : $29.95; 136 pp.) </i>

This is a how-to book that makes building gingerbread buildings really simple. There are actual-size patterns and diagrams for 11 buildings (a Victorian farmhouse, barn, country store, etc.), as well as baskets, wreaths and ornaments. Instructions are clear, there’s a list of materials and lots of colorful photographs.

All the designs employ the same dough; royal icing is used for decoration and “gluing.” A section on sugar work tells how to pipe on icing, and diagrams make easy work of intricate icing projects--porch railings, fences and lattices.

Advanced decorators will find the book useful for its involved designs, but the book is so clearly written that a novice should be able to tackle almost any project in the book.