We tried to make them without a mold our first year...and the results were less than stellar. I figured we had many many years ahead of us making gingerbread houses, so I might as well invest a bit into it
I bought 2 molds, each mold makes one house. We make a triple batch of gingerbread, fill 2 molds and roll out the rest on a pan for extras (like the front porch they made), and eat the rest
Next year the little boys will probably make their own as well. This year they only cared about eating it