GINGERBREAD!

Today was Gingerbread House Day!
Honestly I could probably be a total Scrooge if it wasn't for this party! I started out yesterday working on the gingerbread potholder for Kris, this is what I came up with. Cute, yes, but not really looking gingerbread-house-ie. Although it would be fun to do all the Peanuts characters in different houses...... so many quilts........ so little time........






So, I tried again, with a bit more success. I think the background is too busy and competes with the chimneys, but I simply could NOT resist the little gingerbread guys. I let Kris pick, and she nabbed the one with the candy on it in no time at all. ;-) The other one is cute in a Peanuts Christmas sort of way so that will go in my kitchen. I am now in the market for candy fabric because I am sooooooooo seeing a gingerbread house quilt in my future! It was so much FUN to build this one, and so FEW calories were involved!!!


Now for the gingerbread houses!

This is what the table looks like before we all start playing. (and eating) I have always been, and will always be a sucker for gumdrops, the fruit flavored ones though, not those nasty spice drops. I have become the queen of gumdrop cutting at these parties. One year I cut gumdrops into slices and then put the sticky sides in little cake sprinkles and those were my shingles for the roof. I also like to slice up gumdrop mint leaves and put the sticky sides into regular sugar and use them to build Christmas trees on inverted sugar cones. This year we found these awesome candy cane trees!




I didn't get a picture of it, but Kris always has yummy flavored coffee and snacks. We all ate so much candy and gingerbread though that we turned down her Death by Chocolate cheesecake.

So here are some of the other creations....

Are these just tooooo adorable for words??? Some of the other gingerbread artists are using non-edible additions here, but what the heck, no one can eat them after they turn to stone anyway! The icing is sooooooo sturdy that one year it was windy and one woman's house landed on the sidewalk and it was completely unhurt!

And here is my masterpiece! It even has a hole in the bottom of the cardboard so I can stick a battery operated votive in there!!! Does the cuteness EVER end??

A few years ago I did houses with our 4 daughters and after New Years we put them outside near some trees because they looked so cute and we thought maybe the birds and squirrels might eat parts of them (I am a candy purist and only use edibles on mine) but alas, the dog found them and thought they made just wonderful chew toys. He carried them around the yard and spent most of January gnawing on them. Half chewed gingerbread houses are not attractive in the yard. And that would be my post Christmas decorating tip for all of you.