Gingerbread Christmas

I was thinking that I'd like to make a big fancy gingerbread house this year but as usual I was too busy and uninspired to do more than think about it. So instead I am admiring the efforts of others that I am finding around town.

The boys and I stopped in to the art gallery to check out a few gingerbread entries in a small fund raiser they sponsored.

Each edible art work was made by a child and their helper. This one was created by a former nationally known wedding cake maker whom I admire very much and her little daughter.




It was easy to tell that this gingerbread house maker knew her way around a piping bag.



We loved this one with the peppermint gravel. The little girl, a budding artist, created it with her grandmother, a well known water color artist here.




I really enjoyed the imperfectly strung candy light string on this one and the candy cane porch. I think my boys got some good ideas for the gingerbread project they'll make during their Christmas school break.




This gingerbread scene, complete with a chugging model train, is in the lobby of the Skamania Lodge.




The fun of gingerbread house construction is all in finding creative ways to using all the candy. The licorice strings and rice krispie trees were imaginative.




There are more and more kits available to make these projects as easy as possible. We recently saw a kit with a finished building so that all that had to be done was to stick on the candy. We like to make our houses from scratch, including the paper patterns for the buildings.




I guarantee that when my boys see these photos, they will immediately make plans for adding a train to their project.

Do you make gingerbread houses at Christmas?