the essence

Gingerbread House

My grandmother used to make beautiful completely homemade gingerbread houses. They were so nice she even sold them. Being a homemade kind of person myself I never thought I'd buy a gingerbread house kit. Things change.

I thought a gingerbread house would be such fun to make with the kids & when I went to buy the kit they were on sale for $7.50 - it includes everything, even the icing & candy!

Addison was desperate to make it & kept asking all day everyday since we bought it (a whole two days before we put it together) to make the "cookie" & yesterday we finally put it together.

Ready to make the gingerbread house



First, the house has to set for a minimum of thirty minutes after putting it together before it can be decorated. This is a bit torturous for a four-year-old, who just couldn't resist a swipe at the icing.



Finally time to decorate!



I have no idea how much candy the girls ate while "decorating." Kate never really seemed to get the idea that she was supposed to put the candy on the house, it was much more fun to eat it!



It's finished! (The picture was not snapped before the house began to be dismantled)





Addison couldn't resist the temptation of the house & all of that icing & candy & sugary goodness so the house was banished to the highest place I could find where the kids couldn't reach it (I could barely reach it!).




After dinner we finally dug into the house. It was fun to eat! I love just breaking off pieces of the house. When I told Addison to show me the piece of gingerbread she was eating she did this instead:



And then, actually bit into the house.



Addison then had the rest of us pretend to bite it, too!



This rates as an incredibly fun project to do with the kids, we all enjoyed it!