Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Gingerbread Houses

Gingerbread Houses

Saturday evening, we got together with my family for our annual gingerbread house decorating contest. If you've been reading for a while, you know that we like contests... we are just so competitive (we went all-out with our pumpkin carving this year!). After the hours of decorating, houses falling over, projects failing, some pretty neat design ideas, and making our houses out of every edible thing we could find, we published the results on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and asked for you to vote. The clear stand-out from the bunch this year was the house on the top left, with its intricate details and stained glass windows. Second place was awarded to the church on the bottom left, third place went to the candy-coated house on the top right, and fourth place went to the classic cottage on the bottom right.

Want to know who did each one? Stephen, mom's boyfriend, had the top left intricate house, Mom had the top right candy-coated house, I had the bottom left church, and Daniel had the bottom right classic Christmas cottage. You can see a little more of the detail of each house below.

Gingerbread House, Gingerbread House with Stained Glass Windows

Stephen's house, the intricate cottage, had so much attention to detail. From the pinto beans lining the walkway and arches, to the stained glass windows made of Fruit Roll-Ups. His house was very cute and looked like a little North End (if you're from Boise) home.

Gingerbread House, Gingerbread House Christmas Tree and Firepit

Mom's candy-coated house had so much detail! She began with the licorice and candy cane balcony, and added the fun ice cream cone Christmas tree. Do you see her neat fire pit? It was made from melted Jolly Ranchers!

Gingerbread Train

This gingerbread train was the creation of Stephen's sister and her son. They opted not to do a house but instead put this adorable choo-choo train together, complete with a marshmallow conductor and all!

Gingerbread House, Classic Gingerbread House

Daniel's classic Christmas cottage was my favorite of the bunch. It was simple and I loved the snow-lined roof. His wreath over the front door was adorable, and I love the front entryway. It's simple and he did a great job with it.

Gingerbread House, Gingerbread Church House

My "house" this year ended up being a church (of sorts) instead. I just knew I wanted a steeple and icicles. Next time, I'm borrowing Stephen's Fruit Roll-Up stained glass idea. That would have been the perfect touch!

And in case you're curious, here's a photos of the house I did two years ago...

Gingerbread House, Classic Gingerbread House with Santa and Reindeer, Gumdrop Tree

I think I hit my creative peak that year with the Charleston Chew reindeer and gumdrop tree. Needless to say, you can imagine who won the contest that year!

Thanks again to everyone who voted for our houses. We always have the most fun sitting around the kitchen table for hours—literally, hours—creating these little cookie and candy masterpieces. While we were decorating, I made the mistake of mentioning that I "didn't enjoy this contest," and simply I think I said it because it takes so much time, but in reality, it is so fun to get together and watch each other's minds work. It's still one of my favorite holiday traditions, and Mom—yes, Mom!—I do hope we do it again next year. Thanks for all your hard work in getting everything together for this!

33 comments:

Liliana said...

wow these are great i love the train one, my little one would love that since he is obsessed with trains!

☆ Cindii said...

This is glorious!!

B. Britnell said...

This is such a great idea!! I just might steal this as a family party idea :)

http://bbritnell.blogspot.com/

Allyssa said...

Wow, they're all so fun! So many creative ideas!

Brittany Wilson said...

What a fun tradition. They all look so good! I love the train so cute

Niken said...

your family has a fun tradition. the pumpkin carving and now this? i might steal this idea. haha. my favorite is your mom's house. it's so neat! i love the fire pit and the christmas tree.

Katie said...

Daniel's was my favorite. I'm kind of sad it got the least amount of votes. I like that it is a classic cottage. I like all the fancy detailed ones too but I guess I'm just more of a traditional gal :)

Cody Doll said...

Awe. That looks like fun. I can't believe I missed the voting. Sadface. I would love to do this but James already said no so I think I am just going to go with normal cookies for now. Maybe one year...

Annelise Rowe said...

I think my mom picked up the kits from Costco... the train one is so fun. Make sure to pick up tall lollipops to have with it! :)

Annelise Rowe said...

So glad you like it, thank you a bunch :) PS your avatar is beautiful!

Annelise Rowe said...

It's a great family party idea. We find it works really great in smaller groups... like less than 10 people :) Have fun with it! We picked up TONS of extra snacks and candies and munched our way through them while we decorated. My favorites was eating as many cheese-its as I was putting on it!

Lauren said...

Those houses are amazing! I think this is such a fun idea for a Christmas gathering!

Lauren,
http://www.atouchofsoutherngrace.com/

Annelise Rowe said...

Thank you! We were lucky enough that we didn't have a total bomb of one this year. Usually we have one really bad one :)

Annelise Rowe said...

Yes! I know... Our family's contests are too funny. I always tell myself that they take FOREVER (because we are all perfectionists) but it is so fun. And I know... The fireplace. So genius!

Annelise Rowe said...

I agree with you 100%! That's the reason his was my favorite, too. It was elegant and nice but still have the creativity, like the door and window overhangs and the yellow windows which he made from slicing a gumdrop :) classic is always my vote too. Shoot, he carved my favorite pumpkin, the simple cactus sunset, back in October too. Daniel for the win!

Annelise Rowe said...

Which one would you have picked??

Annelise Rowe said...

Also, would be so fun to do it on a smaller scale with gingerbread men cookies!!

My Cup of Fancy said...

Oh what fun! I have never ever made a gingerbread house before! Everything looks so adorable and yummy!

Krysten @ Why Girls Are Weird said...

I really want to do something like this this year... maybe on Christmas Eve!

Annelise Rowe said...

It's so easy when you buy the pre-made kits :) I only make them when mom buys them... ha!

Annelise Rowe said...

Oh that's awesome! You'll have to send me a picture when yours is complete :)

Annelise Rowe said...

That would be a great tradition to start!

Cody Doll said...

Yours. But not that I knew it beforehand.

Annelise Rowe said...

Awesome! :) I still wouldn't have won! :)

Kelly said...

All of these are SO cute and so creative!

xx
Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes

Daliene @ Alamo Adventures said...

I love the lil reindeer!!!

Linda said...

I can't imagine your family ever being bored! Great work on each house!

Amy Sherrill said...

Awesome! Love all of these contests. Want to do these types of things with my little ones.

Cody Doll said...

Yeah but still your gingerbread house/church is awesome.

Annelise Rowe said...

Thanks! I don't even know how I pulled those off that year. I didn't have anything half that creative in my mind for this year!

Annelise Rowe said...

Haha... we are always doing wacky activities to keep ourselves busy :)

Annelise Rowe said...

They are fun. They help your family grow together and spend quality time around the table--a rarity now that we're all married and out of the house.

Emily F. said...

I love how your family does contests like these for the holidays! I need to do things like this with my family someday! <3

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