My very first attempt at making a gingerbread house was back in 1981. I could not for the life of me get the roof to stay on so I used cardboard instead. Nobody knew the difference and I was pretty proud of the results. It was so much work I swore never again!
Was I ever that gullible? Lol!
A few years later I saw a collection of gingerbread houses in Good Housekeeping magazine and I was hooked.
Hooked! Ha! I was hooked, stuffed and mounted on the wall! Hmm, I seem to be getting carried away with the fishing analogy don't I?
I really wanted to try again and being the sort of person that I am (a glutton for punishment!) I wanted to do something much grander than my first...ahem...attempt.
But there had to be an easier way!
I thought long and hard, so long in fact I ended up thinking right through the holiday season and did not end up building a thing! Then I discovered the greatest invention known to mankind!
THE GLUE GUN!!!
I knew that I had absolutely no intention of eating any gingerbread house I would build. I mean really! Would you eat anything that was sitting around collecting dust for over a month? LOL! I think not!
So off to work I go...hi ho hi ho..lol! I copied a pattern out of my trusty G.H. magazine, rolled up my sleeves and started baking. Several million glue sticks later I had my gbh (gingerbread house)! And not a bad one at that. It had frosting for windows and doors but overall not a bad job.
I was still having problems with my joints tho', no matter how careful I was cutting out the pieces, the edges never seemed to be straight. It drove me crazy! Mind you that really isn't a very long trip for me! LOL!
The next Christmas...another house...then another and so on! I got brave and designed a house AND a barn...two structures. Liked that so much I did it again the following year. My cats liked that one so much they tried to move in!
There's a photo of that below...it's the blue one with a big gray cat beside it! The next photo is the same scene only with me in the background trying to put it back together in a different location! Lol...cats!
I wasn't satisfied anymore...I needed to flex my creative muscles but I was still having that joint problem...sounds like a medical condition, huh? Lol!
One day I was in a hardware store and saw something that sent my pulse racing. A wood rasp! Why not? It would work! I knew it would!
I cut and baked some gingerbread and went at it with the rasp! Carefully mind you! After breaking several pieces I finally got it to work! Not only was I able to make straight edges on the pieces, I beveled them....lol, I was cookin' now!
First there was the mill, with a water wheel no less! Then the church with the intricate steeple! That one even had bells and music. For the windows I shaved pieces of crayon, put them between two pieces of wax paper and ironed it! Lol! I even started adding lights! I was having fun!
I built a Cape Cod.
Next came Santa's house with a 'Shredded Wheat' roof. @$%*^#&*!!!! Brilliant idea! I was cleaning up shredded wheat for months!
Then the three story Victorian.
But I wasn't happy. . .that Victorian Manse! The pattern for it was taunting me! Calling to me! Calling me a coward! But a round room with a conical roof in gingerbread? Dare I try it?
Lol...yup!
It was my crowning achievement! It was a challenge but I did it! I think my real house was easier to build..lol!
Last but not least is the castle from this past Christmas (99). It was a lot of fun to build...lol...yeah, those towers were a REAL treat!! Within a matter of days, said castle was
under seige, invaded and conquered by Phantom the Mighty!!
Do you think you want to give building one a try? Ya do, huh?
Well then fair warning!!
It's addictive! You will no longer see a beautiful house and think..'My, isn't that a beautiful house.'
Oh no! You will be thinking...'Hmm, I wonder how that would look in gingerbread!'
You will see the leaves begin to change and panic! Oh my god! I've not started my design plans yet!
November will come around and your family will no longer eat, you won't sleep, dust bunnies will run rampant!
Gingerbread! Got to get it built!
LOL...I kid, that's what I do!
Give it a try, it's lots of fun.
By the gods! Look at that calendar!!!
Mid October already???
I gotta go.....
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