Top Ten Tips for Making an Impressive Gingrebread House

Here is my gingerbread house from last year. 

 I made it with my sister and niece and we had a lot of fun.

This year, since I was making it by myself, I wanted to do a fancier version.  So I started searching Pinterest for ways to elevate the box kit. I started pinning the ones I loved and here is my inspiration board:

Here are my Top Ten Tips for Making an Impressive Gingerbread House:

1.       Add windows out of crushed, melted-down candy.

2.       Put a light inside the house, so light shows through the windows.

3.       Decorate the pieces when they’re flat.

4.       Use your glue gun to glue the house together.

5.       Make extra royal icing.

6.       Add “landscaping” elements.

7.       Add “structural elements.

8.       Use an unexpected roofing material.

9.       Use candy coated sunflower seeds to look like a string of lights.

10.   Make sure you have a cute cake stand to display it on and sift powdered sugar over the whole house to add snow.

#1 - First I cut holes in my pre-baked gingerbread houses for windows.  VOICE OF EXPERIENCE MOMENT - MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHERE EACH PIECE GOES BEFORE YOU CUT.  (I switched the side pieces and roof pieces and caused myself a lot of grief!)  Everything I read said to use butterscotch candy for the windows.  I found mine at Dollar Tree (they're not cool enough for Target, apparently).  Then put a bunch of candies in a Ziploc and pound them with a hammer until they're crushed down to powder.  Then on a parchment paper lined baking sheet make the shape of the windows that you just cut out, out of the crushed powder, being sure it's a bit bigger than each window, so you can glue it on from the back side.  

#2 - I found a short light strand that I wanted to use inside my house, so I cut a notch at the bottom of the back side of the house for the cord to go through.  You can see the notch I cut here.

#3 - Frost your pieces, decorate them - do all your work while they're flat.  If the frosting isn't working, you can always use your glue gun.  And then it's a good idea to let them dry and set overnight or at least a few hours.

4. When I went to assemble my house, I realized I had decorated the side pieces as the roof and vice versa.  So I had to get creative if I wanted to continue.  I found a piece of foam core board and cut it to add to the already decorated pieces to make them the right size.  Then I frosted and decorated...the pieces of cardboard!  Anyway - the hot glue gun worked amazing to glue cardboard to gingerbread and the whole house together.  

I made sure to glue the pieces together on the cute cake stand and to make sure the lights were in place when I was gluing the house together.

This is my house before I added #s 6, 7 and 9 - those steps add so much!

I used the rectangle I cut out for the window as a porch.  Also, for the doorknob, I used one of the round candies that came with the kit and used my gold leaf pen on it.

#5 - I used the Wilton royal icing recipe.  I kept half white and then mixed in green gel food coloring.  It says to add one drop at a time, but I wanted a realistic pine green, so I added a bunch of drops at a time and then mixed, to check the color.  #6 - To make the pine trees, you need ice cream cones, green icing, a star tip, coupler and bag.  I really had fun with this.

For other "landscaping" elements, I added frosting as snow, around the house and then I pressed rice krispies into frosting, as a path to the front door.

At this point it was the fun decorative/creative part, so I didn't stop and take a lot of pictures.

#7 - By "structural" elements, I mean anything that will add dimension to your house.  I used pretzels around my front windows, shutters out of fondant (that was included with my kit) for my side window, a kit cat stick window box, a pretzel rod at the peak of the roof and 4 caramels as a chimney.

#8 - For the roof, I used frosted mini wheat mini bites, which have lots of good texture and built-in snow!  Cereal is a good option; necco wafers, sticks of gum, pretzels - you could try anything!

#9 - Candy coated sunflower seeds are SO PERFECT as lights they are colorful and have a pointed end - just like real Christmas lights - make a special trip to Hobby Lobby or make a special order from Amazon - that's how much they add to your house.  

#10 - Cute cake stand and then sift powdered sugar.  My cake stand is from Target.

Christmas Home Reveal

This year I wanted my Christmas decor theme centered around the Christmas hymn 

"Oh Holy Night"

 O holy night the stars are brightly shining

It is the night of our dear Savior's birth

Long lay the world in sin and error pining

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks a new glorious morn

Fall on your knees

O hear the angels' voices

O night divine

O night when Christ was born

O night divine o night

O night divine

I started from scratch with my tree.  Tree and beads from Goodwill; stars from Gordmans and Dollar Tree mainly, with a few from Target.  Beads and ribbon and star picks from Michaels.  Tree skirt is one of my plaid scarves.

I found this giant evergreen frame at Goodwill in the fall and designed an engineering print to go in it.  My nativity is from Hobby Lobby.

I made the artwork on the mantle, which you can read about here.  I ordered the little trees from here.

The candles are this idea I saw on Pinterest. 

Mason jars from Goodwill, the plaid, branches and mini pine cones are all things I had.  I bought the fresh garland from a fundraiser a friend was doing and it MAKES the whole room.  I added pine branch picks from Hobby Lobby, lighted star garland and laser cut wooden stars from Michaels.

Hot chocolate bar!  I started collecting antique Santa mugs last year. I found the stand at Goodwill.  The box I also found at Goodwill and transformed, which you can read about here.

It's very bright and cozy and I love the time I get to spend here!

 

Next week's blog will be all about how I made this gingerbread house!

Christmas Gift Ideas 2016

Happy Cyber Monday! 

I put together a list of Christmas Gift Ideas based on trends I've noticed in 2016 or products I use. I hope you find it helpful!

For Ladies

1. Journaling Bible or Planner

2. Personalized Handwriting Jewlery

3. A colorful sign about her favorite hobby

4. Pioneer Woman...anything - cookbooks, dishes, napkins

5. A Plaid Blanket Scarf - I'm in love with mine!

For Men

1. Grill Smoker Box - turns a propane grill into a smoker

2. Customizable Leather Bracelet

3. Charging Station

4. Winter Work Gloves

5. Phone Cover and Wallet

For Either

1. Nintendo Classic Mini

2. Amazon Prime Membership

3. Movie Gift Certificates - If you live in Wichita, you'll want the Warren Theater

4. Phone Dash Mount Kit - I have one of these and I love it. You stick the magnetic ball to your car dash and the small disk to your phone and then anytime you're in your car, your phone is right where you want it. I use google maps gps all the time and I love having right there on the dash - instead of in the cup holder or sliding off the passenger seat.

5. Amazon Echo Dot

6. Photo Gifts - go to your favorite picture vendor (Walmart, Snapfish, Walgreens, Artscow) and upload family pictures and then put them on a gift to make it special and personalized

7. Letterfolk Board

8. Christmas Art created by me! Available for instant download on my Etsy shop - so this would be perfect for a last minute gift! Today only, use CYBERMONDAY as a coupon code for 10% off your order!

9. Hickory Farms Gift Box

10. Remote - I have this and I LOVE it - I use it all year to turn on lamps, but I especially love using it to turn on my Christmas tree!

Pumpkin Shaped Dinner Rolls

In October, my office had a contest at work to bring a treat related to pumpkins - pumpkin shaped or pumpkin flavored - anything pumpkin goes.

Since I'm one of those weird people that doesn't like anything pumpkin-flavored (yes that means no pumpkin pie, no pumpkin spice latte, no pumpkin fluff, no pumpkin muffins, no pumpkin soup and definitely no pumpkin spice Hershey's Kisses), I decided to make something pumpkin shaped.

My first idea was rice krispie treats.  Second idea was popcorn balls.  Then I saw this idea on Pinterest and loved it!

So cute and so unique!!  I think these would be perfect on any Thanksgiving table!

They smell AMAZING when they're baking - they would be a perfect Thanksgiving appetizer!

And in case you were wondering, I won the category of Most Creative Use of Pumpkin and tied for Overall Favorite!!

Wood Frame DIY - Oh Holy Night Christmas Art

My theme for Christmas this year is evergreen/plaid/"Oh Holy Night" so I decided to make the lyrics of "Oh Holy Night" the central focus of my mantle.

Right below this ▼ is one of the signs I made and below that is a sign for sale by Hobby Lobby.  They are very similar, but this is $39.00 at Hobby Lobby (same approximate dimensions, same wood frame, same black and white text) - but I made these signs for about $14 each, which is a great deal compared to $39.99 AND it let me customize the sign to be exactly what I wanted.

Step 1:  I designed the prints.  I knew I wanted lyrics from "Oh Holy Night."  Below is a visual representation of my theme this year.

Step 2: I had the design printed at Office Depot/Office Max as an 18x24 engineering print and the total cost was $1.82 each.

Step 3: I went to Lowe's and found an inexpensive piece of mdf that I asked them to cut into two 18x24 pieces. I also picked out some unfinished flat trim board with the dimensions 3/8 x 2 x 36 (you'll need 3 per frame, if you're making the same size I did).

You'll also need for this project:
miter box and saw
sandpaper
Elmer's spray adhesive
Gorilla Wood glue
wood stain - I used Minwax classic gray and Rustoleum kona
gloves/cloth/brush

Step 4:  Cut the trim pieces to make the frame.  This was my first time to use a miter box and it was really fun!  I have a history of cutting myself (knives, mandolin slicer) so I was extra cautious with the saw.  I cut two pieces down to 24 inches and then the third I was able to cut into two pieces approximately 15 in. long.

 Step 5:  Sand the rough edges.

Step 6:  Use a scrap piece of the wood you cut to test out your staining methods.  The process I decided on was to use a foam brush and brush on the brown Kona stain.  Then immediately wipe off all excess stain with a clean cloth.  Then with a different brush, I painted on the classic gray and let it sit for a while, then wiped off the excess after several minutes.

Step 7:  Time to assemble everything!  Use the spray adhesive to glue down your engineering print to your mdf board.  A word of caution - don't spray the glue too heavy and don't spray it on the paper.  I had a spot of bleed through and had to tear off the paper and get another print made.  (Which was a PAIN!)

Then make a thin line of wood glue (another lesson learned - too much and glue smushes out the edges) and place the trim on the glue.  Then clamp it down and give it time to dry - I used really big binder clips and they worked perfectly!

Then you take off the binder clips and you have a handmade piece of art that looks just as amazing as anything you could buy, is less expensive than what you can buy, is customized to say exactly what you want and you can take pride in the fact that you made it!

I'm very excited to decorate my Christmas mantle now!!