it’s a gingerbread…HOUSE.

Last year, Natalie and I had one goal in the days leading up to Christmas: to make a kick-bootayy gingerbread house. And kick-bootayy we did (according to us 🙂)

My mom had a gingerbread house mold that had been chillin’ out in our pantry for years. YEARS! It was getting pretty lonely without any use, so it more than welcomed Natalie’s & my enthusiasm. Actually, my mom & I baked the gingerbread house’s “structure” (the outsides) before Natalie came over so that it would have time to harden (and could stand up to icing, sprinkles, candy, and our fingers pecking around all over it trying to make things just right).

Natalie came over the day after we baked the house “walls,” and we literally went through the kitchen cupboards and pulled out anything that could possibly work as a decoration to our gingerbread house. Gumdrops, m&m’s, butterscotch chips, coconut (white snow – DUH!), chocolate chips, sprinkles, sprinkles, & oh, did I mention sprinkles?

We even found a little plastic Santa (cupcake topper?) to put on the chimney!

We think we could try out for Cake Boss, or somethin’ like that. muahahaha. Maybe we’re not at that level just yet, but we were pretty dang proud of ourselves.

We had so much fun just looking at all of the candy options laying out in front of us and putting them wherever…decorating to our hearts’ content! A butterscotch-chip sidewalk? Check. Snowmen chillin’ out in front of the house? Check. Red & Green tiled rooftop? Check. Coconut snow? Check. (My personal favorite was the icicles on the front of the house.)

Me with the finished product!

Natalie showin’ off our hard work 🙂

And this is why she is my best friend…

I’m not sure if we’re making one this year (she gets home from school later this week, so we wouldn’t have a lot of time), but for any of you out there who are looking for something to do this week, consider making a gingerbread house! If you don’t have fancy-schmancy gingerbread house molds (that may or may not be sitting in your pantry right now), remember: you can always use graham crackers. They may be a little bit more flimsy, but if your fingers are light and delicate when decorating, no need to worry! This is where you can let your imagination run wild. Hey, and if it ends up looking like crap not so good, you can just eat it (as long as your graham crackers aren’t stale).

Stay tuned this week for a special posting about 2 very special people I was able to meet this year! (Each in their own way…you’ll see why :))