Friday, December 19, 2008

Icing and Candy and Gingerbread Houses

When our friends came to visit this weekend, my girlfriend also brought supplies to make "mini" gingerbread houses using cartons and graham crackers! Did I mention that she is a former elementary school teacher???
The kids were very excited about being able to decorate their own houses! When I did the larger house with my boys, there were a few squabbles over who got to do what - as I'm sure most of you can imagine!
This activity provided about 45 minutes of entertainment which was very nice since it was pretty chilly here this past weekend...not the 68 degrees like it is today.
Before we called everyone to my dining room table a.k.a. craft table, my friend and I prepared the houses and the icing!

The icing was super simple to make...

Below is Lil' Roy ready to go. We used licorice sticks to cover each corner. They fit perfectly!

I have to admit that all children were way more excited about the candy than the decorating. We fielded many questions on what and how much could be consumed.



Below, my girlfriend is helping her son and Lil' Roy with the "glue"!

All the kids did a great job of sharing and "trading" candies. It was sort of like "Go Fish" for gingerbread house making!


We were just a little sneaky. Not until the end did the kids realize the "glue" was actually icing that they could eat! That was on purpose. After that we saw A LOT of finger licking!

And here are Butch and Lil' Roy's mini houses on display beside the original one that we decorated Thanksgiving weekend. Not too bad, huh?

4 comments:

Jodee said...

Oh my goodness! Those are the cutest! I am going to have to borrow that idea for next year!

teg said...

How lovely and FUN! Brendan looks so focused. He must be more like my brother -- somewhat of a perfectionist? I have to admit, I'd probably be more excited about the candy, too...you know...having been deprived of sugar for my entire childhood!

God's Girl said...

Wow! You guys did a great job! I bought the pre-made kind. Ha! I love the scene you made.

Stacy said...

What a great idea! I might have to try this one :) - I can get the milk cartons from school.

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