Well hello there.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 11:53AM Hiya. Blog much? Didn't I mention I was going to take a wee break during the holiday crunch time? Oh, right. That's because it wasn't exactly planned. Let's just say I'm tired of the rousing game of duck duck cold we've played these past couple of weeks.
Looking on the bright side, I sure am happy that the bitty bouts of sickness seemed to pop up between activities and special days. Shockingly, everyone was in good health, and even better spirits, for our annual kid's "gingerbread" house decorating party.
I use graham crackers instead of baking gingerbread and sugar "glue" to pre-build the houses. I learned last year that using royal icing for the mortar wasn't strong enough for excited little hands. So this year I went with the heavy duty stuff--melted sugar. I got the idea from the December '09 Better Homes and Garden magazine. It really is stronger and, as an added bonus, it's a lot faster if you're building, oh, a gazillion. You just melt some granulated sugar in a heavy bottomed pan (I use my enameled cast iron) then dip the edge of your graham cracker in it, then join with another cracker. Be careful--this is definitely not a step for the munchkins. For clean up, let your pot soak in hot water to dissolve the sugar.
Another important thing I should point out--unless you are very careful about how far you let the sugar carmelize (and you can see from the above photo that I was not), it won't taste good. In fact, it tastes pretty awful because burnt sugar tastes pretty awful. It's no problem for us because the houses are merely a prop for the pounds and pounds of candy they support. And also, the kids don't eat the houses because these things sit around until after Christmas and get pretty stale. I do, however, let my kids pick a candy or two off every now and then. Okay, daily.
Here's a photo montage of the basic assembly process--I think it's pretty self explanatory. Some tips: when creating the gable, use a serated knife and gently saw back and forth. Also, if crackers break (oh, and they will) set aside the pieces to doctor--just dip in the sugar & glue back together and lay aside until it sets up. Don't stress about making these look perfect. They're kind of cute crooked. And kids love crooked.
A few other things we like to do for the party: cut down cardboard boxes (you know, all those you're getting daily from Amazon right now. Right? No? Oh--it's just me? Fine.) and cover with foil to make freebie cake boards for each party guest to tote home their masterpiece; ask guests to bring a bag of candy to share for decorating; make individual frosting piping bags by putting a big dollop of frosting into sturdy ziplocs and either tape or rubber band them right above the frosting to assist little hands with applying pressure while squeezing; and use colorful cereal to inexpensively round out the candy supply--especially great for walkways and "stone" accents.
But most of all, have fun. Even the youngest of ones will actually sit still and do this activity with some help--we were so amazed at little Will's efforts! All the kids did great. We had over 25 taking over the kitchen and the house decorating portion was certainly the quietest time of the entire party. Here's to making memories...
p.s. Get more DIY ideas here.
Reader Comments (5)
Wow! You are talented. This year I just bought the kit pre-made.
I love the idea of the melted sugar instead of the icing. And I admire your bravery with that many kids!!!!! I max out at 10.
Here are the houses we made...
http://bylittlehands.typepad.com/by_little_hands/2009/12/gingerbread-houses.html
We made these!!! I love em!! So easy and so much FUN!! Thanks for sharing your pics! And I burnt my thumb with the melted sugar -- definitely an adult task.... My pics are on this post:
http://www.theshabbychiccottage.net/2009/12/christmas-tour-of-homes.html
I'm been putting off this project because a) Grandson is 2 and b) I've never done one before. You make it look easy. And how old is little boy in pic? He looks around 2. Ok. I have to really jump in and try this now.
Laura: I've done those premade kits, too, belive me...and right now our $5 & Below store has them, so they're a great deal!
Elyse: Yours turned out great! The melted sugar is def. the way to go when mass production is in order...but be careful, that stuff sticks and burns :)
Angie: Your entire home is beautifully decked out--I love the ornament garland. I wonder if I have time to make one...
Colleen: Will is actually under two...21 months. And he sat there mesmerized with help from his Aunt and fully decorated his house. There were 4 children aged 2 an under & they all did great! You should definitely give it a go!