Nicole and I take our gingerbread house building very seriously. Rather we don't do lame houses.

When I was younger I actually would make "blueprints" and would build the house from scratch. My best attempt to date was a GBH that ended up being referred to as the "cathedral". It got to be a bit bigger and more elaborate than planned.

This year we used pre-made gingerbread houses, but combined two kits to create a "Sun Valley McMansion" (yes pre-made, I know, BUT we were under a time crunch!). We also totally cheated and used hot glue to put the thing together but honestly I don't think I will ever go back to frosting construction again. The structural integrity (some architectural jargon courtesy of Nicole) was much stronger, and the construction period was much shorter, under budget and might push us into the LEED Silver or Gold range if we are lucky.

I must say I was very impressed with what we produced this year. Take a look!:


Construction Phase:

Completion: Back Yard. Check out the swimming pool with diving board complete with swimming/diving gummy bears.

Final product. My beautiful Christmas lilies in the background and the poodle getting ready to lick the house...