We spent several days last week making gingerbread houses to enter in a contest at Homelight Books, a homeschool store here in Wake Forest. The contest was the idea of a homeschooled 16-year-old girl who wanted to find a way to help a shelter for battered women and children in Raleigh.  Twelve houses were entered and are on display this week.  Visitors to the store can pay 50 cents each to vote for their favorite(s).  On Friday afternoon, all the votes will be counted, and the top 3 vote getters will each receive a WalMart gift card and some other goodies that have been donated.  The entry fees ( $15 per house ) and money from the votes will be donated to the shelter.

We had so much fun!  Jason and two of his friends created a candy cottage, decorated with pretzel sticks, fruity cheerios, lifesavers, pillow mints, peppermints, jellybeans, and gumdrops. A marshmallow snowman and ice cream cone Christmas tree decorate the front yard. I cut out and baked the gingerbread pieces, and the boys assembled the house one day, and decorated it 2 days later. 

Amanda and 6 of her friends decided to enter 2 houses - a dollhouse and a lighthouse.  All the girls helped to design, bake, and assemble both houses. They then divided into 2 groups to decorate them. The dollhouse is decorated with candy cane hearts, graham crackers, and wreaths made of apple cinnamon cheerios. A marshmallow reindoor is nibbling on a green icing bush. Inside, there is furniture made from marshmallows, graham crackers, gumdrops, pretzels, and fruit roll-ups.  The lighthouse has a speckled jellybean chimney, a light on the roof made from candy canes and gumdrops, a Starburst walkway, and mini Nilla wafer siding. 

Here is a website that had lots of great photos of gingerbread houses ( for inspiration!) as well as recipes, assembly tips, and decorating suggestions.

http://home.comcast.net/~frankysattic/index.html

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