Gingerbread Houses!

I had so much fun making these gingerbread houses with the children!

My siblings and I had fun doing these when I was young. My mother would wait until after Christmas and buy the gingerbread house kits on clearance. 

We would split into teams and work together. The first few years we split the teams into boys vs. girls. Everything was a competition with us. Now my family is so large that they have to get several gingerbread houses and split into teams of 4-5 people. I live too far away to join these current games.

This year I wanted my children to experience the fun. I went looking for gingerbread house kits after Christmas. I found kits but they weren't cheap enough for "tightwad-me." I bought gingerbread house cookie cutters that were on clearance instead. We made our own gingerbread from scratch.

I had never made gingerbread before. I followed the recipe on the back of the cookie cutter package. The recipe worked out very well. I will copy the recipe to my blog later for safe keeping.

I found a recipe for the Royal icing that we needed for glue. It was really easy to make. Just egg whites and powdered sugar. It dries rock hard and worked perfectly as gingerbread house construction adhesive.

We assembled all the pieces and began decorating. This step was so fun!

It was fun for me to watch my children make their own designs. They are so creative! Each child is their own person with their own personality and ideas. It is special to see them make their own choices. These are some of the really rewarding moments of being a mom.

We need to do this every year!