Announcing the Winner of the 2016 Gingerbread House Contest

 

This year's winner swept the competition by 9 votes.  An exciting race!

 

 

As promised, I can now reveal the masterminds behind this year's entries:

1st Place: "Country Cottage": Our Curious Cowgirl, Tessie (age 7.5).

 

2nd Place: "Shipwrecked": Mr. Steady

 

3rd Place: "Almost Finished": Yours Truly.

 

Thank you for all who participated in the voting this year! 

 

If you missed the voting deadline, you don't have to miss the fun. There's still time to make your own edible creations with your family.  For inspiration, you could always...

 

Check out the original entries here:

 

Or peek behind the scenes of this year's builds here:

 

Or see more of our holiday creations from years past:

 

 

Thank you again for being a part of our favorite tradition!

From our home to yours,

Katie

 

Matzo House Construction: Behind the Scenes Sneak Peek of this Year's Contest Entries

 

For those of you familiar with our Annual Gingerbread House Contest, you probably weren't surprised at all to see us veer from the typical "gingerbread" construction for this year's entries.   

But, Matzo? Why? 

 

Well, as you know, we carefully select our materials using a calculated system involving several predetermined factor considerations.....

 

Actually: We just use free stuff.

 

While moving my mother-in-law in to her newly completed apartment, we found 2 cases (yes, 2 cases - 36 unopened boxes) of expired Matzo. How's that for free stuff? 

 

 

So, what is Matzo anyway? 

 

Unleavened bread.

It is used during traditional Passover ceremonies and has great prophetic significance as celebrated in Messianic Seders. (We participated in one of these a few years ago and it was very eye opening!)

 

Plainly speaking it is basically a 7"x7" sheet of Saltine Cracker - lacking salt. Not really designed for enjoyment - but great for construction!

 

Here is a pile of Matzo (or Matzah, or Matzoh...)

 

 

There was definitely a learning curve as we explored the relatively fragile properties of Matzo as compared to gingerbread or even graham crackers.

After toying with it for a while we decided the Matzo was a little flimsy, so we created sturdier pieces by gluing (icing) two sheets together for each wall. You can see the double cracker stacker style in this photo:

 

  Except for a few minor construction fails (explained in the coming paragraphs), this year was great fun and a healthy challenge! We hope you enjoy viewing the results as much as we enjoyed making them.

 

Here is a behind the scenes look at this year's contest entries:

 

 

SNEAK PEEK AT ENTRY #1:

 

The "Country Cottage" was constructed in a classic "house" form. It was frosted and covered in blue cornmeal for a roughcast plaster look. Windows and doors were added to each side. As the roof details were being installed the doors and windows slid off the walls one by one.

 

Apparently, the loose cornmeal bits don't make a very solid contact point for the icing to adhere to.  So, the cornmeal had to be scraped off and the frosting cleared back to the bare Matzo anywhere a design element was to be added. 

 

 

This was a small step backward in the process, but nothing heartbreaking.

 

 

SNEAK PEEK AT ENTRY #2:

 

The "Almost Finished" Entry was constructed with double "exterior walls" and received a little more structural support with graham crackers studs (16" on center - to scale).

 

And, of course, before sheetrock could go up, insulation (cotton candy) was put in place:

 

 

And electrical work completed:

Construction Fail: The cotton candy (although a clever idea) was a big disappointment. It began dissolving immediately after being handled and had melted away almost completely by the time the sheetrock walls started going up. 

 

 

Oh, well.  Just like real life renovation fails: Lesson learned.

 

 

SNEAK PEEK AT ENTRY #3:

 

The construction of the "Ship Wrecked" entry was quite different. The initial hull of the ship was constructed with a single layer of Matzo (lots of tricky cuts and piles of Matzo debris).

 

 

The aftermath of the construction process:

 

 

A second layer of Matzo was attached to the main frame in 3" strips resembling wood planks. 

The ship was then strong and sturdy...and even the texture was right on. But the color was all wrong.

 

 

Enter: Vodka and food coloring!

 

The color went on smoothly and the alcohol evaporated quickly without warping the Matzo boards.

 

Every bit of the process went smoothly until the anchor was added as a final touch. The fondant hadn't set up completely and melted into a wobbly heap in the sand (blue cornmeal). Oops!

 

 

Good thing it's on dry land.

Well, that's it for this year's sneak peek. Do you have any Gingerbread House Fails or lessons learned you'd like to share? Please leave a comment in the box below. And don't forget to:

 

 

Click on the photo below to see the FINAL ENTRIES and cast YOUR VOTE!

 

 

 

 

 

Gingerbread House Contest: The 2016 Entries

 

 

 

Before viewing the entries, I must reveal two major TWISTS in the plot:

 

1. This year's "gingerbread houses" aren't made of gingerbread! 

 

Nope, they're not your classic graham cracker or milk carton house either! 

 

This year we used Matzo.

 

Apparently, Matzo houses are a thing...? We weren't aware of this new cultural awakening. We weren't trying to stay hip with new trends. We were doing just as we had in years past -using what we had.  And we had a case of Matzo. It was expired. And the rest is history.

 

2. Some of this year's "gingerbread houses" aren't even houses!

 

They are, however, completely edible (not that you'd want to eat any of them), and held together with a royal icing "glue".  So, they were created in a gingerbread house style - with a stale Matzo flair.

 

The artist behind each entry will not be revealed until the voting results are in.

 

VOTING INSTRUCTIONS:

After reviewing the photos below, please use ONE of these three options to cast your vote:

 

1. Use the poll box in the side panel (top right hand side on a PC)

2. Click the "comment" link at the end of the post and share your vote. 

3. Send an email to mskatiesartstudio@gmail.com

 

 

A winner will be announced on December 20th!

 

Enjoy!

 

 

This "gingerbread house" is the cheerful creation of a true chicken lover - quaint, colorful, and carefully designed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This "gingerbread house" is a nod to renovation projects and the classic case of "almost finished."

 

 

 

 

 

This "gingerbread house" isn't a house at all, but a bold display of creativity and resourcefulness.

 

 

 

I'm working on a post with a sneak peek "Behind the Scenes of our Matzo House Construction." I will post the link here when it is ready. Or you can Subscribe and receive new posts by email!

 

We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, and comments on this year's entries. Drop us a note in the comment box below. 

 

And don't forget to vote!

 

Celebrating A Decade Of Gingerbread Houses - The Next 5 Years

 This post contains affiliate links.

 

In my previous post, "The First 5 Years", I started a timeline to display the baby steps that led to grand development in our gingerbread house making skills. What began as a creative bonding process for newly weds became a full blown family tradition. Years of fun (and shocking progress) finally brought us here....

 

 

 

 

 

First of all, please excuse my photography skills. I didn't seem to progress as drastically in that skill as I did in my gingerbread craft.

Well, as you can see, this year was a doozy! We deviated completely from the safety of using a gingerbread house kit and constructed our own.  With no engineering experience, we were both surprised to find our creations still standing after weeks of display and transport.

The building structures were made with graham crackers.  They held together so nicely we decided used them the following year.

 

 

This year we decided to share our love for gingerbread houses with our church family. I made 35 mini graham cracker houses, set up a decoration spread, and made a day of it.  The kids had a blast - everyone's turned out so differently.

 

 

 

Even our little Curious Cowgirl (age 2.5) made her own little masterpiece...

 

 

 

 

Poor Gingy.

 

The next few years were a little chaotic.  It wasn't until we moved to our new home here at Rehoboth Farm that we were able to pick up the piping bag again. And since we were still recovering from the Great Kitchen Debacle, we decided to play it safe...and small...and cheap.

 

 

 

Ta-da!  I know, they're pretty sad. We were exhausted, a little overwhelmed, and desperate for some sense of familiarity. We needed some gingerbread house making therapy. And these little guys were just the ticket. 

 

** 2016 **

 

This year we are ready to start fresh...we're well rested, have plenty of construction experience, and are excited about celebrating 10 years together...making messes, making trouble, making gingerbread houses...and making beautiful memories! 

The icing is on the table and the sprinkles are gonna fly!  I will post a link to this year's come-back creations HERE as soon as they are complete!

 

I hope you've enjoyed this photo timeline and the silly stories that accompanied it.  It has been a joy sharing these special times with you.  I'd love to hear your comments, questions, and ideas on gingerbread house making! 

 

From Our House to Yours,

Katie

 

 

Celebrating a Decade of Gingerbread Houses - The First 5 Years

This post contains affiliate links.

 

You know, looking back I guess Mr. Steady and I always had an interest in construction and design. So our recent renovation endeavors should really come as no surprise....although we started on a much smaller scale:
We decorated a gingerbread house (kit) together the first year we were married. We are about to celebrate our 10th anniversary (yay!). Although we haven't done our Gingerbread House Challenge every single year, we have tried to make it a family tradition and we are super excited to start on our 2016 masterpieces!

In celebration of a decade gone by, I'd like to share with you some of our favorite creations and why they are special.  I hope they are an inspiration to you and your family to begin a tradition of your own!

 

This is our very FIRST gingerbread house.

We started with a basic Wilton Kit. It came with the walls and roof, an icing pouch, and a variety of candy.  We thought we were pretty savvy to bring in additional materials (peppermint chocolate chips).  I know you are super impressed!  Haha! Looking back on this just cracks me up. We had only been married 2 weeks when we started - it was definitely a lesson in communication and collaboration. In the end we were both fairly disappointed with the result and vowed to make a competition out of it the following year so we could each "do our own style".

 

 

 

These sweet neighbors are the result of the vow from the previous year. Funny how "our own style" ended up looking so similar, but a vow is a vow.

 

We bought 2 Wilton Kits and started the challenge with a few rules:

1. We were each allowed to choose 1 decorating extra not included in the kit.

2. We won't tell our family/friends who made them and we'll hold a blind vote.

 

We were both finished in a few hours- racing to see who would create the better house.  We were also racing against the Houston weather - the candy was melting in the 80 degree humidity.

My house is on the left - a little over the top - like me!

Mr. Steady's house is the sensible house on the right - with the terribly warm snowman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year we brought our A-game! We started planning our design a few weeks in advance and were more than ready when the time came.  We purchased the gingerbread house kits just for the framework and scrapped all the candy decorations.  We purchased our replacement supplies at the dollar store - a meager investment for several evenings of bonding over the creative process.

In the end, Mr. Steady had a lot more vision than I did and took a bold step in branching out from the "typical" candy house. 

We tied in the blind vote, but I gave him the win out of respect for his courage and creativity.

This is when we knew we were hooked. We looked forward to the time of laughter and fun each year and knew we wanted to make it a family tradition.

 

This year was another collaboration. We had a 6 month old, just returned from a cross-country trip, and just didn't have the oomph to really go at it alone - so we joined efforts. 

We did, however, get a lot more resourceful in our choice of materials. Some friends of ours were cleaning out their pantry and found some expired items - they were offered to us for possible building materials. Stale crackers and sunflower seeds make great landscaping materials!

We also experimented a little by melting blue Jolly Ranchers down to make a pond and formed human figures from Starburst candies. As it turns out, Starburst doesn't really hold its shape in the Houston humidity. Glad we snapped these photos before they melted into colorful blobs!
 

We got it done and we had fun, but it was another confirmation that we really are better at "parallel play"....we needed our own house...our own ideas... a little bit of elbow room...and a baby that slept through the night.

 So....another vow:

Next year it was GAME ON!! 

 

 We started planning (secretly) our designs in January and didn't reveal our plans to each other until the fondant started flying.

*FYI: Fondant was this years gold mine! It's like play-dough for grown-ups (who make gingerbread houses like little kids....?) It's an annual staple now.

Anyway, this year we jumped from simply "decorating" to designing. We both started with the same kit pieces (roof and walls), cutting, adjusting, and adding to them to create an architectural design that was unique to our style. They turned out so drastically different, the original structure is hardly evident in the final products. 

Mr. Mint: I pulled the foundation corners in on the house for a more whimsical shape. I built up a "brick" crawlspace and porch with pillars and an overhang.  I also added a brick chimney protruding from the roof (not visible from this angle).

The Country Cottage: Mr. Steady turned his framework sideways, added a bay window and a full chimney stack (similar to his log cabin build a few years before) on the exterior wall.

Fondant was a big game changer - Mr. Mint and the garden veggies stayed fresh and perky for several weeks as we displayed and collected votes (I won by a landslide, by the way!). No effects from the humidity or fluctuating temperature. Awesome!

 

 

Well....that was the first 5 years of our Gingerbread House Tradition. Quite the learning curve, huh?

                                                      THE NEXT 5 YEARS OF FUN

 

 I would love to hear your comments, questions, and ideas. Do you have a gingerbread house tradition in your family? Would you like to start one? I'm also working on a HOW TO post for those of you just starting out.

From Our Home to Yours,
Katie