Gingerbread Architecture

Gingerbread Lane

Only a kid from Alaska (Ryan) would build an outhouse to go with his gingerbread house

The gingerbread architects

Katelyn and John and their art

Ryan and I

Yesterday we decorated gingerbread houses - an Odell Christmas tradition. This was the first time we've ever used real gingerbread though. Usually we go the easier graham cracker route. Ryan and I made the gingerbread on Tuesday. We spent a good five hours rolling, cutting, and baking the dough for seven houses (one extra in case we had any disasters). It was exhausting. But it was worth it! We had some graham crackers on hand though for emergencies and for additions. I think next time we would do the gingerbread again but use graham crackers for the roofs. They're lighter and easier to perch on top of an already precarious gingerbread structure.

Ryan and Katelyn hard at work

John adding the last piece of roof

Mom and the house that won the frosting award

Ryan's gingerbread person dance party

Michael and Ryan usually do not like to be constrained by simple house designs and usually build something unique while I stick to the tradition four walls and roof plan. Michael definitely gets the award this time for the most original "house." We dubbed his "The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster." He did not intend it to look like a church, but it did. The entire time the rest of us were assembling and building our houses, he was working away on designing and cutting his pieces. He didn't even get started "gluing" things together until we were all done. But we waited for him to take photos and I think it was worth it. Here is The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster: