I absolutely love making gingerbread houses and try to build one every year! Last year I bought a kit, but after seeing this log cabin, I decided I should try making one myself! So I found a handy contractor and hired him and his cousin to help me out 🙂
At first, they were acting way too cool for such childish activities, but once I got started they kind of took over! The outcome wasn’t as picturesque as this, but there was joy in the process. And isn’t that what matters?
The Tools
I rounded up all the graham crackers, gumdrops, peppermint candies, hard candy, frosting, pretzel rods, and sprinkles I could find.
We started with a big, dismantled cardboard box as the base.
And the “logs” for our cabin. Joe kept stealing my building materials for his cheese dip…
Oh yea, and some year-old holiday Skittles.
And some snow and tree leaves.
The Inspiration
Alright, so I started making it this way, but life took a turn and things got messy on our little cabin homefront.
Getting Started
We glued the foundation with powdered sugar icing. Then started stacking logs.
Joe thought it would be more secure if we stacked them in an alternating way like this.
Good help is hard to find these days… I tell ya 😉
Too bad we couldn’t notch the pretzels out like a real log cabin. Just like Linkin’ Logs!
Check out this unexpected detail ^
We stacked it pretty tall and realized we needed to brace the walls.
The graham crackers helped. Too bad we ran out.
The Roof
Don’t even look at me. This was all the boys’ idea. I wanted to use cardboard.
From here on out, I was demoted to cement mixer. Filling orders of icing bags for the cause.
It was an ooey, gooey… masterpiece.
The Rest
Joe made a pretty neat gumdrop-lined pathway and I added the stepping stones.
And what’s a cabin without a door? We used the last graham cracker and framed it with pretzel rods.
Joe insisted that everything must be edible, but I snuck the toothpick flags on.
And there’s our log cabin/teepee/pyramid volcanic candy village. It tastes better than it looks, we promise. Some traditions must be carried on. No matter how messy, over-the-top or ridiculous. Mmmmm.
What’s YOUR favorite holiday tradition?
Another highlight from the weekend was shopping with my Gran and seeing an orchestra perform Christmas classics
And Joe got me this 🙂
