And now for something completely different.
Gingerbread houses, or more accurately lazy mom graham cracker houses. I wanted to post my house here so it might show up in a search some day for some future mom looking for those great tips. I found some good ones online, but we always can use more, right?

How to get rid of all leftover Halloween and parade candy before the New Year, aka the Gingerbread House.
I got the upside down ice cream cone idea online, but the Tootsie Roll fence was all mine! Oh man, did we get slammed with Tootsie Rolls this year.
I did make a Royal Icing frosting, but also had a few cans of store bought cake frosting. It worked pretty well except it takes much longer to harden up. And my stuff wasn’t as white as Royal Icing. My 5 years olds loved piping the frosting onto their houses. Moms, if you are considering doing this, all I can say is they worked on their houses for FIVE HOURS. That, my friends, is a big deal in Momland. Totally worth the mess, chaos, and expense. And we ate none of it once it hit the houses. They nibbled while building and then eventually we threw it all the extra away. My hips have thanked me threefold.
Lemme see, other tips.
Translucent candies at the rooftop look stunning in the sun, like stained glass.
Jelly beans with speckles make adorable stones.
Patterns are the key to creating cohesion out of chaos.







