Saturday, December 11, 2010

This Ain't Your Momma's Gingerbread House!

We are SOOOOO excited to share this fun project!
So how many of you love making gingerbread houses each year
and then cringe when you end up throwing them away
after spending $20 on candy then feeling like your
torturing your kids by wiggling it in their faces with the words
"Don't Touch It!  It's a decoration!"
And when they finally can it's stale, nasty and who knows how much dust has accumulated
or sticky little hands and tongues have already tasted the treats....
(This is Nicole talking....Yes, I have issues....) 
We have been dreaming this one up for a while now,
but have had our hands full with boutique season,
so when we finally got together it was so much fun!! 
At Michaels, we found wooden puzzle dollhouses that looked gingerbreadish to us. 
We're not going to lie...they were a beast to put together with vague directions,
but the results are fantastic! 
So, if you have an hour...or two...to put together this puzzle, we highly recommend them!
Don't forget to use your coupon!
We used fake candies on all of the houses, so they would last year after year. 
We found all the candies at Hobby Lobby. 
They were going fast, so most might be gone this late in the season.
We added bottle brush trees and used lots of Snow-Tex and glitter.
Nicole's gingerbread house was quickly taken over by Little Pet Shops!
Her little girl was in Heaven playing with the houses!
You have to glue these houses together for stability.
Nicole used tacky glue and Candace used a hot glue gun and wood glue.
I love this dollhouse because the back is open, letting little hands play and it also is easy to use lighting.
Spray paint works best!  It's much easier to get into the nooks and crannies of the house.
We found a brown spray paint by Krylon at Hobby Lobby.
We used a knife to add Snow Tex (love that stuff!) to the roof line. 
and our fingers to spread it all over.
We gathered our candies and mini-lights, snipping off the ornament hole and cutting off each light.
To match the sugared candies, we put spray adhesive on each light and added glitter. 
We used hot glue to attach each candy and light.
A set of mini snowmen were added along with mini wreaths.  So cute!
Nicole's daughter quickly moved the pet shops in! Staging them just so in the house.
"This ain't your Momma's Gingerbread House!"
How cute the sleds look on the front porch!
Of course there had to be a Christmas tree for her friends!
  Her daughter picked out beads for ornaments and they glued them to the tree.
Candace gave her house a "minimalist" wreath...hee,hee!:)
We glittered all the trim work with modge podge and glitter.
Candace used some spray can flocking snow on my house and got a little carried away....
Maybe stick with the Snow-Tex.
Candace's boys have their own version of playing house.....toy soldiers and Halo guys...
death by the Christmas tree!

We hope you guys like it!
They were a lot of fun to make with the kids and will be enjoyed for years to come!
And hey, they were less than $20 a piece to make too!

Happy House Building!!!
:)Nicole & Candace

UndertheTableandDreaming    Join us Saturdays at tatertotsandjello.com for the weekend wrap up party!

22 comments:

  1. These are so cute! Ohhh to have kids at home still. It totally changes how you look at the holidays when you have an "empty nest".

    I'm sharing this today over at my place!

    gail

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  2. Wow...what a great idea and a lot of work....but totally beautiful. THanks for sharing that.

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  3. VERY cute for a ginger bread fakes...My favorite is the picture with the child playing with the soldier guys and super hero...
    that is a real life snap shot there of what my life was like when my kids were young. Thanks for showing this-- we're having our first family party at my son and daughter in laws house today--we're actually having a gingerbread building contest! So I was glad for some inspiration photos this morning--keeping it fresh in my mind.
    Now where did I pack those soldiers? he-he-he...

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  4. What a great idea...It turned out amazing! I love the fact you can keep bringing it out year after year... a new tradition is born! Merry Christmas!

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  5. What a cute idea! I love this! I am totally going to make this! Thanks for sharing!!

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  6. Amazing! it really does look like a gingerbread house. Such a good idea!

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  7. That is SO cool! It looks so good! What a GREAT idea! The only thing I can think of that would cause a problem is figuring how to store it year after year without it falling apart. It would need it's own tote, right? I LOVE it though!

    Thanks so much for sharing!

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  8. I so have to remember this for next year! My kids would love to play with this house and it would look super cute. Great job!

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  9. This is such a great idea and it would be fun for my kids to kind of claim one each so they can play with them. It would be nice to be able to take them out each year and have memories of them. Happy Holidays,
    Carey

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  10. You two, continue to amaze me! I love the pictures showing the difference in play between girls and boys....I found myself chuckling! I can so relate, with both!

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  11. Neat, neat, neat!!!!! Thanks for all the detail in the pictures. . .*must* put this on a list for a future time :)

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  12. This is so genius! I have featured this at Craft Gossip today
    http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/amazing-gingerbread-house/

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  13. I love these!

    Does your Micheal's still have them? I went to 4 close to me and didn't find any. I can find the house online, but I'm not paying $55 for it. There's still a few around town I can check, but I was really hoping to make one of these tonight.

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  14. Domestic Geek..55 dollars is ridiculous! We bought ours for under 10 dollars and used a coupon at Michaels. I just called 2 of our local Michaels and they are sold out. The manager said this late in the Christmas season, items like dollhouses sell out quickly. Sorry about that-

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  15. I love this! I featured it today on blog Today's Top 20! I would love if you stopped by!

    Amanda
    todaystoptwenty.blogspot.com

    P.S. And if you could click our donate water widget up at the top corner..each click and P&G will donate 1 days worth of clean water. It's free! Thanks!

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  16. I so could see this on my buffet in my kitchen. It is so cute....

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  17. Your beautiful gingerbread house has been featured on BEST OF THE WEB GINGERBREAD HOUSES go to the bottom of the post to get your badge.

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  18. I love how the boys made the gingerbread house into a death zone, makes it even more creative! Right now I'm making a two story gingerbread doll house, so this will give me great ideas!

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  19. I love it - been looking for something like this. I am going to use an old plastic Fisher Price dollhouse - and yes, the Littlest Pet Shops will be moving in.

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