This years gingerbread house is a multi-level confection that took forever to make! All the little pieces had to be cut out and baked and iced together.... yikes! However, I think the little details are what make this gingerbread house special.
From the royal icing cupolas and railings to the tiny planter boxes and patio furniture, your eye is drawn right in to the house. We made one room see thru and inside you see a lit Christmas tree surrounded by gifts. The Christmas tree is made from an upside-down ice cream cone that I covered in green royal icing "pine needles".
Tiny shiny dragrees are iced onto the tree for ornaments and the tree lights are miniature battery operated lights that my dad found at Michael's. I wound them around the finished tree and voila, a lighted Christmas tree.
Details of front porch.
The clear windows are sheets of gelatin affixed to the back of the gingerbread windows with brown royal icing. The wreaths are made with royal icing and little Wilton Holly Mix Sprinkles. The planters are made from gingerbread and the decorations are various red, white and green candies all glued together with isomalt nibs.
Lighted Christmas tree made from ice cream cone and royal icing. The tiny lights blink on and off!
And speaking of isomalt, we used it, along with royal icing, to glue together most of the house. Isomalt is a sucrose derivative this is more stable than sugar but completely edible (lolly pops are made with isomalt). When heated it becomes liquid and can be used to instantly "glue" gingerbread and candies together into a rock hard bond.
Balcony with patio furniture. Tiny cookies are on the table!
Here are a few pics of the making of some of the house features. Lots of candies and gingerbread pieces make for some fun "accessories"!
Candy wreaths for the windows.
Planter box pieces made from gingerbread with piped gingerbread details.
Planter boxes made with various sprinkles.
Little benches made from sprinkles and gingerbread.
This gingerbread house stands 19 1/2" tall x 15" wide. Thanks for checking out my gingerbread house and happy holidays to you all!
Thank you!
To: [email protected]
Posted by: Goodies By Anna | 11/15/2015 at 02:46 PM
Fantastic job!
Posted by: Annie | 11/14/2015 at 04:35 PM
Thank you!
Posted by: Jimme Steverson | 09/17/2015 at 08:56 AM
hi jimme,
i am sorry to say that i no longer have the template (there were literally over 100+ pieces!) for that gingerbread house however is you look at this gingerbread house for 2011 you will find a link to the template in the blog! Hope this helps you out and good luck with your gingerbread house building.
regards,
anna
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Posted by: Goodies By Anna | 09/16/2015 at 10:47 AM
Hi, my name is Jimme Steverson. I am currently in the culinary arts program at Amory Highschool. Every year our teacher lets us build and decorate our own gingerbread houses. This is my last year in culinary arts since I am a senior. I was hoping that you still had this template, and if you could send it to me? Thank you so much!
Posted by: Jimme Steverson | 09/16/2015 at 08:49 AM
Hi, my name is Jimme Steverson. I am with the culinary arts program at Amory Highschool. I am a senior and this is my last year in culinary. Every year we always make a gingerbread house, I was hoping that you still had the template for this house, and if so, could you possibly email it to me? Thank you so much.
Posted by: Jimme Steverson | 09/16/2015 at 08:36 AM
Hi jaime,
My dad enlarged each piece on a copier by around 120%. Then he cut out each piece on poster board to use as the templates for the gingerbread. My dad put the puzzle together first before making the templates. This gave him an idea of the pieces that we would need and the ones that didnt pertain to our house (like the inside of the house and the back of the house). I will be honest and tell you this was a VERY difficult and time consuming house to make and Ive made a lot of gingerbread houses over the years. For tips on making a gingerbread house check out my post called Gingerbread House Tips and Tricks. Good luck!
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Posted by: Goodies By Anna | 12/30/2014 at 11:33 AM
I bought the house on amazon. Did you just place the pieces over the gingerbread and cut around? Also did you assemble the wood puzzle for practice before putting the gingerbread house together? Any tips you may have?
BTW You are very talented and I am aspiring to make this house next year!
Posted by: jaime | 12/30/2014 at 11:06 AM
warm as toast: My Dad and I thank you for your kind comments! Good luck with your gingerbread house!
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Posted by: Goodies By Anna | 12/17/2014 at 01:56 PM
About to begin a house trying to emulate one of your designs - you are the ultimate gingerbread house inspiration, completely peerless and I love that you are always developing new techniques..
Posted by: warm as toast | 12/17/2014 at 04:08 AM
last years gingerbread house post show a pic of lighting used.
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Posted by: Goodies By Anna | 12/16/2014 at 11:24 AM
What do you use to light your houses?
Posted by: Helenice Chroniger | 12/15/2014 at 07:25 PM
im insane! actually, most contests require that the whole house be edible and we add lights and wooden dowels to help support so theyre not usually eligible... maybe next years will be all edible..
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Posted by: Goodies By Anna | 12/15/2014 at 10:57 AM
Zomygawd. Do you enter these is contests or do them for pure pleasure? If you say pure pleasure, I may consider you insane.
Posted by: leendadll | 12/14/2014 at 01:08 PM
hi lauri, So glad you like the house. I dont have the templates any longer but i wouldnt be able to post it anyways... tons tons of pieces! I used a 3D Fantasy Puzzle from Amazon as the template. Perhaps you could try that? Good luck to you and your gingerbread house!
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Posted by: Goodies By Anna | 12/09/2014 at 02:07 PM
Thank you so much! Hope you got some inspiration for a house of your own!
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Posted by: Goodies By Anna | 12/09/2014 at 02:05 PM
Holy cow. I was googling gingerbread house inspiration and I happen upon this...that is talent right there :D
Posted by: June Baby | 12/09/2014 at 03:12 AM
Wow. I am stunned! I'd like to try something like this with my brother, could you put the templates here so I could use them as a help? I can't do templates by myself, not good in such things! :( Thanks for sharing this amazing house :)
Posted by: Lauri | 12/09/2014 at 01:23 AM
Thanks Katie! I made this house with the help of my Dad. Hes the architect! Here is a link to the house that we based the Gingerbread House on: http://www.amazon.com/Puzzled-Inc-1801-Fantasy-Villa/dp/B000HWW4B4/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8qid=1418058170sr=8-9keywords=3d+puzzle+villa
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Posted by: Goodies By Anna | 12/08/2014 at 09:05 AM
WOW that is stunning. I'm so impressed you made it yourself. It's so detailed and perfect. WOW
Posted by: Katie | 12/07/2014 at 10:14 PM