Christmas Project #4 - FINISHED

Uh, Christmas is over, isn't it?  I still had one more project to do with Carter that we just couldn't cram in before Christmas arrived.  The gingerbread house!  And it seems like I have been telling him for days that "we'll do it tomorrow". Well, today was finally the "tomorrow" I had been promising. Better late than never, right? RIGHT?

So the little kit that he picked out so long ago was a little "townhouse" - no joke, that's what it really said on the box. And you had three different designs you could choose from, or you could design your own.  I don't think I've ever done a gingerbread house before, so designing my own seemed out of the question.  I will forever regret that decision.  I let Carter pick the design, and of course, it was the most complicated out of the three. Naturally. So here was our blank slate.

 First we had to do the beginning preparations. We rolled out the fondant, which was actually quite tasty.

 Then we began construction.  The door was first, per the instructions. And let me just preface the rest of the construction photos by saying, whoever designed the house for the photo on the box must have been a pastry chef....or they photoshopped the hell out of that house. No way was my frosting going to look all smooth and shiny, as depicted in the photo on the box. So already I'm a little pissed, but I keep reminding myself "Carter won't even notice, just keep going."

Next we rolled out and cut down some of the gum drops for the accents around the doorway, and for the windows. By this point, I'm thoroughly pissed off at this house. This was WAY more work that I thought it would be! At one point, I told Carter "this is just like scrapbooking, except you can eat it!" I was ready to stop construction and just eat the stupid house.

 But we forged on. More icing, more candy. More damn windows.

 A thousand little dots on the roof.  Really? Was it necessary? Yes, Carter told me....it has to look like the photo on the box, mom!

So I dotted the roof.

 Both freakin' sides.  ;)

 And suddenly we were done.  DONE!

 It's not a perfect house. I will admit that. It was a royal pain in my ass, but Carter had fun and that counts. However, I will never, EVER buy one of these things again. My Christmas season is complete without them. It will now go on the list of things to keep hidden from my children. Also on that list are Pojos and Chucky Cheese.  ;)